SISTAR - 'Touch N Move'



SISTAR is back with a smoking hot EP for their 2014 comeback. Formed in 2010, SISTAR has had a string of well-deserved hits these past four years. So how does "Touch N Move" stack up?

The mini-album kicks off with "Wow," a slow and easy ballad that seems to be all Hyorin. It's a pretty song with a pretty sentiment and short like an intro should be.




"Touch My Body" kicks up the tempo, and you can hear a horn section buoying the girl's voices. It's not hard to hear why this was chosen as the single. Despite the racy title, the lyrics are not quite as dirty as one might expect, and the song just makes you want to get up and move. Upbeat, cheerful, and powerful, this track is definitely well-crafted and 100% SISTAR from Hyorin's soaring vocals and Soyu's belts to Bora's rapping. I couldn't hear much Dasom, but that's because I think many of her parts in this tune are backed by Hyorin, making it difficult to detect--at least to me.

The third track, "Naughty Hands," is a mid-tempo pop tune backed by rapper Verbal Jint. The honey vocals blend nicely with the rap segment, though Jint is quite verbal on the track and probably has about the longest guest spot I've heard from a rapper. It's an appropriate break with the guy apologizing for his rather grabby behavior:

"It's my fault, I'll admit it, believe me
So let's walk slowly
Although I probably won't wash this hand for a few days."

Classic!



"But I Love U" starts with a melody that's reminiscent of Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger." The similarity swiftly disappears once Hyorin and Dasom start the opening verse. You can really hear each of their voices in this song. It's almost like they dialed back the music a bit to let them shine. Hyorin and Soyu deliver a powerful chorus, counterpoint to the somewhat more measured vocals in the main verses.  

Moving onto "OK GO!," this tune gives off a definite hip-hop vibe from the start-stop nature of the verses to actual rapping by Hyorin and Bora. If the main verses sound a bit like f(x), everything else has that cheery SISTAR sound. And the lyrics are about having fun. I like it because musically, it's a bit different than their usual output, yet still a great fit.



The final song is "Sunshine," a song that emulates the feel of the title. A warm, joyful tune talking about how much the girl loves her boy. It starts out ballad-style before launching firmly into mid-tempo. The girls really do a great job here, and it's a treat for the ears, just like every other tune on this mini-album.

I have to give kudos to both the songwriters and the girls of SISTAR here. The technical artistry here is solid gold, and exuberant, bubbly songs make for a really pleasant listen. Oddly bereft of pure ballads, this disc nonetheless doesn't feel like filler at all, and instead sounds exactly like it is supposed to, like SISTAR -- and that is a very good thing.

MV REVIEW

The sexy concept is here to stay, and SISTAR is no exception. If "Give it Me" weren't enough of an indicator, then this video should pretty much convince you. However, I get a different feeling when watching this video, probably because the girls, rather than trying too hard to be sexy, look like their having loads and loads of fun.

And while I could take issue with the outfits, it is summer. They can hardly be expected to wear head-to-toe long johns when the weather's hot and the sun is shining.

The girls dance and sing their way through a variety of environments, many of them beach-party-themed. I love the apparently inside party scenes in which they're dancing and having an overall good time. The antics of the party-goers are chuckle-worthy as well.

Is it ground-breaking? Hardly. Is there a deep and engaging story? Nope. But it's just so much fun to watch. The girls are beautiful, and the smiles and ebullience one would hope to find at a party are all present and accounted for. In short, if you like parties, like the song, and/or like SISTAR, you'll find something to enjoy in this MV.

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