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After four years and six months of hiatus, the much anticipated comeback of DEAN is finally here.
Alternative artist Tabber of you.will.knovv has dropped his first mixtape, “Deep End Mixtape,” featuring Kim Ximya, So!YoON!, and DEAN today.
MKIT RAIN‘s nafla has just dropped his new single “under the ground (Feat. Dean),” which was produced by Color and will be part of the “u n u part 2” LP.
Release Date: February 5, 2020
Type: Single
Presented by MKIT RAIN
Published by NHN Bugs
Produced by Color
Synthesizer: Sangho Jung
Lyrics written by nafla, Deanfluenza
Mixed by No Identity
Mastered by Namwoo Kwon at 821 Sound Mastering
Artwork: Chris Trbl
Source: Bugs!
Let me just get something out of the way. I got a song and a half into Crush’s latest album and was on the verge of tears. The last time this happened I was at uni. I’d just heard Jeff Buckley for the first time. After getting over the injustice of him having passed away before I discovered him, listening to Grace ripped something in me that’s never been repaired. Dammit, if Crush didn’t widen the crag with From Midnight to Sunrise.
From the opening notes of the album, I’m an emotional wreck. This man really decided he needed to remind us all just who the hell he is. What did I say about “NAPPA”? When he’s in the mood for a flex, we should all watch out because it’s going to be extravagant!
“From Midnight to Sunrise” is an awakening. Dawn breaks on the hushed sigh of a cymbal brush. What better way to usher in the new day than with a song that’s the aural manifestation? The track is traditional, unfettered jazz. Coltrane and Miles. Perhaps for a more contemporary comparison, Clara Hill’s rendition of Jazzanova’s “That Night.” Moody, sensual, a tease to what happens next. And what happens next (and beyond) is absolute magic.
“Wake Up”… Okay. Without putting too fine a point on it, I want to kiss Crush’s feet for bringing DEAN back to me. Yes, his best friend has been making and releasing music for the past couple years, albeit sparingly. But if you’ll remember my thoughts of his acoustic rendition of “Howlin’ 404,” throughout his career as a solo artist, he’s had moments where he’s seemed lost. He’s been working ever since the release of his debut EP to exorcise that self-doubt. When he released “Howlin’s…” acoustic fraternal twin, it was like a reawakening.
Now we come to From Midnight to Sunrise. There’s new life in DEAN that’s been in wax and wane for the better part of two years. His voice next to Crush’s composition is a marvel.
“Wake Up” is simple in general construction. However, the harmony work, the subtle strings throughout and the flutter of those same bode instruments at the song’s harmonic climax is a work of pure, unadulterated art. The added smoky dimensions of DEAN’s voice settling next to Crush’s is a revelation. (In case you’re wondering: Yes. DEAN’s still howling.) The pair work in perfect synch with each other. They’re both known for elaborate harmony schemes. Placing them on top of and next to each other adds a layer of complexity to a track that’s otherwise a soft sigh. A light breeze riding the mist of early morning.
The two drip into the listener’s consciousness like the first shy rays of morning. When the song reaches its apex, the sun crashes into dawn, bringing the full flourishes of the day with it. It’s a brilliantly constructed piece of music that reintroduces the world to just how musically intelligent Crush and DEAN are.
To follow “Wake Up” with a Take 6-inspired interlude featuring his Band Wonderlust is such an aggressive play. It’s as if he’s attempting to overload the listener’s senses. Force his way into the psyche. Crush sprinkles bits of this vocal layering throughout the album. Track “Alone” is reminiscent of some of the intricate vocal weaving of Boyz II Men and, yes, Take 6. In fact, the sparse composition has shades of Boyz II Men Christmas ballad “Who Would Have Thought.” From the tinkling piano backdrop, indicative of so many holiday songs, to the harmonic opening and break right before the final chorus.
This, of course, extends to the more pop-heavy “Tiki-Taka.” A fine balance of sweeping strings and piano to open us up much like the slow ease of morning into afternoon. Despite having a more traditionally “pop” construction, the addition of the strings gives the track more dimension. The miracle of the harmonies during the pre-chorus elevates the song, giving it unexpected depth. He’s played with this dance between classic and contemporary with his debut LP, Crush on You. Song “Whatever You Do” also made use of strings and vocal layering to give a playful song agency. The addition of DPR Live hearkens back more viscerally to Crush’s first full body of work, the rapper’s cadence and placement almost identical to GRAY’s.
It brings to light another aspect of the album that Crush subtly sneaks in here. The notion of parallelism. The album title and the way the album is constructed. Making very distinct nods to his five-year-old debut. The fact that Zion.T helped produce both “Wake Up” and “Nighty Night.” (More on “Nighty Night” later.) The liberal use of vocal and instrumental layering. The harmony work on this album is interstellar. Truly something from the heavens. The care Crush took with composition this time around is… Impressive doesn’t do it justice. Each layer of harmony tightly wound around each other, pitch-perfect. A marvel of musical symmetry–perfect sounds meshing perfectly without crack or flaw.
“Sunset” is one of the most stunning pieces of music I’ve ever heard. Period. In this day and age, it seems people have honestly forgotten what it means to make music. No, this isn’t an indictment of the quality of other artists. Nor does this suggest people don’t make “real” music anymore. What I’m saying is people forget that music is art. That it’s as much expression, commerce, and freedom as it is an honest-to-goodness artform.
With From Midnight to Sunrise, Crush reintroduces the notion of making something beautiful for the sake of beauty. To make music dramatic, self-indulgent, cinematic. Utterly gorgeous just because it’s there to be. “Sunset” absolutely unfolds the “muse” in “music.” Methinks the young master has been listening to Lewis Taylor’s Lost Album, or more likely Brian Wilson. It’s like the vocal work of “In My Room” and the instrumental jubilee of Frank Ocean’s “Pretty Sweet” had a one-night stand. The layering on “Sunset” induces the most peculiar combination of full-body chills and internal warmth.
He’s certainly been busy studying the greats of late-’80s/early-’90s R&B: Peabo Bryson, Anita Baker, perhaps a bit of TROOP or Mint Condition for good measure. Tracks “With You” and “Butterfly” indicate he’s been diving headfirst into much of the musical canon of my childhood. Pulling tighter on the red strings between jazz and R&B he’s been exploring since (at least) 2016’s Interlude. (If you stretch your ear just a bit, you could say “Butterfly” is just a slower, more sensual rendition of Jamiroquai’s song of the same name.)
In fact, he gets on a kick of unwrapping the versatility of R&B in the ’90s with first “Butterfly,” then “Ibiza.” The latter’s obvious nod to New Jack Swing is something we haven’t heard Crush really play around with in earnest for a while. Not since his debut album, with track “Hey Baby” where he explored New Edition graduates Bobby Brown and Johnny Gill. “Ibiza” takes it a step further, adding the dimension of Midwest house. A genre that Europe adopted and watered down. He does this elegantly, with respect to the historical significance of the subgenres. This is Crush, after all. If he’s going to try his hand at a thing, he’s going to drink from the source, not the bottled-water dilution.
The brilliance of “Cloth” lies in Crush’s ability to use double entendre. The skill has extended to a song’s entire concept. The notion of “cloth” has both religious and sensual connotations. We begin with the song’s foundation. The shrill warble of a church organ against the throbbing backdrop of an 808 (a sound most associated with R&B). He deliberately crosses the line between the holy and the profane. Being “of the cloth,” a person dedicated to a life of religious piety. “Cloth” also is quite literally of the flesh (to cover and caress). It’s both a symbol of innocence and sin. Crush proclaiming he wants to be “close to you,” like cloth, like a second skin. Like a man of the cloth yearning to be closer to whatever God he’s dedicated himself to.
While lyrically From Midnight to Sunrise has some of the most profound poetry of Crush’s discography, “Cloth” stands apart. The song’s lyrical landscape reads like the final hours of Jesus Christ himself. A man, indicted for his existence, is hung on the cross. Crush envisions himself a martyr. Splayed for a public whose interest peaks and falls with shifting trends.
It’s almost Shakespearean, his entreaty that someone (a loved one? a ravenous crowd?) never abandon him. “In a place where there’s no sunlight Dear, don’t abandon me Just don’t throw me away.” (“O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, who monthly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable.” Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2)
Follow that with the blues-tinged ache and croon of “Sleep No More.” The single guitar, a fuzz-wah filter acting as the perfect foil to Crush himself. The scratchy, throaty croon of the instrument against the smooth lightness of Crush’s voice and the silken harmonies that follow.
With the album’s closing track, the aptly titled “Nighty Night,” Crush gives us more of that dual imagery. While he woke us up with the smoky denseness of DEAN’s voice, the night ends on the ebullience of another longtime friend of Crush’s: Zion.T. Where DEAN’s voice holds a remnant of sleep, Zion.T’s tone embodies the waning excitement of the day as it folds into night. The bounce and broken cadence of his delivery does splendid things when intertwined with Crush’s. Zion.T’s playfulness coaxing the listener close, while Crush’s sincerity entices them to bed. In between sleeping and waking, we’re wrapped once again in twilight.
Crush is such a smart musician. He doesn’t really get the credit he deserves for the cerebral way he approaches his music. Something as simple as the album’s title and song order. The album walks itself backward (or forward, depending on how deep into your interpretation you want to get) from the pre-dawn of sunrise to the sin and mystery of midnight. Such that once the album begins again, you’re in the heat of night’s kiss on your skin. Sensual and promising, once the trumpet makes an appearance, the heat of the moment begins to wane and listeners are greeted with the shy blush of the next morning. Simple, yet so incredibly smart.
It’s imperative you listen to From Midnight to Sunrise more than once, if only to get the full scope of the album’s conceit. By the time Crush and Zion.T have said goodnight, the listener has been seduced out of and back to sleep just as the sun yawns into the morning once again. Crush has gifted us a true masterpiece.
Crush has released his second full-length album, “From Midnight to Sunrise,” and the music video of its title track “Alone” today.
My first experience at the KB RapBeat Festival was certainly a stark example of expectation vs. reality. Let’s just say it was a bitter pill to swallow.
When DEAN unexpectedly dropped the acoustic version of “Howlin’ 404,” he reintroduced fans to the power and subtle genius of his voice.
*sigh* So this is the thing about DEAN. In my estimation he doesn’t make bad music. There have been instances where I’ve just not been a fan. But at the end of the day, everything he creates has a vision. A mission to say something relevant with intention.
When he dropped “Howlin’ 404” at the end of May, I was truly impressed. For many, the “pop” appeal is hit or miss. In fact, I’m acutely aware that many people prefer DEAN when he drunk rampages about love lost (a la “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Pour Up”). This new permutation of him as a troubadour trapped in a never-ending loop of introspective melancholy has many people either sighing in something resembling annoyance or ignoring his newer work altogether.
What’s the line? “Tale as old as time”? Since pop music has been a thing, since pretty boys with even prettier voices have been a phenomenon, factions of their “fans” have lost interest as artistic vision (and thus overall tone) has shifted from catchy bops to something significantly darker and more cerebral. DEAN ain’t special in that regard, y’all. I’d argue that his shift has been so significant that people honestly think he’s doing it for attention. That he’s changed for the sake of shaking some sort of K-pop expectation flung on him by the masses. To a certain extent, the latter is true. We’ve seen that more overtly with choices in wardrobe, hair, etc.
However, my loves, the actual musical shift we see in DEAN’s choices has so much more to do with the internal than anything superficial. Yes, his music has seemingly become darker. But no one has actually stopped to consider the why of it all. If they have, it’s no more than a blip on their radar as they either fawn over or bemoan what might be considered his “emo” phase.
Then about a week ago DEAN dropped the acoustic version of “Howlin’ 404” on the world. No fanfare. Hell, he didn’t actually say anything about it. People went to bed on Thursday. Early Friday morning, there was this veritable bomb dropped on his VEVO channel.
Let me tell you something. When his voice hits the very first note of the song, my heart stopped. Call me an overemotional fangirl if you want to. That’s not going to change the very visceral reaction I had when I heard him swoop in practically a cappella. Takes me back to the emotions I felt when I first listened to (and every subsequent listen afterward) Frank Ocean’s “Seigfried.” Utter heartbreak. Sheer emotional brokenness.
On its own, “Howlin’ 404” is his most introspective, self-searching song since “Instagram.” Yes, it’s dark. In a nutshell confessing that he’s trapped in a vicious cycle of desire–self-loathing–desire. That when he’s caught in this wonderland of oftentimes self-inflicted but always acute pain, he’s incapable of keeping himself sober. Whether that’s a metaphor (which he’s wont to use liberally in his music, especially visually) or an unabashed confession is still up for interpretation. The fact that he decided to release this acoustic rendition of the song suggests that he is trying to unburden his heart. That he’s attempting with the wail in his tone to purge his soul of something that he hasn’t been able to shake since somewhere around the release of “Instagram.”
This is where things become incredibly emotional for me. This is honestly the rawest I’ve heard DEAN vocally in a very long time. His live performances for me have been hit or miss. Yes, there’s a difference between watching live and watching on a computer screen. But passion, technique, and actual emotional stake translate.
My main gripe with him for the past year or so has been his insistence on using a backing track instead of a live band in his performances. In my opinion, singing over instrumentals of his limited discography has sucked the passion out of him. It certainly hasn’t forced him to stretch his vocal skill set as working with organic instrumentation would.
There are moments when you can tell he’s got something on his mind and a particular song just awakens it. Consider this performance of “Instagram” in Manila. Or any time he performs someone else’s music (Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Like a Star”; Daniel Caesar’s “Won’t Live Here”). However, by and large I’ve not felt any of the passion of say when he performed with a full band at RESFFECT in 2016. Or more recently his interpretation of N.E.R.D.’s “Sooner or Later” at Seoul Jazz Festival. But again… not his song.
Then he drops this acoustic version of “Howlin’ 404.” I’ve not heard him stretch his range in such a long time. Heard him put his entire being into singing. For the first time in I don’t know how long, I believed him. In that belief, I felt an uncanny sadness. I’ve not been able to shake it since I first listened to this rendition.
A parking garage is apt. In its own way it’s a void. An empty space that seems endless (we don’t actually see the exit for this place). It works even further to illustrate the solitude (read: isolation) he feels at this very moment. The fact he’s in a space that ricochets his voice off every surface further throws him in a spiral. He’s howling in a wolf’s agony. (The wolf howls when he’s lost his pack, hoping they’ll respond so he can find them.) However, the only howls that come back to DEAN are his own.
There’s a teardrop in his voice here that utterly breaks me every time I listen to the song. On its own “Howlin’ 404” already illustrates his vocal dexterity. But obviously stripping away the digital nuances he intentionally brought to the single does the job of highlighting just how powerful his voice is. Many sometimes jokingly point out the feather-lightness of his tone. How there’s something utterly gentle in the way he delivers his falsetto.
However, in “Howlin’ 404” (particularly this version of it) we’re made even more aware of his actual technique. He uses breath so expertly. Allowing silence to fill spaces that in the past he’s been prone to fill with unnecessary melismatic twists and turns. Here, we’ve got a man that’s just singing. For his very life. His voice utterly brims that entire space, from wall to wall. Love or hate the song for what it represents, with just his voice and a guitar, DEAN has proven just how much power he’s capable of.
When he strips away all pretense, he’s actually quite gifted. To slide from head voice (at the height of the howl) to chest voice (when the howl crests) without a single crack takes incredible control. He opts for almost no vibrato in this performance. He goes for a pure vocal (a la Sade), further stamping the song’s emotional depth. Less pretty. More dirt under the nails. Gritting his teeth. Eyes closed. Fists clenched. Singing from the diaphragm to give us a fuller, rounder delivery. There are no gaps in this performance. Every nook and cranny has the complete breadth of his voice. When he leaves his falsetto and goes for a full-throated tenor, it’s like a punch to the gut.
DEAN absolutely sings this song with his entire chest. A cute phrase it might be. However, it couldn’t be a more apt description. What you might have forgotten in the interim between his debut album and this very moment is that DEAN is actually a singer. He’s got range and a hypnotic way to stretch his vocals when there’s truth behind them. When the pulse of the song is his own heartbeat. When “DEAN” gets stripped down to the barest elements and we’re gifted a glimpse at Kwon Hyuk.
Thank you, DEAN. Thank you for sharing your truth with us. If only for three minutes and forty-seven seconds.
FANXY CHILD have released their first official single and music video, “Y,” today. The track features ZICO, DEAN, PENOMECO, and Crush.
