The hazy, wistful image posted above this review (which is also the cover of Jennie’s new digital EP) is emblematic of a certain sound that’s permeated global pop music and has weasled its way into K-pop as well. On this blog, I’ve called it “restrained,” “subdued,” “coffeehouse,” “beige” and a dozen other descriptors. It’s the kind of music perfectly pitched for playlists meant to establish an easy vibe suitable to just about any setting. For my taste, it’s done irreparable damage to pop music’s ambition, scope and progression, but I’m clearly in the minority. Apparently, mainstream listeners love their tempos low and their sonic landscapes hushed.
So, where does Jennie fit within this realm? She straddles the line between global pop and K-pop, leaning further into the former with each passing year. Last month, she released the extremely palatable (read: boring) Less Than A Lover and new single Fallen Angel continues to build that soundscape in a less tightly structured way. Here, we have folk instrumentation, dreamy textures and wisp-like melodies performed just above a whisper. It all screams “aesthetic” in the misused adjective sense of the word. To Jennie’s credit, the song takes its textural tropes in a less predictable direction than most of her peers, abandoning expected structure in favor of loose, barely lucid execution.
While this is easy to admire, Fallen Angel is harder to embrace as an actual song. It presents many signifiers but little to actually sink your teeth into. Refrains waft in and out, buttressed by short instrumental interludes. These pieces are all quite pretty, but never forge into a knockout moment you’ll remember after the song has finished. Still, as far as “vibes” music goes, I appreciate Fallen Angel‘s attempt to do something a little different.
Hooks
7
Production
8
Longevity
8
Bias
7
RATING
7.5