Son Dambi - Can't U See

When I listened to Can't U See this morning, I had no intention of gauging it on any musical criteria - I was pissed and I needed a nice mellow song to lift my spirits. It did the job, but I think any song would've been able to do that given my degree is distress and piss-off-ed-ness (LOL), so I better start getting musical now.


Son Dambi was one of the first kpop acts I stumbled upon when I was first introduced to the industry last year and the only song I really liked from her was Bad Boy. (I can't believe it's been over a year already, time flies!) She's under Pledis entertainment, home of my now-second favorite girl group, After School, and she most definitely looks and sounds like she's from Pledis.

A number of people have asked me which smaller talent company I think should be included in the big three, making it a big four, and for a while my answer was Cube, but I completely forgot that Pledis existed. However my argument is this - SME, JYPE and YGE are the "big three" companies for a reason, because apart from earning the most money they all one, put out outstanding talent and two, have very, very, VERY distinct sounds, so until any one of the smaller companies does those and does them well, they're not worthy just yet.

But anyway, my point is this. Pledis have the possibility to expand more because they have a certain sound, a certain aesthetic all their acts possess, and surprisingly they do it well. My only problem with Pledis is the talent - there are talented people in Pledis, but not enough to sustain them and make them a leading talent company.

Son Dambi is like the epitome of what Pledis is. She's not the most talented singer you've ever heard, but she's competent, and apparently she dances well. She gets mostly good songs that just happen to really sound like a Pledis-masterminded song(mostly.) and now she's gotten one of those.

I was saying when I saw the teaser yesterday that Son Dambi's comeback might be one I'll be eagerly awaiting this year, which is a surprise, but after seeing the teaser and hearing the entire song, I'm excited. For the other material, which better be good.

Can't U See isn't the best song ever, but it isn't crap. It sounds very classy and very sophisticated, and reminds me a bit of After School's Because Of You in terms of feel and possible image choices. The percussion part is very clean, and the running piano part is very crisp, so to say. Son Dambi's vocals lean towards the airy side, so it gives a nice contrast to the very tight and clean backdrop.

The melody is pretty, and even if the instrumentation doesn't go far, the song manages to keep my attention on it for the entire three-and-a-half minutes. I think it's 'coz it really is a pretty song.

I can't really say whether it sounds better live or recorded yet, I'll have to save those for my music show recaps, but with the recorded version it sounds pretty good. I like.

4.2/5