THROWBACK #14: DAVICHI- DON'T SAY GOODBYE

Released: August 29th, 2011

Rarely in K-Pop do we ever see duos and soloists releasing new music; it is most likely that either of the two are currently part of a K-Pop group because its inevitable that you must be in a group (and especially in a well-known agency) to at least be recognized individually. From an agency standpoint, it is evident that today, stage performance and choreography matters just as much as vocal performance, and you are more likely to have creativity the more group members you have. But a decade ago, that wasn't the case. A decade ago was when soloists like SE7EN and RAIN dominated the K-Pop scene with their charisma. Then you had duos like Davichi who focused more on the vocal side, giving us tearjerkers one after another. Out of all of them, Don't Say Goodbye is the epitome of K-Pop ballads, exhibiting the emotions felt through their singing and music.

Don't Say Goodbye is not your typical ballad and deserves to be a title track for many reasons. Davichi both are terrific vocalists to where they are able to alter the amplitude of their voices and the duration of them. The result of this is them being able to control the dynamics of the entire song and allow us to distinguish the chorus from the verses with their voices alone. I love the cooperation and the talking between the symphonic instruments and the vocals. It's almost like both of them are taking turns in transitioning between song sections. For example, the brass notes ascend to lead the second part of the first verse before the vocals appear, while Davichi effortlessly sings in a higher octave to lead the first half of the chorus, as well as transitioning to the second half. Their high notes puts the strings in a great position to reappear, carrying on the energy stirred by their vocals. This kind of magic can only done with such vocals, and Davichi's sensational singing here is just something else. Davichi's extra punch in the final chorus more than makes up for the lack of a bridge, where we are treated with additional violin harmonies.

Davichi remains as one of my favorite duos and vocalists, but much hasn't been heard of them since their last album release in January 2018. I have yet to hear of any news regarding disbandment, but it will unfortunately be really difficult for them to find the same kind of stardom that catapulted them into the spotlight in around 2010. Their long hiatus, as well as the rise of groups has hurt them in the long-term, but songs like Don't Say Goodbye allow us to remember just how talented Davichi was.

RATING: 7.7/10