Girls’ Generation Vol. 3

– The Boys

Girls’ Generation

Five

Ayumi Hamasaki

According to an online poll by ticketing agent Sistic, Korean group Girls’ Generation is the No. 1 live act requested by Singaporeans.

Ahead of their highly anticipated sold-out concerts here on Dec 9 and 10, the nine-member group have released their third Korean album.

It is clear that they have their eye on the global market as two of the songs here are available in different versions.

Mr Taxi, with its catchy nonsensical phrase “Supersonic n’ hypertonic”, was first released in Japanese while the title track The Boys was also released as an English-language single. Not surprisingly, these are among the strongest tracks here.

For the most part, the pop here is either sweet and bubbly, as on Say Yes or My J, or dancey with a sexy edge as on Trick and Oscar. But with the exception of the chirpy Lazy Girl (Dolce Far Niente), they do not leave a strong enough impression, maybe because a key component is missing here – the DVD of irresistibly choreographed music videos.

So what is a J-pop queen to do when K-pop is in the ascendancy and Korean acts are muscling in on her territory? Ayumi Hamasaki sticks to the basics.

In her case, that means writing all the lyrics. She contemplates a past relationship in the R&B duet ANother Song with J-pop band AAA’s Urata Naoya and is touchingly fragile on the ballad Beloved.

It also means offering an eye-popping array of image makeovers. Her chameleon-like guises are on full display in the accompanying DVD, which features music videos and making-ofs for all five tracks on this EP.

In Brillante, a dramatic ballad about going it on her own, she transforms into a blinged-out Egyptian queen surrounded by a mountain of male flesh.

One way or another, she is still royalty.

(ST)