One of the original queens of K-Pop has returned with a brand new full length album, and I am so excited. BOA is my queen, and I think she has paved the way for all of the artist who came after her. She reeks of girl power, and BOA Woman, The 9th Album is no exception.
I did pre-order my copy of the album from Choice Music LA. You can pick a copy here for $19.99. On Amazon, a copy with free shipping as a Prime Member cost about $30. You can get it here.
f you don’t have Amazon Prime, you can get a 30 day free trial using this link here. I will not lie, the free 2 day shipping, plus all of the free music and videos are totally worth it. I also now use it for books for my Kindle paper white too, and it is honestly a life saver. They have a program called Kindle Unlimited where you can check out 10 books at a time, read them, and put them back in the kindle library. The program cost $7.99 a month, and you get the first 30 days for free with this link.
For the purposes of reading the remainder of this post, I recommend that you put the album on in the background, and read through it while listening to the track that I am talking about. This is what I recommend for all of my song reviews.
BOA Woman Track by Track
Woman
I actually did a review of the music video for this track that says most of my thoughts on this song:
If I were going to describe my overall thoughts of the track, this is a serious girl power bop. I expect nothing less from BOA. Good job lady! This track made it into my playlists because it feels good to be a woman. I also love the bass line in this track. it gives a serious groove to it that makes me like this track even more
Like It!
This song has a seriously great feel to it! Like I want to dance my way through this track. It is something that I can see being played in like a gay club, along with RuPaul’s most recent tracks. Honestly, I have nothing but good things to say about this track. Yet again, it screams confident, powerful, modern woman, and I’m loving every single second of it, even if it is a love song.
홧김에 (Irreversible)
Moving into a down tempo song that still has a groove to it, this track is a break up song. She says things like “Let’s end it” and “it’s over”. I must say, this track really highlights how phenomenal BOA’s vocal range is. She effortlessly hits the lower notes, and the quickly slides into higher notes. She does all of this maintaining the same tone. I’m all over this track.
Encounter
Bringing the tempo back up for another bop with snapping! I love how she really pushes notes into her chest voice in this track. I also seriously love the dance break in this track. Yes Queen! This song, overall is extremely funky, just like BOA. Up to this point in this album, I’m yet again impressed with BOA. She is embracing so many different styles of singing and pop music, all still while maintaining that BOA brand. I love it.
Little More
Yaaaas! I love the jazz chords and the cow bell! We need more cowbell, and I hope you know what that is from… If you don’t I’m really showing my age!
Things that I love about this track: One, it is really jazzy. Two, BOA’s self-harmonizations in the chorus are fantastic. Three, she added horns which add an extra level of sass. This funk style I feel like was under utilized for so long, until Uptown Funk was released, so I’m happy that it’s back it.
너와 나 (U&I)
Okay, I was expecting this track to be a ballad based off of the title, and am happily surprised that it isn’t! This song reminds me of a track from like the New Wave 80’s era. Songs like this take me back to my childhood cross country trips with my parents… before they let us pick what we were listening to. Honestly, I’m digging this track, and I LOVE how she’s mixing old and new with this entire album. It’s amazing.
If
This guitar…. yes…. These lover vocals. This song is a stool singing track. It’s extremely raw, and simple. I can picture her sitting next to the guitarist and just feeling the music as she singing it, moving her head to the music, slight smile on her lips, completely immersed, just like I am listening to it. I love music that is simple and unfiltered like this. It reminds me that even with all the bells and whistles, the music itself is what’s important, which is something we need to remember in today’s era.
No Limit
Okay, love the echoing xylophones. It gives the track slightly mysterious vibe to it. The lyrics for this song are extremely simple, and repetitive, but I like the message: “I don’t have any limits’ I am free, and I will do what I want.” I think it matches the slightly airy vibe to the instrumentation. The dance break in this song is also super fun. Like you can tell that she wrote this track, as well as a number of the other tracks with dancing to them herself in time.
Good Love
The whistle and snap in this track is extremely cute. The staccato notes, the accented beat, as well as the whistling, so that this song is supposed to be that phase of love where everything is so good that you are whistling and skipping down the street. Is this my favorite track on the album? No, but I like it for what it is, and I think it perfectly portrays the emotion she wants to get across.
습관 (I Want You Back)
I love the guitar line in this track and how it contrasts the synth sounds in the track. The guitar really anchors the track, and gives it a futuristic funk flare. Overall, this track is another one that really just showcases BOA’s vocal range, as her voice soars into the heavens on a number of notes. It’s gorgeous and well executed.
K-Points: 172/5
I honestly don’t have any bad things to say about this album. This album felt new and nostalgic of an earlier time in the exact same moment. This is why I love every single second of it. It was like I was in Back to the Future, and was stuck between two different time frames.
After listening to a number of BOA albums, BOA Woman included, I think one of the things she really wants for her music is for people to get up and move, and just let the music move you. You can hear it in every song in the album. There isn’t a dud in here!
Should you purchase a copy of album? I personally think that you can never go wrong with Kwon Boa. She’s my girl, and all of her music is solid. Pre-ordering her music, you can never go wrong, because she always has a solid release. Can you just stream it? Absolutely, and you definitely should! A number of these tracks, in my opinion, have the ability to span the generations (I actually may try to get my dad into Boa with this. He likes BTS, why not BOA).
If you were going to introduce K-Pop to your parents, where would you start? Let me know in the comments below, K-Nuggets!
사랑합니다!
–Rachel
