You know what I have been rewinding? This album. Zhou Mi has always been my favorite member of Super Junior M and I have been patiently waiting for the moment that he would be able to do this. It wasn't really until the Break Down album that I felt that Zhou Mi and Henry really got to show what they could do and now the two of them have done solo work. I personally like Zhou Mi's style better though so the feels are stronger right now then they were for Henry's solo debut. Sorry Henry, you're cool too.
EDIT: I have a confession to make, I wrote this review before I bought the album and listened to a Youtube playlist while I was writing. The reason this is being stated is because now that I have purchased the album, I realize the order I talked about the songs is wrong. Just keep that in mind. You may continue to the post.
This album starts out with a mid tempo song called "Why". When I heard that Zhou Mi was going to have an album I assumed that he would promote something like this or maybe even slower. That is probably because he has a solo ballad on the Break Down album, but his voice is really versatile which is one reason why I like him so much. I love the power and emotion in this song and all the back tracks are gorgeous as well. This is a great way to start the album.
The next song on the album is "Love Tonight" which also features Tao. Tao is my favorite member of EXO so I am totally fine with this. This is also my favorite song on the album. It is super funky and if Zhou Mi were to get another music video I would want it to be made with this song. The problem would be that this song isn't really single material since it doesn't have that catchy English line that is so prevalent in K-pop songs. Seriously though, that "Stop. Rewind. Rewind" just pops up into my head at random parts of the day and I do not mind. There are also a lot of layers and power in this song compared to the softness that is the rest of the album.
We have yet another feature in the next song but this time it's a girl! "Loving You" is a great duet between Zhou Mi and f(x)'s Victoria. I like hearing people speak their own language. I don't speak Korean or Chinese but I know that Victoria probably sounds different when singing this song than singing a f(x) song. Their voices also compliment each other really well. This song sounds like it was pulled straight from a RomCom OST, specifically a happy tandem bike ride down the Han and a picnic part of a RomCom.
We all know that I am not a ballad person. I feel like I say that at least once every other post, but it's true, I can't help it. I will make an exception for Zhou Mi though. His voice is so powerful and when I hear him singing things like this I always wonder why SM has waited for so long to let him do solo work. He is multilingual, writes music, sings, and dances. Why would you not want to promote the heck out of that?
I'm going to pretend like this is the last song on the album since the last two songs are the Korean versions of the fist two songs. "Without You" is a fantastic way to end this album. It is a power ballad if I have ever heard one and it is beautiful. It pulls together all the softness and energy that has been felt in the album and leaves the listeners (or at least me) with a feeling of contentment which is the best way to end a album. I'm going to put my English major hat on and say it was slightly cathartic even. I don't get to use words like that very often teaching ESL so I will give it to you all.
Even though this is a solo album, I just want to say that it has been a good year for Super Junior and E.L.F. Super Junior had a fantastic comeback and finally Zhou Mi gets the opportunity to have a solo album. What more could we ask for?
From start to finish this album was amazing and I'm glad it was because I was expecting greatness because Zhou Mi is pretty great. I look forward to whatever he puts out in the future!
~ Alora
~ Alora
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