Fans of the series Naeil’s Cantabile (a.k.a. Tomorrow’s Cantabile) will immediately recognize Melody Day’s “Listen to My Heart” as the ending theme song. Melody Day (멜로디데이), originally composed of Yeo-eun, Ye-in, and Cha-hee, has been charming listeners with their soundtracks for dramas since 2012; these include the dramas Pretty Man, Master’s Sun, and My Daughter Seo-young. They always worked behind the scenes, but in 2014 they officially debuted with their first mini-album and single “Another Parting.” “Listen to My Heart” is their latest single, and the first song with newest member Yoo-min who joined the group in October 2014.
The music video itself is simple enough. Scenes of the drama are woven into scenes of individual members and of the group together. There are no particularly ground-breaking camera techniques, but the white lighting gives the video a more ethereal feel. The girls are filmed in different rooms wearing pretty, rather conservative clothing. This makes the viewer focus on the vocals, their beauty, and their expressions. The girls are pretty and their concept is neither in-your-face sexy nor awkwardly cute. Instead the girls are dressed and act in a way that is age appropriate (the members range from 15-24 years old).
The vocals are also no problem for the group; their solos and harmonies are perfect for this song. However they will need more practice “working” the camera so to speak. As a rookie group who debuted this year they are not used to being in front of the camera, and it shows. Although the song is about loving someone and overcoming hardship, their facial expressions don’t convey all of the intense emotions that their singing about. With time and experience, Melody Day should be able to improve.
With no storyline aside from the drama scenes, usually I find these kinds of videos boring, but Melody Day’s vocals combined with the song itself were enough. The song starts a little slow and steady with just a little percussion and a simple piano melody suited for the classical music featured in the series. More and more layers of instrumentals are slowly added, building up to the chorus. As the song continues, more and more classical touches are added, but the percussion keeps it from becoming another typical ballad. The song overall is uplifting and encouraging, and the group does a good job of not overdoing the chorus; with other singers it could have easily turned into a screaming competition. The lyrics are simple and straight-forward, but heartening and a perfect fit for the themes in Naeil’s Cantabile. Also, extra points for good pronunciation of the English phrases sprinkled here and there!
“Listen to My Heart” is a good song to close the show with because it offers encouragement as the characters face different obstacles. Although they have to practice their facial expressions, Melody Day already has the vocal talent needed to bring a song to life. Let’s hope that Melody Day can achieve more success in their official first year!
MV Rating: 2.5/ 5
Song Rating: 4.5/5
(YouTube, Images via Han-kyung)
