Kyuhyun, 'At Gwanghwamun'

Super Junior's maknae, Kyuhyun, is here to warm up your autumn (if you're in the Northern Hemisphere) with his first solo mini-album! The album, titled 'At Gwanghwamun,' is already topping the charts. The title song achieved an "all kill" in 12 hours, and knocked HI SUHYUN and MC Mong from the number one spot on Korean music charts, including MelOn, Mnet, Genie, and Naver. To celebrate his debut, Kyuhyun held an autumn concert at Yes24 Muv Hall in Mapogu yesterday, where he sang the tunes from the EP live for the first time. Kyuhyun also appeared on more than a few variety shows to talk about his solo debut as compared to singing with an idol group.



The smash hit, "At Gwanghwamun," serves as the title track for the album and starts with a basic piano line before gradually building to symphonic (or a faux-symphonic) accompaniment.  Here Kyuhyun sings of once being young and in love, now longing for his lover, standing at the gates of the Joseon Era palace. The vocals don't really match the melancholic mood until the end, when Kyuhyun sings earnestly and really hits those high notes.



The Yiruma-composed "Eternal Sunshine" is next and, despite the cheery title, it is about trying to forget a lost love. Similar in structure to "At Gwanghwamun," it dials back the symphonic parts in favor of guitar. It has a good beat to it and as great as the first track is, this one is better.



"At Close," written and composed by Honey Duo (Jung Yeop and Eco Bridge), uses the now familiar piano-symphony arrangement, though this seems to have more cymbal clashes than the first two songs. Kyuhyun pulls out the stops and shows off his vocal power here. A very expressive song, this lovelorn ballad has our maknae asking why he didn't appreciate what he had til it was gone?



"Moment of Farewell" continues the morose tone of the album. The vocals start out sweet, and end up heartfelt. While similar to the others songs at first, midway through, there's a time change and all too brief sounds of electric guitars. I'll give you three guesses as to what this is about. 

Up next is "One Confession," in which Kyuhyun sings "I love you so much that I have to hide those words" and thanks her for being in his heart. Breaking with tradition, it didn't seem so much a breakup tune as simply a love song, and is refreshing to hear after the other tracks.



"Flying, Deep In The Night" cranks up the tempo a lot, though not so much that it's jarring. A fervently sung soft rock tune with a slow break in which Kyuhyun hits those high notes before chugging right along again. A more whimsical tune than the rest of songs on this disc, the lyrics talk of fairy tales and flying in the night toward a castle.


 
The final track is "My Thoughts, Your Memories," which uses violins and piano primarily. While it's still a lovelorn ballad, it contains more hopeful lyrics, such as "my heart...is slowly getting better" and "would we still be in love?" Kyuhyun puts in a rich vocal performance here, and the song is a good finisher to the album.

I like some of the imagery the lyrics conjure up. Lyrics like "floating along like a small piece of dust," "I'm getting colored with you," and "in your smoothly flowing words, even the erased memories are being written again" help to paint a vivid picture so we understand how the singer is supposed to feel.

This album is very soothing, very easy on the ears. I'd go so far as to say it could probably cure a headache. Warm up the cider or the hot chocolate, wrap yourself in a blanket, plop yourself in front of a fireplace, and queue this up on the stereo. Find out for yourself why this album dominates the charts so thoroughly.

Recommended tracks: "Flying, Deep In The Night," "At Gwanghwamun," "Eternal Sunshine"

SEE ALSO: Singer Kyuhyun to kick off national tour in Seoul