Jiyeon of T-ara released her first solo mini-album, 'Never Ever,' on May 20th. Although she's got a lot of competition with other female artists promoting in the same month, a number of online polls indicate that Jiyeon's comeback was the most anticipated -- and now voted the best of the bunch. 

The track "1MIN 1SEC / Never Ever" was produced by hit-maker team Duble Sidekick, and actually contains very little of what I've come to expect from a Duble Sidekick tune. There are no rap parts, very little stylistic excess, no collaborations. Jiyeon stands well enough on her own, and she doesn't need guest stars to make this album any better.

I like how her breathing is almost used as a percussion element. At first, that bothered me, thinking, "They couldn't edit out her gasps on this track?" but then I finally understood what they did with it. She gives her all in this tune from the insistent chorus to the breathy main verses, and I do hear echoes of a T-ara tune. I like the idea: that a woman will "never ever" give up, not for "1 minute or 1 second" on the man she loves. I can tell you the song grows on me the more I listen to it.

"Yeuido Cherry Blossom Road" is the tune I would have led off with. This track pops a lot more than "1MIN 1SEC," and is far more cheerful. Bells, a guitar track, and a subtle horn section during the chorus all combine to make a warm tune that makes me think of the wind in my hair and the sun on my face. There are some parts in this song in which Jiyeon's voice just drips honey, and it's a nice feeling.  This mid-tempo tune was produced by Ahn Young Min, who has worked with T-ara before. It's a perfect spring track, and I would love to see an MV for this as even the title is evocative.

"Marionette" is an amusing study in contrasts. It starts out slow, but a few seconds in, transitions to a nice tempo. This is where Jiyeon really shines. Her vocals really bring this song up to the standards we hope for -- I love the bridges and breaks, and her voice hits those honey notes here, as well. It reminds me a lot of a T-ara tune. It ends very much as it began, slowly, with start-and-stop single-syllable English vocals.

The rest of the album is instrumentals, presumably to push the idea that this is a mini-album and not just a single. I play this album digitally -- the instrumental tracks don't even make it to my playlist and they interest me little as I prefer vocals.

This is a great first solo outing from a talented vocalist. Again, I think it suffers from the mini-album format, but among the three tracks that matter, there's no filler, no sub par by-the-numbers songs. Like most mini-albums lately, I just want to hear more. This is a great mini-album, and easily stands as one of the best solo efforts I've heard. 

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MV REVIEW

I'll be honest with you here: the first time I viewed this MV, I didn't see a sexy concept.

And upon repeated viewings, I still don't see it.

Let me explain. Take any of these other artists for a spin. Indulge me: find the most recent videos by Hyosung, AoA, miss A, T-ara, and Girl's Day. What do you see? The sexual imagery in these videos is far more blatant and obvious than in "1MIN 1 SEC." There is some provocative dancing, true, and Jiyeon is an absolute stunner, but to me it was rather buried, subdued. It doesn't hurt the overall quality of the video, but it's something worth noting.

And this is probably no surprise if you've read the interviews. "It's not entirely a sexy concept. It's a kind of sexiness that comes when girly and mannish parts combine," Jiyeon said during a press conference at Core Contents Headquarters. I'm not sure what she meant by "mannish parts," (since I saw nothing of the sort), but it's pretty obvious the sexiness was dialed down, which is refreshing.

If I had to use a word to describe the dance sequences, it would be "classy." I didn't get the feeling I was invited in, it was more like watching something on display. Jiyeon moves incredibly well; the movements were nice and fluid, transitions smooth from one pose to the next. I like the interplay between light and stark darkness as well as the shots in which she dances next to a wall lit by what looks like an aquarium light (since water-like patterns play upon the walls).

The colors in this MV are dark and cold, hardly inviting. When I think sexy, I think warm and soft, and this MV seems to have more of an edge to it.  The narrative portion was rather grim. We see a girl repeating the same actions in a singularly creepy house. They did a good job here; it feels like someplace you'd be trapped rather than a place to live. The jittery, stop-motion camera effects plus the disintegration of the house serve as unsettling. If they were going for that feeling, I think they succeeded admirably.

As I stated earlier, I'm not a big fan of the tune itself. It's serviceable, and is growing on me. The MV seems to have nothing to do with the plot, but I have to give kudos to the producers for not merely putting her in a box and shining lights on her. They went for a fairly experimental approach here, and I think it works well. Is it the most interesting video I've seen? No, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. Dance numbers can only take you so far.

SEE ALSO: T-ara's Jiyeon and baseball player Hwang Jae Gyun finalize divorce after two years of marriage