Song Review:: Close Your Eyes- Open Your Eyes

-

  • Release date: 2026 September 18
  • Album tracklist: Open Your Eyes
  • Album runtime: 3 minutes

 It's partway though September and I don't think I've reviewed a song from September yet. Starting with Close Your Eyes and their song called "Open Your Eyes" feels a little bit funny for me. Which is why I'm doing it. Also, the maknae turns eighteen at the end of the month, so this is the last time I'll probably need to bring up any of their ages. Not that I have been because I haven't needed to. But still. This makes it official.

Why does the instrumental sound like the preset on a keyboard? There are a lot of instruments going on in here and it's a little distracting with exactly how much is going on. Jaunty little tune, though, despite how discordant it is. But it's very jazzy at the same time, so discordant is sometimes the name of the game anyway. But goodness, there are a lot of instruments. As an instrumental-only, I would absolutely be jamming hardcore to this because it's so interesting and there's so much movement. As the background to the vocals, I think it's a little bloated.

Close Your Eyes are really making a name for themselves for smooth vocals, aren't they? Between them and LNGSHOT, they're doing a lot for injecting the smoother musical genres back into K-Pop consistently. But this is so 90s boy group in the vocals that I keep having to remember that this came out this week. We've got good vibrato in a few spots and some harmonizing. The one thing the song is missing is someone just going ham on the ad-libs and power vocals. 

We have a couple of cuts hidden in the camera work, but the smoothness that's going on here is incredible. It's all vibes and visuals though to service the sound of the song and not distract from it, which I think is the right choice.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Song Review:: KickFlip: Flip It, Kick It- Umm Great {Pre-Debut}

-
Image
 Well, friends, as this is a new debut (or near enough), I need to take a look at the ages and verify that what I heard was correct. And it was! The maknae, Donghyeon, turns eighteen in a couple of months, so if I like the sound, I can like the group. Four of the seven were contestants on Loud , which also produced TNX (THE NEW SIX) back in 2021, including the maknae, so I'm honestly grateful that they took so long to debut because Donghyeon would have have been fourteen. Three more years of training? I have tentatively high hopes for the group, as well as the fact that a lot of other people (including my Stay friend whose judgement I trust) are talking about this song. She actually brought the song up just as I was sitting down to write this after I finished reading my book. They'll be officially debuting later this month on the 20th. So, let's see what the buzz is about. I'll add the info when the debut happens, and I link everything.  The runtime. Why. Ooh, we've...
Read more

Song Review:: Super Junior: Super Junior 25- Express Mode

-
Image
Release date: 2025 July 8 Album tracklist: Express Mode , Haircut, Air, Delight, I Know, Say Less, D.N.A, Finale, Stuck With You Album runtime: 28 minutes  Average runtime of over three minutes, which is aided by the four minute song, but there are only two that are under three minutes. This is all good. Congrats on your almost 20th anniversary, SuJu! The fun thing about this group is that the group and me almost share a birthday. Just as a fun fact, The Incredibles movie is almost exactly one year older than the group.  The introduction of this song is one of the funniest things I've heard in a while. Oh, my gosh. I thought I'd accidentally hit a radio somehow.  Ah, we've got a skittering beat. Good stuff. I'm a little amused that for what I'm assuming is their 20th anniversary album, they went more hip-hop than they normally go, but you know what? The second gen groups adapting to the times is a good sign. They are keeping it in the family, though, because it...
Read more

Song Review:: ALL(H)OURS: SMOKE POINT- Graffiti {Pre-Release}

-
Image
Release date: 2025 February 04 Album tracklist: Smoke Point,  Graffiti ,  GIMME GIMME , Kings & Queens, Freaky Fresh Album runtime: 12 minutes  I am aware that this group exists. I know they're a fairly recent boy group, but have no idea their company, the number of members, or debut year, and I do have two of their songs in one of my playlists, but they're my Junk Drawer playlist and haven't gotten to them yet. Ah! Seven member group under Eden Entertainment (which is now sort of a subsidiary of JYPE, I think?) that just had their one year anniversary. And because they're a recent debut, I have to check the ages, but they pass! As of December, they're all eighteen or older. So, if I like the song, I can add it to the playlists! Nice! This song has a lot going on. I don't know why I'm getting strong tropical vibes with clanging metal, which sounds a little like an oxymoron as the associations with clanging metal are more industrial and the ones with jung...
Read more

Song Review:: NEXZ: Beat-Boxer- I'm Him {Pre-Release}

-
Image
Release date: 2025 October 27 Album tracklist: Legacy,  Beat-Boxer , I'm Him , Co-Star, Next To Me Album runtime: 14 minutes  There are a whole lot of pre-releases that have all dropped at the same time, belonging to albums that are not all dropping on the same day. Fascinating. Also, that means that you all have lots to look forward to. Happily, the maknae is eighteen as of a couple of weeks ago. Happy birthday, Yuki! Also, this album looks like it's going to be longer than the last one I covered, so I am very happy about that one. Title track is questionably short, but this one is within acceptable limits. My only question here is if that sound at the beginning of the music video is in the actual audio track or not. If it's not, I'm sad. The general thing the instrumental is doing is interesting, and I kinda vibe with it because there are textures to the song and I really like that. However, the opening sound? I was catapulted back to childhood with the similarity to ...
Read more

Music Show Wins:: Week of 10/22 - 10/28

-
Image
  If you haven't heard the news, The Show is set to be canceled in the first half of November, which is infuriating. The Show , while probably the least frequently occurring of the music shows, was the one that the younger/less well-known groups had the best shot of getting wins on, especially that all important first win. And, related to that, it appears that After School Club may also have been canceled. It's listed as a previous show on the website, and I cannot begin to express my displeasure in this. Again, this was a good space for the rookies and the smaller groups to start. Some groups that got very big eventually started out as rookies or young, struggling groups on ASC (BTS, Seventeen, and Stray Kids, to name a few), and it filled a niche for those groups to have more much-needed exposure. Hopefully, we get something to replace the shows, especially since I think they were on the same broadcasting network.  Okay. Bad news over. Good news. NMIXX. Almost a clean swe...
Read more

Song Review:: Billlie: appendix: Of All We Have Lost- trampoline {Pre-Release}

-
Image
Release date: 2024 October 16 Album tracklist:  remembrance c andy ,  trampoline, Bluerose, BTTB (Back to the Basics),  shame,  dream diary ~ etching mémoires of midnight rêverie Album runtime: 20 minutes  I'm aware of one of the members of the group by name and know she and one of the other members came off hiatus earlier in the year. I'm always relieved when a member on hiatus for whatever reason becomes active again, and I hope she is doing well. I also believe this is the first full group album in a while, so that's also an exciting moment. I'm also aware of the recent controversy of the use of AI in promotional/album artwork for this album, or this particular single. I'm not entirely sure. I also do not condone the use of generative AI in artwork. But that's something to be aware of.  Audience participation snapping? Be still, my soul. There are a couple of sections where you could actually have audience participation clapping as well, which ...
Read more

Song Review:: TEMPEST: As I am- In The Dark

-
Image
Release date: 2025 October 27 Album tracklist: In The Dark , nocturnal, CHILL, Silly Kid, How deep is your love? Album runtime: 16 minutes  Yes, TEMPEST. Y'all, I really kind of like this group, and I know I haven't had a ton of comebacks with them yet, but I still look forward to their releases when I get one. Lighthouse is still one of my favorites that they've done and I was so excited that they performed it on Road to Kingdom: Ace of Ace . That beginning bit of the song before the vocals step in remind me a little bit of "FML" by Seventeen, which did initially have me expecting something a lot heavier, but the song splits its time between a grounded but not weighted sound and something a lot airier. The verses get the grounding bass and the chorus gets the lightness, which I thought was an interesting choice. I also like the way that the synth is very distinct in places, even though it isn't necessarily the main star. In other places, the synth sounds a l...
Read more

Song Review:: AtHeart: Plot Twist- Plot Twist {Debut}

-
Image
Release date: 2025 August 13 Album tracklist:  Plot Twist , Push Back, Dot Dot Dot..., Knew Me, Good Girl (AtHeart) Album runtime: 12 minutes  Another rookie group debuting with a song titled "Plot Twist." I'm amused and curious, especially since this one is a girl group debuting under Katie Kang's company, who has been a debuting powerhouse in K-Pop with most of the SM groups starting from the beloved Girls' Generation and SHINee. The expectations are high for this one because as I have said repeatedly, those SM groups have some phenomenally talented and well-trained idols. This is also her first group on her own with her own company, so there is a dose of skepticism. Expectations are quite high. And speaking of Girl's Generation, Sooyoung was in the music video teaser, and I couldn't be happier about the support from older idols. You could almost describe AtHeart as step-sisters to Girls' Generation, which means we get a similar sort of repeat with S...
Read more

Song Review:: MEOVV: MEOW {Debut}

-
Image
Release date: 2024 September 06 Album tracklist: MEOW Album runtime: 3 minutes I'm always tentatively excited to see new groups debut. In this case, I'm not sure about the relationship between their company, TheBlackLabel, and YG. I know they're closely linked, but I'm not positive about what specifically is going on there. Oh, well. Hopefully MEOVV and BABYMONSTER get along. It would probably make life uncomfortable if they don't. I like that they vibe like a boy group. They're still feminine, but they're not girly, which is a change of pace, welcome for me though there isn't anything wrong with the girlier groups. They actually remind me a lot of 2NE1, without the particular timely trappings that come with a 2009 debut. But it's like if 2NE1 had debuted this year instead of 2009, stylistically. To be more clear, the eyeliner is not nearly as thick with MEOVV, they include the shouting thing of fifth generation K-Pop, but otherwise there are some st...
Read more

Song Review:: Lucy: Sorry Not Sorry OST Part 1- A New Chapter

-
Image
Release date: 2024 December 13 Album tracklist: A New Chapter , A New Chapter (Inst.) Album runtime: 6 minutes  Just the simple fact that Lucy released a new single is enough for me to take notice. The fact that they did an OST? This delights me to no end. I love this band. They're incredible and another of my healers that I've been collecting.  The background vocals are actually included with the instrumentals, which means I don't have to feel guilty about including them in this section. You don't normally hear this much energy from an OST, even though there's still something ludicrously comforting about their sound. Apparently they've done quite a few OSTs over the last four years since they debuted, and I'm curious to know if they managed to bring this same energy each and every time. I don't understand how they do it. There's a long stretch where it's just the bass guitar and the drums, mostly just pulsing out the beat, but they don't go ...
Read more