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Promotional picture of JYONGRI

Artist: JYONGRI Product Code: TOCT-26214,26215 Release Date: 2007.03.21 Highest Ranking: #25 Label: Toshiba EMI Editions: CD or CD+DVD

JYONGRI is a singer of Korean Heritage who was born in Osaka. She went to international school and is fluent in English as well as Japanese, and incorporates English into her songs. She started writing her own lyrics and music from a young age, having even attended the summer music program in Berklee College of Music. Her trademark is her playing a forward-tilting electronic keyboard both in music videos and in live performances.

Before she even debuted a single, her song “Wherever” already began making the rounds. She officially debuted at the end of 2006 with “Possession/My All For You”, which became a great success. After only releasing one more single, “Hop, Step, Jump!”, she released her debut album. Close to Fantasy was a lyric from “Hop, Step, Jump!”

 

1. Getting Funky!
Getting Funky kicks off the album with a nice electronic beat. Contrary to its name, it’s not particularly funky, but it has a nice beat and a decent tune. The chorus is nice and very danceable, but in between the song often becomes dull.

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2. Possession
Possession starts off on a fast, high-tension beat, and the energy continues through the song. This is JYONGRI’s signature debut song, for good reason: it’s catchy but has a unique tune, has an extremely danceable beat, and showcases extremely powerful vocals.

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3. Hop, Step, Jump!
Hot, Step, Jump! was JYONGRI’s second single, and it’s more of a mellowed mid-tempo pop number. It’s not bad - it still has a nice tune and beat. However, it doesn’t do that much on the part of showcasing vocals, and the expected building excitement of the song never really climaxes. It’s catchy, but boring.

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4. ICHIZU
Extremely reminiscent of an 80s pop ballad, ICHIZU employs synthesized sounds. There’s not much to say about this song because there’s nothing too special about it: it has nice music, nice vocals, nice everything - but nothing stands out to make this song memorable.

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5. Stay
Stay is a midtempo number. The song has nice piano parts, but not much else besides a beat. I didn’t like this song much - the backing track was extremely simple, but the melody and chorus weren’t strong enough to support the songs, making this song sound unfinished and dull.

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6. Let Me In
At the beginning of Let Me In, there is a haunting orchestral run, but this suddenly bursts into a more cheerful melody. The background percussion clashes a little with the melody, but it really comes together during the chorus.

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7. My All For You
My All For You was the double A-side on Posession. It’s a slow ballad and is excellent. The instrumentation, percussion, and vocals blend very well. JYONGRI’s vocals also shine exceptionally in this song. After a string of mediocre songs, My All For You is a relieving gem.

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8. Romeo & Juliet
The album switches back to a more upbeat R&B song. It’s, unfortunately, dull. There is hardly a tune, and boring, almost substandard arrangement.

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9. ~Yakusoku~
~Yakusoku~ is another slow ballad. It has good instrumentation and arrangement, and a memorable melody. It’s not as vocally spectacular as My All For You, but it’s overall a great song.

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10. Lost Girl
Lost Girl is another upbeat R&B song. The song starts off badly, with a dull and monotone tune and a standard, overused beat. Later though, the song swells during the first chorus, and improves as it goes on.

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11. Wherever
The album ends on a piano ballad. The song starts simply with only vocals and piano, and more sound builds up. The sound is simplistic, but JYONGRI’s vocals sound emotional and clear here, and overall the song swells beautifully and is a nice end to the album.

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Conclusion: JYONGRI does very well with her ballads, but aside from the phenomenal Possession, her upbeat R&B tracks are dull and uninspired. As a debut album, it has successfully showcased JYONGRI’s singing abilities. However, she probably needs to find better producers - the substandard uptempo songs make only a few tracks on the album memorable and the promising album merely a bit above average.

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CD Tracklist

1. Getting Funky
2. Possession
3. Hop, Step, Jump!
4. ICHIZU
5. Stay
6. Let Me In
7. My All For You
8. Romeo&Juliet
9. ~Yakusoku~
10. Lost Girl
11. Wherever

DVD Tracklist

1. Possession PV
2. My All For You PV
3. Hop, Step, Jump! PV
4. Wherever PV
5. Getting Funky! PV
6. Making-of Collection

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