It’s a bit late, as things have been a bit nuts since the new year, but here it is! The King of the High Note Battle is back finally with some solo work since he completed his military service. It took awhile, but Ryeowook Drunk on Love has finally entered our lives, and I am more than ready for his angelic-like voice to grace my ears!
I ordered a copy of the album from an eBay seller in Korea. This is a link to the exact one I’ve ordered. I got both copies for $23.10 plus free shipping. Plus, with eBay, you can save a little bit of money by using the E-Bates extension on your browser, as it will save you 2% on all album purchases, which definitely adds up.
What is E-Bates?
E-Bates is a cashback site that gives you money for purchases you may have already made. They even have an extension for multiple browsers so when you go to a website that uses Ebates, it will automatically pop up the cashback button to make sure you are saving money. I use this all the time, and I got over 80$ back from them for purchases I was going to make anyways. That’s about 3 more albums I can buy!
If you’ve never used EBates before, you can use this link to get $10 when making a qualified purchase of $25 when using EBates. You will also get whatever percent cashback is being offered from the site you are purchasing from. Sephora, typically has 4% cashback, through here. Sokoglam typically has 3%. These percentages Many other major retailers are on there as well.
Can I get it on Amazon?
Yes! You can pick up a copy using this link here for $24 dollars (not as good of a deal), with free shipping if you have Amazon Prime.
If 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
How do I read 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. It will help you understand what parts of the music I’m referring to when I talk about different instruments and different vocal parts. This is what I recommend for all of my song reviews.
Ryeowook Drunk On Love Track By Track:
I’m Not Over You
So, I already went through my thoughts in video form! If you would like to see it, you can watch it here:
I absolutely adore how beautiful and simple this track is. The fact that it is just Ryeowook and the piano at the beginning of the track adds a level of sadness and loneliness to the track. This effect is emphasized by Ryeowook’s use of silence through the track. At the end of each phrase through the first verse, he lifts his voice off of the note gently at the end of the phrase. These things combined, as well as his use of vocal slides, really give the track the feel that he’s just struggling to keep it together.
Overall, this track is just beautifully laden with emotion. It’s vocally light, but sentiment heavy. That is the beauty of this track. It has character, and it is able to be full-bodied with a minimal amount of instrumentation. I love every single second of it, and am actually tempted to cover my own version of it (let’s see if I can figure out the piano).
우리의 거리 (One and Only)
The next track goes in a completely different direction than the previous. It has both an electronic and acoustic elements that coexist with each other. Usually I’m not a fan of tracks that mix those two genres, but I’m quite fond of it! It’s light and fun, which is a nice contrast to the last track. This track is honestly like a marble cake. It has the light, sweetness of the vanilla, and occasionally, you get that darker, electronic vibe of the chocolate.
The main thing that makes this track so amazing is how this instrumentation compliments Ryeowook’s voice. He adds in echoing and harmonies that draw attention to the words. This instrumentation never overpowers his vocals. Instead, it adds more vocal color to them. Tracks like this one and the previous one are nice to have in the modern world of heavily produced, intense music that we see nowadays. I’m a fan.
취해 (Drunk In The Morning)
I was very excited for this track after hearing the first few notes. I don’t think it sounds anything like what being drunk in the morning feels like, as it is far too sexual sounding for that. If you have ever been drunk when you wake up in the morning, it usually isn’t a fun experience because you know the hangover will hit you shortly. Now, if this is meant to be a figurative drunk, and instead you are drunk on a person, this track is far more appropriate.
The instrumentation features a lot of vocal slides, as well as shows of Ryeowook’s power notes far more than the last two tracks. Vocally, this song has
Without You
Yet again, I’m in love how Ryeowook overall on this album has gone much lighter on the instrumentation than I feel we typically hear in today’s society. The instrumentation is extremely light. I love the guitar chords at the beginning, although I wish they sounded a bit more raw, like when you hear someone’s fingers slide on the frets. I love that sound. It’s refreshing. It makes me sad this track doesn’t have that, but I will accept it because Ryeowook’s vocals are perfection per usual.
Yet again, I do really like this track. It has a completely different feel to it than the previous three, as it isn’t a ballad. I will say, based on my personal tastes though, I like the previous three tracks a wee bit more than this one. It’s a nice track, but it doesn’t really have that extra special “oomph” that I like to hear.
Something Good
I like the whistling and the continuing theme of the guitar that we are getting in this track. What I like even more than that is that dissonant 3rd chord in the chord progression of the track. He deviated from the typical chord progression of a pop song, and I love it. This track is honestly really good! It’s also completely different!
It has a lot of interesting musical elements. This track is one of those songs where the more you listen to it, the more things you hear. If you listen closely, you hear the rolling baseline, and the layered harmonies throughout the track (which are very clear in the a cappella section in the second verse). As you listen closely you can hear the slightly jazzy piano chords adding a bit of a quirky flair to the song. It moves the track more into the direction of jazz or funk, but with a fun pop flair to it. Overall, I really like this track. I’m a huge fan of jazz, so this track quickly and easily gained my approval.
Sugar
Okay, I’m 100% in love with this track from the first chord. This song is jazz to the max, and when the bass line is added in, it makes me want to squeal and dance. This track has that groove to it that I love to hear in music. It is fun, it has flair, but it is also light at the same time. All of the instrumentation on this track perfectly surrounds Ryeowook’s voice and gives it a full-bodied sound.
Vocally speaking, Ryeowook expertly places weight on his vocals to get the right sound for the moment. When he wants to emphasize a note, like he does with “God” in “Oh my god” he adds more pressure to his vocal chords. This adds more emotional intent to the song, and really shows his desire for this person. It adds an ebb and flow to the vocals that are the way of human emotions. It can take a song from 0-100 in .5 seconds, and can also make or break a song. Ryeowook adds it beautifully at the right moments.
파란별 (The 2nd Story)
The final track on the mini album has a bit of a music box feel to it at the start. It is light, and repetitive, just like a music box that sings a child to sleep. This feel is added to by Ryeowook’s hushed lyrics. It gives the track the feel that he is trying to sing all of us to sleep in the most beautiful fashion. I think we all would accept Ryeowook singing us to sleep with open arms.
Another thing that I love about this song is the strings that get added to the song in the pre-chorus. They are gorgeous, and I love how they move the song forward without overpowering the vocals. On top of that, they really add to the dream-like feel to the song at the beginning, but also allow the song shift seamlessly into the gorgeous power ballad that we all get to hear at the end of this song. Honestly, as you move towards the end of the track, if I was going to pick a song that he should sing to show off everything that he can do with his voice, it would be this one. This track shows so many sides to his voice and I love it. Yet again, I want to perform it myself.
K-Points: 176/5
Honestly, if I was going to dock points for this album, I would just be nitpicking, which is a good thing. The album was phenomenal from start to finish. When performing as a soloist, it is very easy to create a track that is over-produced and outshines the vocalist. No track on this album does that. On top of that, Ryeowook tackles every note effortlessly. He is one of those people that there is a very good reason he is a famous singer.
So should you get yourself a copy of this album? This is a really solid album, K-Nuggets. I don’t think any of you would regret having it, as it attacks music from multiple sides, with a gorgeous tenor flair. Should you stream it? I think based on my previous comment that it’s pretty obvious you should stream it, especially if you just want to chill out for a little bit.
Which track on Ryeowook’s comeback was your favorite, K-Nuggets? Let me know in the comments below!
사랑합니다!
–Rachel
