[#9] DBSK - "Catch Me"

From: "Catch Me"
Format: Full-Length Album
Released: September
Territory: South Korea
Previous Best of Appearances (of current line-up): #3 -"Before U Go" (2011) / #1 -"Back To Tomorrow" (2011)

At first I was a little hesitant to put "Catch Me" on the countdown, and in the top ten at that, because I know there will always be people who question my taste. But then, at the end of the day this is a list of the songs I enjoyed the most this year, whether or not my taste corresponds to the majority. So "Catch Me" is here, at #9.

I like "Catch Me", I liked it the first time I heard it, I liked it when it accompanied me throughout hell week last semester, and I like it now that I'm writing about it. In DBSK fashion, the song is chaotic -- there are so many different things going on at the same time and they all come together for this almost ridiculously epic... thing.

The melody is gorgeous. The verses are urgent but graceful, and the chorus is really intense while being catch and sing-able. Despite all the synthetic and computer-generated elements running around, the melody is human, and it's beautiful to boot.

But what I like the most about the melody is that you know this was made for people who can sing -- the chorus is higher than the comfortable male range, and less competent idols will ultimately forget the singing and end up just screaming through the entire thing. Not Yunho and Changmin. The melody does a phenomenal job showing off just how vocally competent the two are, whether live or recorded.

The production on "Catch Me" is extremely strong -- it evens everything out and gives a sense of richness to the very sharp vocals and thin synths. The arrangement of the melodic parts is spot-on -- the instrumentals lay low and let Yunho and Changmin's confident vocals carry everything, but when it's time to explode, they really explode.

Ultimately, "Catch Me" works because Yunho, Changmin, and everyone who contributed to the production of the song, stood their ground. And that really makes a difference -- because like I always say, it's very easy to tell when an act genuinely likes what's going on, and when the delivery is half-hearted. Like for example all the synths and the dance breaks between, they're all over the place, but it's more like "Okay. Dance break. Synths. Now. Go." and not "Uhhh, dance break -- o...kay?". "Catch Me" is as far from shy as it can possibly get -- it's not just confident, it's brave. And that kind of brevity, and everything else that comes with it, deserves to be noticed.