YENA the former IZ*ONE member who made her solo debut earlier this year is now back with her 2nd mini album SMARTPHONE. Her debut SMILEY was exceptional. She is the kind of person that wants to make people happy, and the concept she went with last time worked and it suited her well. Even though I know that she is capable of doing other types of music she has opted to not stray away from the last concept.
I loved the concept photos they released, and I definitely need to buy her album again. The photos are absolutely stunning, and the concept they decided on for the shoot are perfect.
The first song of the album is a slow song filled with nice instruments. I don’t think it was the intention, but this feels like a Christmas song and I’m definitely adding it to my Christmas playlist. The pacing of the song is perfect, and you won’t get bored listening to the song multiple times. The piano at the start reminded me of the theme song for Lith Harbor from Maplestory.
This is Avirl Lavigne pop punk with a sugar rush and it’s strangely addictive. YENA has this extremely cute charisma that is hard to beat, and her personality translates so well to this amazing and unique music.
The MV is filled with colors, fun and cuteness as expected. Even though you know exactly what you are getting fed you can’t stop admiring the MV and smile at it. This MV as the last one has its own little story. In SMARTPHONE we can see YENA hanging with her friends, and that the duck, the villain, is kidnapping her friends and she has to fight him to get her friends back.
This song has even more pop punk influence than the title track SMARTPHONE. It’s a soft pop punk song, but it’s still something you can bang your head to and let all your emotion out on. YENA’s voice works heavenly in these kinds of songs, and this song is like a younger sister of Lxxk 2 U.
Lemon-Aid is a soft synth heavy song that feels fresh and catchy, but it just doesn’t do it for me. I like the song and I can bop my head to it, but it’s not something I would voluntarily listen to.
It gives my High School Musical vibes with the clapping and the trumpets, and I’m not a particularly big fan of it. This is my least favorite song on the album and I have the same feeling for this song as Lemon-Aid. It’s something I can enjoy, but won’t put on.
Conclusion 8/10
A solid album and comeback, and I think that she already has set a high bar for what quality of music she releases. She has worked on 3 out of 5 on this album as co-writer for Make U Smile, SMARTPHONE and WithOrWithOut. I’m all for whatever YENA does and I can’t resist supporting this talented and amazing person.
