The thing is that Dalmatian has the wherewithal to make whatever they tackle sound good. That much rings true about “State Of Emergency” and that much we’ve established already. Each and every song is refined and tight from beginning to end. The lead single, “E.R“, which reminds me of a blend of BEAST‘s “Fiction” and Code-V‘s “Addiction“, captures the voices of Dalmatian like none of their past singles has before. The vocal processing is so careful about staying true to their strong singing, that it absolutely soars in this song. Every member’s voice is bright, beautifully compressed, and sent through light and tasteful pitch shifting in the most appropriate places (like the ends of the chorus).
Just by listening to this song, I can tell that it must have been a fucking joy to record this group of singers, because their voices are beautiful and each one really brings this song (and album) to its feet.
If there’s anything really holding this album back from shining like I’m sure it was intended to, it’s the aforementioned trend of seriousness and maturity that has been infiltrating K-pop this year. Everyone has been appearing in these darker tones (MBLAQ, U-KISS, B1A4, F.Cuz), so much so, that it is turning this relatively pleasant musical style into an overused trump card.
I’ve stated before that going dark may seem like a perfectly normal transition in music, and it can be, but the key is to go dark correctly. Fortunately, most of this year’s groups have made really impressive strides into sophisticated and grown-up molds, but what is happening now is that we’re being perpetually served all of this tension all at once from everyone. There’s a never ending cycle occurring in today’s K-pop music of deep and dark tones, especially from the boy bands, that it’s making each and every promotional single from the next one feel less and less powerful when this style could easily make a really big impact when presented at the most opportune moment (see: BEAST circa 2011).
Having suppressed most, if not all of their free-spirited personalities in their music, Dalmatian have in turn removed a very important level of their appeal. Their music doesn’t come across as vibrant as it did last year, and it’s not like I’m asking them to be overtly cute like in “Lover Cop” more than I’m really just craving for the warmth in songs like “Really Really” and “Real Eyes”.
They’ve carried a nice R&B vibe over to “State Of Emergency”, heard in full bloom in “Hurt Me”, a mid tempo track akin to the level of quality of R&B/hip-hop trio One Way. And they’ve posed a very thrilling take on a pop/R&B song with “Still By Ur Side”, splicing throaty raps next to really gorgeously sung melodies in a way that B.A.P could only dream of.
Yet, I still feel like Dalmatian missed their opportunity to truly shine by not stepping outside of what every other boy band is doing, and have thus inadvertently become part of the “every other boy band” denomination. They sound really good and the songs are tastefully produced, but there’s something missing. A spark of character to really shake these songs to their core.
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I was saying the same thing about this EP. There was something missing in the music that makes it connect with you and stick. In the end, while containing some solid tracks such as E.R. and Still By Ur Side, it just isn’t memorable. Visually, however, they have an edge that seems authentic and is much welcomes (by my hormones anyways).
i read one of their recent interviews & they (including Simon) said that they lean towards this type of music rather than their previews works…which is one of the reasons Day Day left (musical differences)
Im still new to this group so i dont know what’s their musical preference like… but i do enjoy listening their voices.
That’s interesting to hear. I mean, I’m not against this style at all, I really like it, but I feel like it came at a time when this particular angle isn’t that outstanding to hear anymore.
I really like how they sound, but I hope they invigorate their music with fresher ideas down the road.
Funny, I never paid much attention to them. I thought their name and concept entirely ridiculous even for k pop. I listened to the album and it has a mature, sophisticated sound, but it lacks joy. I don’t hear it in their voices that they are feeling/digging the music, It is that lack of enthusiasm for the material that kills this album for me.
“You Hurt Me” is a damn good r&b track that I love listening to. I hope they promote it and I get to see some energy from these guys because the talent is there already.