sone king

After a promising start which devolved into an enjoyable but unmistakably throwaway middle section, SNSD rebounds strongly with “Goodbye.” The bass line to start the song is incredibly funky and SNSD knows how to play off it before breaking out into a great warm chorus (Taeyeon’s clear delivery and lack of brassiness actually works in her favor here, where gloss is preferable to grit) which is a wonderful mixture of strong vocal work, some groovy cymbals and dat bass guitar. At just over three minutes, the interplay between the chorus and verses don’t wear out their welcome while staying engaging in a way that begs for a repeat listen. A fade out to end the song works as a soft landing for an enjoyable ride. In comparison to the somewhat forced cheer of “Wait a Minute”, “Goodbye” pulls off pop’s greatest trick; making the calculated seem easy and spontaneous.

Europa is a mid-tempo pop track which makes good use of SNSD’s penchant for light pop ditties. While they rarely work as singles (with the exception being the scourge-of-the-planet “Gee”), SNSD’s airier efforts can be quite fun. If anyone’s perfected how to make a good bit of fluff, it’s Girls’ Generation. The beat is straightforward and the percussion marches forward with all the cheery determination of a homecoming parade. Chorus work is double tracked per usual and there’s the requisite high string-synths and keys. Solo efforts are clearly defined and Jessica’s introductory vocals set the exact right tone for something as delicate as this. “Europa” is the french press coffee to the herbal tea of “Bear Hug” and it’s slightly better as a result.

“Wait a Minute” is a more modern dance pop track, continuing SNSD’s genre dabbling in the “Mr. Mr.” mini-album. There’s some hints of modern day R&B in the intro but the choruses are pure dance pop. Jaunty keys are the real star of the show as the off-kilter beat is the best thing about the track. SNSD is perfectly fine to let the beat do most of the work but when a simple key and snare combo is what keeps the song going, everything ends up sounding a bit empty. “Wait a Minute” often seems like it wants to take off but has neither the chorus, hook nor bellowing vocals to make it happen. It’s a passable effort and the audio track could easily get ingrained in the head but “catchy” and “fondly recalled” are not the same thing.

After an exhilarating start, SNSD settles back in with a sound that is much more familiar for them, the slower ballad. It’s not bad, but ballads rarely threaten to offend for better or worse. Bass and claps combine with an acoustic guitar in what could have been made in SNSD’s sleep. With nine girls, SNSD can make any ballad sound rich and fulfilling and at it’s best “Back Hug” is sweet and non-threatening, the exact type of work that one could enjoy as background music but couldn’t recall under the threat of death or Sunny aegyo.

If you wanted a full-length song used in a commercial, you got it! – 3/5