CURRENT #9: HA:TFELT- SWEET SENSATION

Released: April 23rd, 2020

To this day I still have no idea what Yeeun's stage name "HA:TFELT" means, but whatever it means, it's played a huge part as she continues to advance further in her solo career. It has been almost 13 years since the Wonder Girls debuted (can you believe it??!), and although they disbanded in 2017, none of the girls have stopped releasing individual music (except Hyelim, who is currently pursuing school studies). As the main vocalist of the Wonder Girls back then, Yeeun has released a steady amount of solo tunes. Today she releases her first studio album 1719 with its lead single Sweet Sensation. It's a sorrowful-like tune but later turns care-free, ultimately telling us "everything's gonna be alright." Production-wise, it manages to hit a couple of sweet spots, but not a lot.

Sweet Sensation does a good job of keeping the same elements and melody while introducing new elements to evoke different emotions. I thought the moods felt between the verses and the chorus were like night and day, and I didn't expect the chorus to turn out this way. The same piano chord progression is played throughout both the verse and the chorus, as well as the horn synths, which is unique but has its flaws. This is truly evident in the chorus,where I thought the synths were too repetitive and made it difficult to hear Yeeun's vocals. The synths were a refreshing touch that adds layers to the mellow but gloomy-feel verses but wasn't necessary once all of that grief disappears in the chorus. Speaking of the chorus, there are some parts in the melody that sound off-scale, notably when Ye-eun sings the "sensation" and the "recreation" part. Because "sensation" is sung during the transition from the pre-chorus to the chorus, it's one of those bad apples that leaves a sour taste in your mouth, no matter how delicious the rest of the apples are. The post-chorus gives us a nice look at the instrumental and some extra harmonies but the rest of the song has nothing else to offer. There's nothing too special in the bridge that supposingly shows why Sole is the featured artist here.

Overall the song is a good effort but lacks the wow factor that other of her songs like Ain't Nobody did, in taking us into new territory as the song progresses. Ain't Nobody not only did that but also reminded us why Yeeun was the main vocalist in a group that was considered to have started the 2nd generation of K-Pop. Sweet Sensation can feel sweet at times, but ultimately does neither of the above.

RATING: 7.1/10