The K-pop star also incorporates dance, hip-hop, gospel and more on his second full-length album 'Rise'
At the 2014 GRAMMYs earlier this year, John Legend earned one of the night's standout moments thanks to a stripped-down rendition of his heartfelt piano ballad "All of Me." The performance was a tipping point for the single, igniting a surge in popularity that saw song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks last month.
In a similar move, BIG BANG vocalist Taeyang makes a statement by stripping himself of all gimmicks, flashy elements — and a shirt — for an adult-R&B sound and simplistic video with "Eyes, Nose, Lips." It's the lead single off the K-pop star's new full-length album "Rise."
Spending the first verse and chorus accompanied by just a piano, Taeyang doles out reflective regrets of the way he treated a past love while recalling her features like her eyes, nose, fingernails and red lips. As the 26-year-old accepts his shortcomings, the song's production grows more intricate with hollow percussion, snappy snares and classical violins.
By the final chorus' key change, the track blends the instruments plus back-up vocals to accompany Taeyang's touching ad-libs; all making for a stirring conclusion as he declares his lover a memory.
Taking cues for the song's aural elements, the accompanying "Eyes, Nose, Lips" visuals begins simple with a shirtless, shadowed Taeyang. At first, the video almost looks as if it's going to pull a D'Angelo "Untitled" on the viewer, but Taeyang's full body is revealed — with pants — as he continues his way through the track.
The video stays simple throughout, focusing on Taeyang's emotional delivery, but adds some pryotechnics by way of a billboard with a woman's face is set on fire before the intense bridge and final chorus. Here we see Taeyang unleash a few slick dance moves — reminiscent to those we saw in his 2013 video for "Ringa Linga," which was one of Billboard's Top 20 K-Pop Songs of the year.
"Ringa Linga" and "Eyes, Nose, Lips" both appear on "Rise," Taeyang's first full-length album since 2010's "Solar." While these singles show off both his EDM, hip-hop and contemporary R&B tendencies, the "Rise" tracks show off more of Taeyang's musical sides. There's modern-day R&B on album intro "Rise" and the LP closer "Love You to Death," synth-pop on "1AM," and even gospel on the empowering "Let Go."
Fans of BIG BANG and 2NE1 will be happy to hear Taeyang team up with his labelmates on the album too: Fellow BIG BANG member G-Dragon features on the emotional hip-hop/R&B hybrid "Stay With Me" while listeners can hear the voice of CL of 2NE1 on funky, dance banger "Body." The tracks come together for a solid body of work, cementing Taeyang as one of K-pop's rare R&B stars.
Source: Billboard
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