The Linearity of Sori’s “Dual Life”

How Sori never really made it big still remains a mystery. With good dancing skills, a reasonable singing voice suited for dance heavy tunes, and a casting on a popular variety show(courtesy of a stint on Invincible Youth), she did have what it took on paper to become the next G.na. Then along the way, average releases and a lack of media push saw her languishing in obscurity.

With solo singers gaining prominence recently, it would only seem fair for Sori (known as Kim Sori for this release) to give the scene another shot with her newest song “Dual Life”.

The MV opens with a shot of her walking into a dance practice room with a portable sound system straight out of the 80s. Lest one expects any throwbacks to the past, T-ara style, the video then cuts to various shots of Sori doing some “warm ups” for her dance routines. While the shots of her stretching do hint at her dancing abilities and flexibility, the occasional butt and crotch shots do not, and only serve the cheapen the feel of the video.

Of course, it would not be too interesting to watch a music video consisting entirely of cuts straight out of a dance studio, so along the way, we get variations of a usual dance video in different settings, including a few sets that could have been lifted straight out of another MV, as well as ideas from MVs past. A good example would be dancing in front of a projected image, like in Lee Hi‘s“1,2,3,4”.

Oddly, for a singer billed as having strong dance abilities, the choreography is nothing much to shout about. Apart from some interesting moves, like being carried by the backup dancers into another dance scene, as well as the aforementioned “stretching moves”, the rest of the dance moves are basically the basic sexy posturing in various backgrounds, as well as some simple hand and feet actions that could literally be “warm up” routines.

Possibly the only saving grace for the song was the song itself. While the dance centric beats might make the song sound like a typical club anthem, in this case, they give the song a catchy and dance friendly feel. I also liked how this song approached the use of auto-tune, not so much to the point where it compromised on her singing, but enough to give the song a slightly dulled and synthesised feel, which was perfect for a dance song. In any case though, Sori’s vocals are competent enough to do the tune justice.

Overall, Sori’s latest effort could be best described as “inoffensive”. While there was nothing about the concept that stood out as particularly annoying or offensive (with the exception of the first 30 seconds of the MV), there was also not too much about it that was particularly attention-grabbing, unless one has a liking for slicky-produced dance tunes. Overall though, I gave the song 3/5, if because it might serve as a pleasantly enjoyable pop song for those who like their pop simply structured and without too much effort from the listener to enjoy.

As for whether this song would give Sori’s an edge in the increasingly crowded K-pop field, I would have to unfortunately say, not really. She does deserve better in terms of a marketing push, or something that just might help her stand out, instead of this reasonable if dull dance-pop tune.

(JSFriendsTV)