f(x)’s Amber returned to the music industry, this time by herself to promote her new solo comeback ‘Shake that Brass.’ Her first mini-album ‘Beautiful’ consists of five beautiful tracks with features from SNSD’s Taeyeon and Eric Nam and of songs where Amber is singing (and not rapping! omg!). In her MV for title track ‘Shake that Brass’, other K-Pop artists and labelmates, ranging from GOT7’s Jackson to SNSD, also showed their support for the f(x) member by appearing in her music video.
For Amber’s solo comeback, ‘Shake that Brass’ has to be my least favorite track from the album (which is no surprise because it’s the title track). It sounds like a usual SM title track, very upbeat, random, and techno with abrupt changes and transitions into the song which is why I’m not a big fan of it. It also sounds like something f(x) would sing (but there’s nothing wrong with that). As for the music video to the title track, I like how there were cameos from other groups and artists (I love it when that happens!) but it’s also a very typical SM music video with those solo and choreography shots, but I do like how some comedy is incorporated into the music video. But other than ‘Shake that Brass’, I like all the other album tracks. I love how the mini-album starts out with ‘Beautiful’ because first, that song itself is beautiful, and second, Amber is singing in that track and we all know that in f(x), she rarely gets the chance to showcase her singing abilities because she’s the rapper in the group, so to hear her singing a wonderful song is just really great because Amber has a beautiful voice. ‘Love Run’, ‘Heights’, and ‘I Just Wanna’ which features Eric Nam and is the English version of f(x)’s ‘Goodbye Summer’ are all really really good songs too and I mean it. It’s hard to choose a favorite track from this album because they are all so good and they all really fit my taste of music. I’m glad that Amber got the opportunity to sing and not just rap in these tracks because it’s so rare to come across that in f(x)’s songs. I wasn’t so sure as to how I was going to feel about Amber’s solo comeback, but I actually enjoy it. Album tracks are great and MV is really colorful and pretty.
I’ve noticed that SM has been doing a lot of solo comebacks, with Henry then SHINee’s Taemin and Jonghyun, and then now to f(x)’s Amber. I’m really glad that SM is giving group members the chance to promote as a solo artist; It gives that member their time to shine. I’m hoping that next up is Luna from f(x) because girl is so talented and so beautiful and she makes everything work no matter what. SM PLEASE. GIVE LUNA A CHANCE.
Overall, Amber’s solo comeback doesn’t disappoint and rather delivers. Although unsure of whether she will get a second mini-album as a solo artist, I’m really glad that her first mini-album consisted of great songs. Cheers to Amber and her time to shine after years of promoting with f(x)! Let’s hope that others also get their time in the spotlight!
Credits: SMTOWN, T @ youtube
MaryMeKpop 