LOVE & LETTER review
LOVE & LETTER (2016)
The third part of my SVT discography review! This track-by-track review was written in the autumn of 2022 while I was high, but my opinions haven't changed much.
Ranking system:
🍇 - 10.0 BNM one of their most iconic slays
🍉 - fantastic song that made me feel something
🍓 - eating, a few flaws that are either easy to overlook or a bit charming
🍊 - good background music but i wouldn't seek it out
🍌 - it does nothing for me but isn't outright offensive
🍐 - does nothing for me and is offensive
🍈 - so bad that it almost wraps back around to good just bc i was laffing so much
(note: tracklists are not in album order. they are very loosely ranked)
🍐 MONDAY TO SUNDAY
This isn't really a Mansae cover, is it? The skeleton of Mansae is there but that's about it. They've basically cribbed the main hook of Mansae and worked around it. It's kind of like watching rap practice lol. They're showing me the homework they did over the weekend. Nobody really did well. Vern is off his game, Scoops was not feeling it, and Mingyu is still a bit confused and incompetent. Wonu is the surprising star of this track actually. He's a little clumsy but his lyrics and flow are really ambitious and a huge step up from the past two EPs. So slay a little. However that's only ¼ of the song, so I still have to rate this accordingly.
🍌 DRIFT AWAY
I mean it's not awful or anything. There are okay parts. I like boohan having a chorus together, brothers! Minghao's post chorus is cute, but that's mainly cuz of his pronunciation. I can't speak Korean but I can tell he has an accent and it's adorable. Love him. Josh is serving rocket voice. Mingyu's verse is honestly awful but he almost redeems himself at the end with that defeated flow…but then scoops comes in and it's clear that at this point in the song he no longer gives a fuck. And then it's gone, like an angel's kiss.
🍌🍈 CHUCK
Uh…I mean…like, it's not the worst thing ever? I like that jeonghan got an entire prechorus to himself. However, this song is DATED, but not in a way that's particularly fun. It's dated in a 2013 way and I haven't really reached that era of my nostalgia yet. This would play on the radio between scream&shout and we can't stop. I would not listen to this on my own and I feel like it's more of a concert intro than an actual song, like that drop would need a damn good fog machine for me to take it seriously! However, Dino has writing credits, so I'll give it a blueberry as a consolation prize.
🍊 ADORE U
Honestly this sounds like a completely different song. I think I got enough of what this song is trying to serve with say yes. However, good for Jeonghan for singing on this song! He put a lot of sincerity into his little verse! Booseok sound wonderful as always. Woozi is killing it too. I love hearing Dk sing. During Jeongshua's bit the keys reverse and I liked that. The shimmers in this one are too much and Adore U's hook doesn't work when it's slowed down like that. I don't hate it because they sound good, but this is not smth I'd seek out over the original.
🍊 HIT SONG
JESUS Christ, is this song for carats. That was my first thought, that it's some sort of tongue-in-cheek pied piper sorta curse they're putting on the listener. Which is a good concept I suppose, and the bridge has pretty hysterical lyrics, but the song itself doesn't do much for me save for a few choice parts. That hook also is an earworm to its great detriment - I think it sounds silly and then I hear it in my head over and over til it sounds atrocious. I think they're still too young of a band to do this concept well, and it works soooo much better a few years later. DK sounds gorgeous as always though, see when you have TALENT!
🍓 SHINING DIAMOND
Okay, this is epic. Like just…what the fuck at all. They really let Hoshi have access to all of Woozi's DJ stuff and he's just button mashing. But like…it's so refreshing after the past few tracks. And I feel high. I really don't know what to rate this…I mean don't get me wrong, I love it. It's kind of stimming my ears really good. But I know it's a mess and not much of a song. Who tf cares. None of your business.
🍉 SAY YES
Um…don't look at me. I think I like this song too much…more than I should, that's for sure. Like you're right that parts of the production sound dated, but it's in a 2000s way, so maybe it's actually trendy and y2k? Okay, not really. But I love the flourishes, I like how the piano sort of flows up and down with their voices. I like the shimmeries. I like the old school early 2000s r&b drum machine lol. But mostly I like their voices. They really are both extremely gifted vocalists and I'm dead serious about that, and they were SO SMALL but still SO FUCKING GOOD. Dk and Seungkwan have writing credits and it's noticeable in the lyrics. They're a bit different from what Woozi usually does. It's a lot more vague and the mentions of someone being soft and pretty…ugh you little romantics. I like this song.
🍇 LOVE LETTER
Uh…what the fuck is THIS? Where have you been hiding this from me? This is an exquisitely Swiftian banger. From subject matter, to structure, to instrumentation…it's lovely, really. It's sweet, too. That Jeonghan on the bridge gave me my life. But the funny thing is, I didn't decide to give it a grape until Wonu kicked in after the bridge. Man, it's rare to have moments like that in k-pop. Like the little weightless feeling you get on parts of a rollercoaster if that makes sense. I swear on my life this is fucking good. It's adorable. But most importantly it has a very satisfying structure like I cannot stress that enough. Woozi was bumping Speak Now and getting his life to it. If you don't like this song your ableist.
🍇 STILL LONELY
Do you like this song as much as I do? Cuz I like it almost as much as pretty u lol. It's fucking GOOD. The lyrics as well, you can see their development as songwriters too! Wonu's verse in particular shows a lot of lyrical growth but also so fucking dramatic that it's camp lol. This song is kinda camp, not gonna lie. Is that not the LGBT experience? We're so colorful and fun and have the best humor and music but it is suffering…so I'm claiming this. Even though it's about how their newfound celebrity is making their horrible depression worse, which is a theme that's also in direct contrast to the music. Which is SLAYFUL, FUN, BOPPY, OLD SCHOOL IN THE COOL WAY, JUST…also Soonchan sound so good together. And DK singing about how he's empty…in that beautiful, hopeful, innocent voice…gorgeous.
🍇 PRETTY U
This song is sort of an outlier in kpop the way that 20 is, save for the fact that it's actually well-known and a title track. The success this song saw makes me so happy, it is definitely deserving of their first win. It's innocent and hopeful, down to the instrumentation. Hearing it without the choreo is interesting bc I can hear all the production details like the finger snaps and that cowbell at the end of verse 2. The choreo however…it adds a lot. I was surprised that the song can stand on its own, considering how good the choreo is. But hey! It totally can because it's a fucking good song! The bridge…the vocals! SEUNGKWAN'S 4-OCTAVE NOTE? The outro…this song is so creative. Also, the "you're pretty!" line in the chorus fits jeonghan so well, so cute.