Park Kyung of Block B has just released his first ever mini-album, Notebook, with the title track “When I’m With You” featuring Brother Su. If you’re not familiar with Brother Su, you might be surprised to find that he is not only a talented solo artist, but he also has countless production credits under his belts, serving as co-composer and co-lyricist for BTS’s “I Need U” and as co-lyricist for Xiumin’s and Jimin’s “Call You Bae”.
“When I’m With You” is an upbeat and playful song that describes the process of innocently falling in love. The track goes for a relaxed, jazzy style that is definitely more vocal-focused. Brother Su’s vocal colour blends in perfectly with Park Kyung’s rap, to the point where I nearly forgot that this was a duet. What I enjoy most about this song is that it seamlessly brings in jazz trumpet instrumental breaks, which deviates from the norm of other K-pop idol songs. While some might think that the song may be lacking in terms of the catchiness factor, I find that it’s very easy to listen to, and lately it’s been on repeat on my playlist.
The lyrics are absolutely delightful, expressing the well-known nervousness and anticipation felt when trying to talk to a crush:
You warm me up
But sometimes you make me cold or freeze
So I try to speak carefully
I’m strange in front of you
The music video, which also features Brother Su, shows a cute love scene between Park Kyung and the female love interest, depicting his nerves as he tries to express his feelings to her. The theme of the music video is quite retro, featuring old-school arcade games, gramophones, and vinyl records. Park Kyung is helplessly smitten around his crush, as shown when the “romance” section of his brain lights up when he sees her. At the same time, he is also adorably helpless, as the screen of one the arcade games instructs him to lift and wave his hand to greet her. He attempts to do this, only to drop his arm and awkwardly scratch the back of his neck when she turns to face him.
If that wasn’t cute enough for you, Park Kyung tops it by typing in “I LOVE YOU” on an old-school computer, only to frustratedly sigh, shake his head, and quickly delete his words. Perhaps my favourite scene, though, is when the female love interest casually places her hand over his, leading to the cutest shocked expression appearing on his face, complete with an electrocardiogram on one of the old-school computers depicting the fact racing of his heartbeat.
During the instrumental break, arms shooting from the walls play the trumpet and the keyboard as the lights flicker on and off in the room, and the books go flying off the shelves, all in an attempt to show the chaos that is Park Kyung’s mind as he is frazzled from his crush. The computer screen even lists warning signs of having a crush!
Perhaps, a minor issue about the music video is that it doesn’t have a clear plot; it’s mostly individual scenes depicting Park Kyung’s nervousness towards his crush. However, this style of music video doesn’t make it any less interesting. In fact, the retro-themed, short scenes add to the quirkiness and playfulness of the music video and work to keep it light-hearted and not too serious.
All in all, this is an adorable music video with great music to boot, so kudos to Park Kyung, Brother Su, and the production team!
Rating: 4.8/5.0
(Youtube, Images via Seven Seasons)
