[Review] JeA “Just JeA”

It wasn’t long until the leader of K-Pop’s most popular adult-idol group,Brown Eyed Girls, set her sights on her own solo album. After all, her upstaging bandmates have been releasing solo projects over the past two years. WhileNarsha,Ga In, and evenMiryocruised through their releases with mainstream pop music,JeA‘s looking to offer us something a little more intimate and personal with her release. As we go through the album, we’re introduced with a familiar pop sound that slowly eases into the experimental depths of JeA’s creative prowess.

For an album titled ‘Just JeA‘ there sure are a lot of collaborations and the one feature that JeA has that’s worth parading is from the very first track. Four timeGrammynomineeEric Benetlends his warm R&B vocals on “Days & Nights” over a sensual latin tingled beat. One would think that a language barrier would hinder the listening experience of this regret-filled love fest, but their cross-language lyrical exchange actually works pretty nicely. Not only does JeA pull-off English better than a well-studied green card holder, Benet also does a pretty job with his own Korean line delivery. Which is great seeing how badly many people butcher words likeGangnam Styleon American television.

JeA begins to seduce with “Stray Cat“. With a flirtatious vocal delivery, JeA refers to herself as a “kitty on the street” on a bouncy acoustic track. With multi-textured hooks and playful whistling sifting in and out the track’s soundscape, the melodies are bound to entertain.

However, Just JeA decides to take things seriously with her lead single “While You Were Asleep“. While the first two songs provided the mini album with bright colors and personality, “While You Were Asleep” gives us an idea of what JeA’s about artistically. “Asleep” provides those emotive vocals we’ve all been waiting to hear from the Brown Eyed Girls’ key vocalist. The track paces itself five full minutes of dynamic ups and downs and even throws in a choir to really spark things up.

Some notable aspects of “Asleep” is the rather retro vocal processing and production that causes her to sound a bit robotic at times. The retro sound and romantic vibes also recalls some vibes from “I’ll Do Better”, a solo track from theBEG‘s smash ‘Sound G‘ album when “Abracadabra” was wildly popular. The only real criticism here is that the song isn’t nearly as quickly digestible as we’d like it to be. A good example of that might beSunny Hill‘s “Goodbye Romance“. But if JeA wanted something for radio play, she’d probably find producers to make that happen. So, “Asleep” isn’t the most experimental track she’s done, but it is an exemplary track that shows off the kind of music that JeA does well and enjoys the best.

“Silent Stalker” is the edge where the disc cuts off, and its ear perking sound somehow makes the best and worst ending to this EP. Best because producerTexu Kimbrings out new fantastic shades of JeA, the same way he did for Ga In and her debut ‘Step 2/4‘ record. But worst because the rather creepy, hip-hop tingled album outro leaves such an abrupt ending to a record that was opening up to be something really interesting. An additional track to buffer the tracklist would be a great solution to this, but it could also be me wanting an encore track to a pleasant album.

‘Just JeA’ serves exactly its purpose and provides just enough more to keep it interesting. It doesn’t exceed expectations with overly ambitious tracks in hopes of trying to pit JeA against her bandmates’ for that spotlight or recognition, but modestly nests JeA on a pedestal as the group’s most talented and passionate vocalist. Just how the album title suggests, the album is simply “Just JeA”, and just like JeA, this album is incredibly solid and deserving of your listen.

[Editor's Note: 'Just JeA' was provided toaskkpopfor review before its official release to the public]

Reviewer's Rating:(4.2 / 5)

Community Rating: 

(41votes, average:4.78out of 5)