Album Review - Hwayobi - This is Love Mini Album

Hwayobi – This Is Love (Mini Album)

01 This Is Love
02 Let’s Love (feat. Supreme Team)
03 Half
04 Don’t Believe in Love
05 Bad Lady
06 Half (Acoustic Ver.)

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Hwayobi,
who took part in the popular reality show We Got Married, has returned
as a singer with a mini album titled This is Love. With five new songs
and a remix under her belt, Hwayobi shows fans her versatility in
various genres.

The title track is Half, which is a medium-tempo pop number about a woman whose life gets complicated after she
falls in love with a man who is already taken. It was composed by Jun
Hae Sung, who also wrote Yoon Do Hyun’s I Must Have Loved and Lee Seung
Chul’s Long Day and was penned by Hwayobi herself. The strings seem to
flow well with the poppy beats and Hwayobi’s vocals. Those who enjoy
orchestral sounds can try out the acoustic version of this number, where
the classical instruments give a more dramatic feel.

On the
other hand, This Is Love, which starts off the album, is an all-English
track produced by Gary Haase, who has also done works for Celine Dion,
Jessica Simpson, and Nsync. The song is an R&B number where
Hwayobi’s emotions can be heard despite the fact that listeners may
have difficulty deciphering her English. My favorite track has got to
be Let’s Love, which was played for the We Got Married show. This
medium-tempo number is a love story with harmonica arrangements and
hip-hop sounds. The song features Supreme Team’s rapping, which seems to
flow well with Hwayobi’s soft, yet attractive voice.

Though it
seemed that Hwayobi has put in effort working with different styles from
ballads, R&B, to hip-hop, this album’s songs are rather lacking in quality, as compared to some of her previous memorable numbers (‘Shadow’
from Fashion 70’s OST & ‘A Million Roses’). This Is Love is
definitely not her best and I hope her next work will beat this one.

3/5

5/5 – Even if you’re not a fan of this artist/group this album is a must buy.
4/5 – If you’re a fan of this artist/group, you must buy this album.
3/5 – If you’re a fan of this artist/group, you might want to add this one to your collection.
2/5 – I don’t think a fan would even buy this.
1/5 – You might as well just flush your money down the toilet