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After releasing the digital single, "Heaven" (Review) on July, Taeyeon has comeback with her 6th mini album, Letter To Myself, containing 6 tracks with "Letter To Myself" as the title track and lead single.
"Letter To Myself"
I feel strange for what I'm about to say, but I didn't enjoy "Letter To Myself" as much as I expected. While the song is fantastic, it's not my style of song, but maybe it will grow on me. The highlight of this song for me are the instrumental which is great and the post-chorus; I wish that the entire song from start to end had the same sound.
"Letter To Myself" reminds me a tiny bit of Radiohead's "Creep," they aren't very similar, but "Creep" just keeps popping in my mind every time I listen to this song.
The MV is pretty. I like the return of the bear who previously appeared in the music video of "Heaven," where he tragically passed away after he was hunted down by Taeyeon. In this music video, he is alive and well, and it seems that they have resolved all of their previous "problems" (I love the start of a beautiful friendship).
My favorite scene of this music video is the one where Taeyeon and the group of people run away from the bus wheel at 2:28; it's really well done.
Style-wise, I love Taeyeon's look during the first post-chorus; it kind of brought me back to Taeyeon during her "Devil's Cry" performances. The other look that I liked was the school uniform; it's simple, but it looks good on her.
Rating
Song – 9/10
MV – 9/10
Style – 8/10
Overall Rating – 9/10
Song Credits
Release Date: November 18, 2024.
Length: 3 min 04 sec.
Lyrics by: Ha Yoo-Na (153/Joombas).
Music by: Dino Medanhodzi, Johanna Jansson, Rena Lovelis, Nia Lovelis, and Casey Moreta.
Arranged by: Dino Medanhodzi.
"Hot Mess"
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Length: 2:29.
Lyrics: Cha Yi-Rin (153/Joombas).
Music: Tommy Driscoll, Larzz Principato, and Upsahl.
Arrangement: Tommy Driscoll, Larzz Principato, and Upsahl.
"Hot Mess" sounds so great that it feels hypnotizing. The bass guitar that is all over the song is really something; I love it.
Rating – 10/10
"Blue Eyes"
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Length: 3:02.
Lyrics: Han Ro-ro.
Music: Chantry Johnson, Ryan Follese, and Alexander DeLeon.
Arrangement: Chantry Johnson.
"Blue Eyes" is a great R&B song; I really enjoy the beat and the guitar riff.
Rating – 10/10
"Strangers"
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Length: 2:50.
Lyrics: Ha Yoo-Na (153/Joombas).
Music: Anthony M. Jones, Lauren Larue, and Lindsey Lomis.
Arrangement: Tone.
The instrumental of "Strangers" is fantastic; it's the perfect song to just vibe to.
Rating – 10/10
"Blur"
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Length: 3:15.
Lyrics: Choi In-Yeong (Sweden Laundry) and Wang Se-Yun (Sweden Laundry).
Music: Meron Mengist, Mike Squillante, and Nick "Squids" Squillante.
Arrangement: Mike Squillante and Nick "Squids" Squillante.
"Blur" is so majestic that it's out of this world; Taeyeon's vocal runs and high notes truly blew my mind.
Rating – 10/10
"Disaster"
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Length: 3:13.
Lyrics: Bay (153/Joombas) and Ephy (153/Joombas).
Music: Rob Resnick, Sarah de Warren, and GiGi Grombacher.
Arrangement: Rob Resnick, Sarah de Warren, and GiGi Grombacher.
"Disaster" works perfectly as the ending song of this mini album: it has a little pinch of sadness that makes it work just perfectly.
Rating – 10/10
Final Thoughts
I'm not going to lie, but when it was announced that Taeyeon was going to comeback with a mini album, I was disappointed because I was expecting a full-length album this time around. However, Letter To Myself truly delivered. Taeyeon's voice is absolutely amazing (as always) and the whole mini album is extremely cohesive; I really love how the songs fit with each other perfectly, especially "Strangers" and "Blur." The (sort of) parallelism with the starting and ending songs being both pop-rock makes the mini album even better (even if I didn't enjoy the title as much).
All the songs are so great that I can't even choose a favorite! I just hope that Taeyeon's next release is a full-on rock song...