IZ – THE:IZ

Track List:

1. The Day

2. Superstition

3. See You (Outro)

IZ has just dropped their single album, 'THE:IZ.' It includes three tracks: the title track "The Day," and two B-sides. This is their third single album to date.

"The Day" is kind of a soft rock production. It's fairly low-key, and it has a prominent electric guitar backing track. Before long though,  singer Jihoo injects it with desperate energy. I like how it develops, but I think it's bland and repetitive for a title track. I started to get majorly tired of the "la la la las." I have to say I really like the guitar solo, though.

"Superstition" is the kind of song I keep wishing day6 would release. This is a dynamic tune, with an epic feel to it. I think it also benefits from Jihoo being a bit more restrained. I'm all for not being a slave to the metronome, but he musters more control here than on the title track. He still delivers those explosive vocals near the end, however.

"See You (Outro)" is notable because at first it presents itself as a vaguely jazzy instrumental, but then acquires some vocals. It's a soft rock piece, with all that entails, so Jihoo doesn't go hog-wild here. It's not bad, but it's not amazing, either.

So we get three singles, and I only really liked the second track. That hardly qualifies as high marks. I think they were hoping that their vocals would carry them through. The singer seriously has a set of lungs on him. But it wasn't enough to boost the rather lackluster instrumentation. I know I was hoping for more.

MV REVIEW

It starts out cute enough. The boys are actors in a film -- Jihoo is the traveler, Jun Young, and Hyun Jun are the lobby boys, and Woo Su is the bell boy. A weary Jihoo carries his bag to his room (so why isn't bell boy Woo Su helping?).

After that little plot hole, it gets a good deal more obscure. The traveler looks through a scope and sees a rather rainbow-colored cosmos. The boys are performing in the lobby, with various vine-covered cages. After Woo Su peers into one of them, they're all of a sudden performing in a cage.

Meanwhile, there are forest scenes, scenes with books (complete with animated pictures ala Harry Potter), and that's when you realize the MV may have lost its way. See, there's no proper denouement. There's nothing to signal that their journey ended, No time to reflect on what he learned during his travels. The weirdness suddenly stops, along with the boys in the cage. I longed for a better ending.

Still, that doesn't mean the video is bad. Far from it. There's enough here to keep you guessing, to keep your eyes busy while you listen to the song. It's quite well done -- from the flat cartoon birds in the flat cartoon forest to that glimpse of the planets, down to the cages, both big and small.

I have to give this video a thumbs up. It does what it says on the tin, and provides an enjoyable experience on top of that.

Score

MV Relevance...........7

MV Production..........9

MV Concept..............8

MV SCORE: 8.0

Album Production.....7

Album Concept.........7

Tracklisting...............7

ALBUM SCORE: 7.0

OVERALL................7.5