[#8] BEAST - "Beautiful Night"

From: "Midnight Sun"
Format: EP
Released: July
Territory: South Korea
Previous Best of Appearances: #27 -"Easy" (2010) / #9 -"Though I Call" (2011)

BEAST is a special band for me, because they were the first rookies I really, really kept my eye on. From humble beginnings, they've gone on to lead their generation of rookie groups -- they have stature, stature they deserve.

I loved "Beautiful Night" the first time I heard it -- it's the type of song that's so easy to like. It's mainstream, it's pop, and it's nothing complicated, but it's so well done. Sometimes you need those kinds of songs.

For a dance/club track, the elements they chose were relatively light. The loops they chose are very There's this pretty piano line behind everything, and even if it's pretty heavy for a piano line since it's playing chords, in the grand scheme of things it gives the song spring more than it weighs it down. Which is pretty much the entire thrust of the arrangement -- it's something you can tap your foot to while listening, but it's also something that's not a problem to dance and jump around to. The difference is that this is better done than a lot of other songs that attempt to do that.

I talk a lot about the contrast and cohesion between the vocals and the instrumental this year, and that really has been something that I personally really liked in the songs I listened to -- "Beautiful Night" is no exception. While you have this very jumpy, very springy instrumental and this snappy arrangement, the melody gives the song the depth it needs. Obvious first it's a gorgeous melody -- the verses make me want to melt, and the choruses and hooks are such a joy to listen to. BEAST vocals have always been heavy in timbre regardless of technique and treatment, and that quality given a very thin, sharp treatment gives the song dimension. I like dimension. Beyond contrast and cohesion, there are great dynamics at work between the elements, and that's really important.

Earlier I was talking how simple "Beautiful Night" is, and even with the dimension, it's still such a simple song. If anything the simplicity of it, of the structure, the melody, and even the explosions, lets you actually feel everything that's going on. A lot of songs go for the hearing and stop at that, they barrage everyone with 93857385 synth loops and elaborate string sections, but in the process they forget that music is felt just as much as it is heard. "Beautiful Night" was one of the few songs this year that could get my heart racing without me even noticing, it was one of the few songs with a bass line I could actually feel.

See that's what I like about BEAST, they don't just say "we're in this for the long run", they let it show in the music. The songs they put out have strong melodies first and foremost, and if there's any part of a song that will transcend time in it's entirety, it's the melody. "Beautiful Night" is anthemic, both in sound and theory. It's an epic song, it's a beautiful melody, but it's also something that captures who BEAST are, what K-Pop has come to be, then it takes those snapshots and it makes them timeless.