Song Review:: Vari (NINE.i): Dear- MY DEAREST {Debut}

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  • Release date: 2026 April 30
  • Album tracklist: MY DEAREST, YESTERDAY, MY DEAREST Instrumental
  • Album runtime: 13 minutes

 Happy debut! I'm still holding out hope for your group! Hope springs eternal! I love him for the runtime alone.

I love that we got the instrumental. It reminds me a lot of something that I would have heard when I was young. It also almost feels like country music of the Garth Brooks variety rather than the George Strait variety, which is a very specific reference that I know a lot of people aren't going to get, but it's the higher, pinballing-energy-on-stage kind of country song rather than a man and his guitar on a stool. And the more I listen to it, the more it's starting to settle into my brain and read like country music. It didn't have that immediate recognition in my gut, but between the prominence of the melodic guitar and the violin, there was a specific stretch of time from like 2006-2008 where this instrumental could have fit in well. 

The Korean startled me a little, and my response made me laugh because, Duh. And the little amount that I'm understanding right off the bat tells me that this is a comfort song. I'm pleased that we got a little bit of a lower voice at the beginning because it helps balance out the overall higher tone to the song and the falsetto he pops into. I'm beyond pleased with the vibrato we're getting from him at multiple points, and I think there might be a bridge. I mean, it is four minutes long, so I don't know why we're [I'm] surprised by that. It's just been a while since we've gotten a song this long as a debut song from anyone. Also, I'm pretty sure that's a key change there at the end, and if that's true, I want to scream about it from the roof. I love key changes. I love it when I'm singing a song and there's a key change because they're just fun.

We've got a blend of animated and live-action for this music video. There's also a dog. This is a soft and fluffy music video, and I am here for it, even if it's a music video that wouldn't have required a whole lot in terms of a budget. I don't know about y'all, but he could go viral for his visuals. Just saying.

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