Hot DAMN! I Was Not Expecting That, Though I Really Should Have...
FT Island has a track record of blowing me away, so it really shouldn't be surprising at this point, but for some reason, it's still an epically unexpected treat for me every time they do it. This track has incredible energy and it digs into a darker, grittier realm of rock than I'm used to hearing from FTI. Most of FT Island's Japanese music fits neatly inside of Japanese expectations, and this one is no exception. It feels perfectly in sync with the Japanese rock scene, particularly the pop-rock slide that some of the VK music has been taking over the past few release seasons. It has a darker, denser tilt to it that is not FTI's norm, but the warm fullness of it is very much part of their sound. The gorgeous harmonic lines and the sweep of the power chords and bass chords and drum fills that take turns cutting seamlessly though the mix pulling the middle frequencies along to push the whole song forward evenly, while the lyrics try to charge ahead and the low end dig its claws in and chases after it. The mix sits nicely around the listener and the bpm kicks up in the chorus and it triggers an immediate, physical reaction in the listener, the tension of which is smoothely diffused in the harmonies and the transfer of energy between the main vocal line and the guitar lines as they bounce off each other. The track is just plain fabulous.
Moving on to the MV, it's a pretty dang perfect compliment to the track. It doesn't look like a typical pop-rock Japanse MV though, like Mitaiken Future did when it was released in march, with over-used CG and nothing but a green-screen to work with. Be Free looks well made and the visual style pairs well with the sound of the track playing with it. The editing mixes together the visuals of the badass scenario and the musician scenario very well, depicting how a person can feel trapped within an image or an occupation (or both) long before the glass wall comes up. It's cool because it not only depicts the struggle of someone trapped to break free, but also the struggles of people who fit into multiple categories trying to reconcile the fact that where some people delineate categories, they seek to move freely between them. There's no fantastically rich story underlying the imagery, but there are story-archetypes that allow the idea of struggle and then decision to be one's own person to be communicated with hints of deeper meaning. In many ways it can be seen to relate to Hong Ki's twitter disappearance or the struggles that FTI has faced in the Industry. I still don't know what's going on, so I'm not going to accuse anyone of anything, but by nature of being a band in Kpop, it's guaranteed that they've faced pressures no one is ever really prepared to handle.
The track is incredible, the video is gorgeous, they compliment each other perfectly, and I adore this release.
Moving on to the MV, it's a pretty dang perfect compliment to the track. It doesn't look like a typical pop-rock Japanse MV though, like Mitaiken Future did when it was released in march, with over-used CG and nothing but a green-screen to work with. Be Free looks well made and the visual style pairs well with the sound of the track playing with it. The editing mixes together the visuals of the badass scenario and the musician scenario very well, depicting how a person can feel trapped within an image or an occupation (or both) long before the glass wall comes up. It's cool because it not only depicts the struggle of someone trapped to break free, but also the struggles of people who fit into multiple categories trying to reconcile the fact that where some people delineate categories, they seek to move freely between them. There's no fantastically rich story underlying the imagery, but there are story-archetypes that allow the idea of struggle and then decision to be one's own person to be communicated with hints of deeper meaning. In many ways it can be seen to relate to Hong Ki's twitter disappearance or the struggles that FTI has faced in the Industry. I still don't know what's going on, so I'm not going to accuse anyone of anything, but by nature of being a band in Kpop, it's guaranteed that they've faced pressures no one is ever really prepared to handle.
The track is incredible, the video is gorgeous, they compliment each other perfectly, and I adore this release.
RSS Feed
