[#22] BTOB - "Stand Up"

From: "Press Play"
Format: EP
Released: September
Territory: South Korea
Previous Best of Appearances: First Appearance

Unlike the Infinite bandwagon, I was pretty late to the BTOB one, but if their first release was anything to go by, I wasn't really expecting to like them. "Press Play" defied those expectations though, because it's really one of the strongest rookie releases of the year.

"Stand Up" is such a Swedish song -- everything from the choice of synths, the arrangement, and even the melody, this is something that would have no problem fitting into an Agnes or Ola album. (if they're even still around, that is) And you guys know how much I adore my epic Swedish songs.

The highlight of the EP for me was really "Stand Up". It's a beautiful song, with a beautiful melody and this gorgeous piano line running around behind, but at the same time the arrangement makes the song epic, but a kind of raw epic. How the vocals deliver the melody is really the focus of the song, but what the arrangement does is that it heightens the experience -- those bridges are proof. They're simple, but urgent and overflowing with brevity. Stunning.

It's very ambitious, actually -- the belting starts at the first chorus, and the melody requires a lot of shifts in technique. I'm not so sure how they'd do this live, but the production on the recording did a good job of smoothing everything out and making the belting sound slightly more natural.

"Stand Up" is such an effortless song, but instead of just stopping at being effortless, it pushes even further and adds in brevity and beauty. If that's not a good song, I don't know what is.