Winter’s Hedgehog
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Album Title: Winter’s Hedgehog |
| Record Label: Mirrorball Music |
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| Catalog No.: MCMB-0792 |
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| Release Date: January 08, 2014 |
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| Purchase: Buy at Scarlet Moon Productions |
Overview
Winter’s Hedgehog is an indie pop/rock album by the group Tellement that features the talents of Goomin Nam, although he is more popular known by his alias Nauts, a Korean composer who has done plenty of work with Korea’s popular MMO scene. How does the album turn out as a whole and is it worth a listen?
Body
The album opens up with “77-7=7” and it gives a nice representative sound of what you can expect on most of the album. It is a beautiful acoustic ballad with a hint of sadness due to the singer’s expressiveness. I really enjoy the progression of this piece and appreciate the more upbeat sections featuring electric guitar, percussion, and piano to help break up the softer sounds. There are plenty of songs like this such as “Hangyeryeung”with its soft blend of piano and acoustic guitar and “Hibernate” with its soft pop sound with a nice rock oriented bridge that contrasts with the softer aspects of the song.
“0AM” is an upbeat pop rock tune and is one of the highlights on the album. I really enjoy the energy of this tune and it really helps break up the album’s overall tone. “2AM” has a nice pop sound with a bit of a jazz influence, particularly in the percussion. It’s one of the better pop tunes on the album. In a similar vein is “Alea Iacta Est” with its pop rock ballad approach. “Alleys” is a particularly interesting tune as it is the only instrumental tune on the album. While I do appreciate the vocalist’s work on the album, I was particularly drawn to this piece. It’s a beautiful tune featuring piano and guitar that really captures a warm feeling, one that someone might associate with loved ones.
The last two songs that I want to mention are “Remaining Days” and “Snowy Dreams.” The former is a very atmospheric tune, well, as atmospheric as one might expect from a vocal album, and the longest on the album. The minimalist approach to the instrumentation makes this one stand out and the vocalist’s lack of actual lyrics at times helps with this approach. The latter, on the other hand, is probably my favorite tune on the album. It’s a very festive rock tune that gives off a very wintery soundscape. The instrumental sections, particularly the guitar and piano solos, are superb and the energy of this piece is high. It makes me wish there was more diversity on the album as I would have liked to have heard a few more pieces like this.
Summary
In the end, Winter’s Hedgehog is a well-produced pop/rock album, although one of its biggest flaws is, to me, its lack of diversity. The ballad tracks and softer approaches are nice, but I find it hard to listen to this in one sitting due to this reason. There are some tracks that help break up that approach, but they are not the emphasis of the album. If you are a fan of soft Korean pop, this album might be for you; however, those who prefer more diversity might find it harder to truly enjoy.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
3.5
Posted on December 2, 2014 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on December 2, 2014.
About the Author
Don Kotowski Currently residing in Philadelphia. I spend my days working in vaccine characterization and dedicate some of my spare time in the evening to the vast world of video game music, both reviewing soundtracks as well as maintaining relationships with composers overseas in Europe and in Japan.
