Golden Hour: Part.5 Preview First Impressions!
Yesterday I wrote that Golden Hour reminds me a lot of Fever era: they're taking big swings with their sounds, experimenting with different tones and flavors of music. Arguably less cohesive albums, sure, but diverse and interesting. I am really getting those vibes from GH5.
Hongjoong also said that they wanted to showcase all the members' vocals together, since last year the solo songs split them up. I get the sense that this album will be a great showcase for their vocal talents, with some unexpected twists!
Also, they are REALLY gatekeeping the mingjoong rap line on these songs.
BAD immediately hooked me. Talk about a big swing! The beat reminds me a bit of Crazy Form, which takes so many twists and turns, so I have a feeling the snippet we heard from the intro is a bit deceptive. Like Adrenaline, I bet they'll hide the rest of the song until the very end.
I hardly recognized Seonghwa at first! He was talking about how he worked hard to get a certain part in this song, so I bet it's this opening rap! Him and Yunho really have the most versatile voices in the group, so whether it's a vocal distortion or them affecting a new (whinier) tone, I'm super intrigued!
Hongjoong said his rap for this part has a "sticky, chewy" feeling. What does that mean?? Mingi predicts this will become a new representative song for Ateez. I don't want to set my expectations too high, but they always seem to nail the vibe for their concepts/title tracks.
MAMACITA Ateez is so much fun when they lean into Latin-inspired music with Spanish lyrics. Just listening to the snippet made me want to start dancing. I bet this will be the promoed b-side. I love the anthemic chorus (Yeosang, I hear you!!) that will sound amazing live.
TOXIN has a cool vibe, and I really love hearing Wooyoung's vocals with Jongho. There's obviously not enough yet for me to form a judgement, but I glanced back at the list of producers for this album and recalled that Tankzzo is on this, one of the composers for NASA, NO1, Slide to Me, Legacy, Face, and Bridge: The Edge of Reality. NASA is one of my favorite b-sides, so I am looking forward to hearing the full song.
I got Take Me Home vibes from this song - did anyone else?
FALLIN' I feel like this could be my dark horse. I like the darker tone of this song. Lots of vocals too!
BODY In grand tradition, we end the album on a softer note. This song feels tonally aligned with other Golden Hour sentimental songs, like Castle, NTHAAH, and On The Road. Like with the On The Road teaser, we only hear the minjoong rap, so I really wonder where this will go!
