THROWBACK #3: OH MY GIRL- CLOSER

Released: October 8th, 2015

Just 5 months after debuting with their catchy, drum-percussion dominated single Cupid, Oh My Girl continued to turn heads around by releasing teaser photos suggesting a fantasy concept. My expectations were pretty high for a rookie group that was only 5 months old, as I thought Cupid established the group's identity, so I expected a more evolving sound with a new concept.

But I didn't expect such a song to get me deep into my feels. Closer completely blew me away with a poignant melody and vocal harmonies merging together, none of which were present in Cupid. Right off the bat, vocals open up the track with a calm but eerie piano riff. The composer does a beautiful job of distorting the synths to transition from the intro to the verse. The verses are a wonderful masterpiece in leading us to the chorus without an actual pre-chorus, where I particularly love the descending synth chord progression in the instrumental. The chorus is everything you could have imagined; an upbeat tempo with beautiful vocal layers that solidify what was foreshadowed in the intro. The second verse, although short, continues to showcase vocal harmonies to lift the song to the chorus again. It is not till the bridge though, that the song fully blossoms. The instruments cease and the girls' vocals are put into the main spotlight, adding on harmonies after harmonies on top of the "Closer I'm closer" chants, providing each chant a breath of fresher air than the previous one, before building up to the final chorus.

Looking back at the entire composition, the melody and the deep chord progressions wins as one of the melancholic dance tunes I've ever heard, yet progresses so well to reach a climax in the chorus. However, it could not be done without the talented vocals of the group, where numerous harmonies support the main vocals, on top of the gorgeous-rich instrumentals. The song's length is 3:27 which seems like a pretty normal duration, but I couldn't help but feel as if the song felt a little too short, especially during the second verse. The rap part isn't bad at all, but I felt like it was just there to extend the song's length. Other than that, it's a song that is a total tearjerker. Oh My Girl has proven they are a force to be reckoned with, through manipulating our own heart-wrenching emotions.

RATING: 7.8/10