written by: drowningn00b

When Jewelry’s Seo In Young released ‘Brand New Elly‘ last year, I couldn’t stop listening to the lead single, “Oh My Gosh” and one of the b-side tracks, “Girl”. It wasn’t her part in it that attracted me to the songs, but the production. The dance numbers were fun and silly, and for her part, Ms. Seo brought the sass and attitude to the songs, adding to the overall enjoyment. I couldn’t find the words to review the mini itself (sucked for the most part), hence there is no review. Not a major loss, on our part and yours, so it’s okay.

After my brief obsession, Seo In Young left Jewelry and Star Empire to strike out on her own a month after “Brand New Elly” hit the scene. Her music career at a turning point, she went on TV and not much was said on the subject.

So when news hit the inter-tubes that this same girl not only pulled an all-kill this week (I thought GD might have, or KARA), but unseated the mighty PSY off his “Gangnam Style” pedestal, shock bitch-slapped me across the face. Is this song worth all the fan praise? And now that she’s in control of her career, is “Anymore” the logical step forward?

“Anymore” is a better dance track than much of the k-pop landscape right now. There’s a touch of Cher’s “Believe” and David Guetta’s “When Love Takes Over”, where the focus is on the drum beats for the verses and the piano loop for the chorus. It’s a simple style of dance song, but it’s the simplicity that makes it work. Current hit-maker Kush did a great job making this track jump when it should and calm down in just the right places. In the way vocal dance remixes bring out the singer from under their original songs, Kush makes it possible for Ms. Seo to realize her goal of putting her vocals out on front, instead of the other way around.

Unfortunately, In Young needs help in the vocal department. She sounds great at first, but you can hear the strain in her voice to reach the high notes. It would be one thing to struggle in the climax, but she has trouble in the chorus as well. She isn’t awful, and she can hit the notes, but the force in her voice at the earlier points in the song is gone by the end. She has work to do, but Seo In Young tried admirably, so I give her props taking the risk in stretching her vocal abilities.

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Rarely do I agree with the larger k-pop audience. I didn’t think “Touch” deserved the all-kill miss A achieved the week it was released, and as cute as they are, SISTAR’s fame baffles me. But for “Anymore”, I got to give it to netizens for once in picking a great pop song. Kush has been releasing some great stuff for artists lately, so it’s great to see the trend going for “Anymore”. And the track would be firing on all cylinders if only Seo In Young had more vocal prep prior to recording this. I admire her guts, but no cigar on this one. She sounds great at times and falters in others, but overall, “Anymore” is a fantastic track for the budding CEO. Smart move, Ms. Seo.

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Score: 4/5

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