Hypnotic and Chilling
Donghae and Eunhyuk have always been one of my favorite units in Kpop and each of their official sub-group releases has validated that favoritism, and this is no exception. The video is a heartbreaking depiction of the desire to forget all the happy memories of a relationship, because after a cherished relationship ends, those happy memories cause more pain that the unhappy ones. At first the images make it seem like it's just a normal therapy session or something, even the hint with the watch is pretty easy to overlook. The use of color and fracture effects to depict the memories that are slowly being erases is delightful. The camera spins on the choreo stage are wonderful as well, tying into how confused the world is getting as the past gets erased, even while showing the epic styling in full color. The alleyway scenes are doing a similar confusion effect to keep full color prominent, by having the neon lights blurry and falling in and out of focus. The over-exposed greyed-out imagery of the current point in time segments link the black-and-white past to an ever-more-dull present. And the video helpfully provides a final exposure of the nature of the 'therapy' place by showing the card for 'erasure', in case you missed the connection to the lyrics about forgetting at the fact that a creepy back alley is probably not the best place to find a therapist. The presentation of the card lets a viewer go back and watch it again with new eyes in the most delightful way.
Musically, the release is just as awesome, pulling a powerful drama out of a light backing track and smooth, soft vocals. It's spatialized well and there's just enough of an undertow provided by the repetitive trills of the low synth / piano line to give the track an urgency that plays well off the plaintive vocals. It moves well and evolves nicely and it's over-all a great track.
The styling's great, and the choreo's fun, though I wouldn't call it revolutionary (it still suits the video and the track perfectly well). The only thing I would consider changing is the very end when Donghae sees Eunhyuk walk out of his last session with no memories of his past relationship. I think it would have been interesting for him to see that and decide not to forget, just to make it a bit more interesting (like have him look at the erasure card in his hand and then dropping it and walking away rather than heading in for his own session). I like how it currently ends though, so it's not a deal breaker, but I do think it would make an interesting statement.
Musically, the release is just as awesome, pulling a powerful drama out of a light backing track and smooth, soft vocals. It's spatialized well and there's just enough of an undertow provided by the repetitive trills of the low synth / piano line to give the track an urgency that plays well off the plaintive vocals. It moves well and evolves nicely and it's over-all a great track.
The styling's great, and the choreo's fun, though I wouldn't call it revolutionary (it still suits the video and the track perfectly well). The only thing I would consider changing is the very end when Donghae sees Eunhyuk walk out of his last session with no memories of his past relationship. I think it would have been interesting for him to see that and decide not to forget, just to make it a bit more interesting (like have him look at the erasure card in his hand and then dropping it and walking away rather than heading in for his own session). I like how it currently ends though, so it's not a deal breaker, but I do think it would make an interesting statement.
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