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▲ This photo, provided by Starship Entertainment, shows girl group IVE. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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▲ This file photo shows HYBE's first girl group LE SSERAFIM. (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- An increasing number of girl groups are trying to differentiate themselves with their deep low voices that remain in the listener's mind.
“LOVE DIVE,” one of the best-hit songs in this year’s K-pop industry by girl group IVE, has a low-pitched part with the lyrics “Narcissistic my god I love it” which raises the tension of the song.
If hitting high notes and giving the audience goosebumps was the classical way for girl groups to top the main charts, IVE chose an opposite strategy.
An official from the IVE’s agency Starship Entertainment A&R(Artists and Repertoire) said, “We focused on how the music trend is changing from a style with high notes to uniqueness, since the fourth generation of girl group has started,” adding, “So we tried to break down the existing girl group formula and creating IVE's music style."
The official explained, “Even before their debut, IVE recorded various genres of songs and tried to find the best part by grasping the range, tone, and style of the members,” adding, “Their charm has shown off the most in the low-pitched verse.”
The song is still ranking No. 2 on Melon’s Top 100 chart on May 3rd, although it has been almost a month since its release.
The debut song “FEARLESS,” of HYBE’s first girl group LE SSERAFIM, also featured an addictive low-pitched chorus rather than a high-pitched one.
Although the group consists of members with vocal skills such as Kim Chae-won, who proved her skills in IZ*ONE, and Huh Yun-jin, who showed her presence in the audition program "Produce 48," the rookie group filled the chorus with low-pitched phrases with "What you lookin' at" instead of hitting the top notes.
It is also notable that member Sakura, not the so-called ‘vocal line,’ filled the chorus of the first verse.
LE SSERAFIM is gaining popularity with 380,000 pre-orders for the album and more than 180,000 sales in two days after its release as if responding to the focused attention on its debut.
Regarding this phenomenon, music critic Jung Min-jae said, "These days, music trends do not take the form of emphasizing high notes as before,” adding, “There is an analysis that music comfortable to listen to, is in trend since the generation from listening through CDs, LPs, and speakers have changed to the personalized listening style of earphones."
IVE and LE SSERAFIM are teams that consist of IZ*ONE members, Jang Won-young·An Yu-jin, and Sakura·Kim Chae-won, respectively. Ironically, IZ*ONE boasted high notes in hit songs such as "Fiesta" and "Panorama" during their activities.
Kim Do-heon, a music critic said, “Girl groups these days are all independent and share a ‘girl crush’ worldview, so there won’t be any distinction if their music also becomes too strong,” adding, “I think that’s why they go for songs with calm low pitched notes.”
(This article is translated from Korean to English by An Hayeon.)
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