Sherlock
Shinee

F. Scott Fitzgerald's Way Of Love
2AM

Volume Up
4Minute

After focusing their energies on the Japanese market last year, boyband Shinee are back with a new Korean release.
The title track Sherlock is a mash-up remix of Clue and Note and it starts off with a swell of strings before the fat beats quickly kick in. It bristles with attitude and hooks and marks a welcome return for the group. Clue and Note are also included here as separate tracks and they work on their own too.
Fans will love that each of the five pretty boys – Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho and Taemin – gets his own photo book, though one wonders what the mystery- themed Sherlock has to do with the topless-boys-in-a-boudoir vibe of the picture spreads.
The packaging and theme are more consistent on 2AM’s release. The literary reference is echoed in the hardback lyric/photo booklet which is nestled within a box.
But while the title and the sepia-tinted pictures of the boys in suits suggests swoon-worthy romantic balladry, the songs can fall a little short. What you get is tasteful aural wallpaper – agreeable, but not particularly memorable.
On the final track, I Love You, I Love You, the tempo goes up a notch and the breeziness feels like a breath of fresh air.
Never mind 4Minute’s moniker. The five girls of the group – Ji Hyun, Gayoon, Ji Yoon, HyunA and So Hyun – have stuck around long enough to be releasing their fourth EP.
The first two tracks, Get On The Floor and Volume Up, get the party started. It is clear that their strength lies in the energetic dance tracks. Just to mix things up a little, they have also included the ballad I’m OK.
And in the picture cards here, the girls cover all bases as well. They are sexy in one set of photos, sassy in the next and sweet in yet another.
They turn the volume up in more ways than one.
(ST)