Review

Song Review: Taeyeon – #GirlsSpkOut (ft. Chanmina)

Posted on by 35 Comments

You better believe the opening of Taeyeon’s new Japanese single got me all sorts of nostalgic. With a simple “C’mon girls, this is our generation,” I realized once again how much I miss Girls’ Generation being a force in K-pop. They’re often held up as the definition of a “Nation’s Girl Group,” and for good reason. Their music hugged the line between so many of the industry’s extremes, delivering a timeless sound that’s rarely matched in today’s K-pop climate.

For now, we have to make do with solos and (the very infrequent) sub-units. Of all the group’s members, Taeyeon has released the most material over the past few years. The quality level of this solo work has generally been very high, but her ballad-heavy sound doesn’t exactly rekindle the aspects that made Girls’ Generation’s discography so legendary. Still, a song like #GirlsSpkOut feels as if it could be featured on a modern SNSD album. It’s got a nice groove, fueled by rhythm guitar and sinuous bass. The entire thing is quite slinky, rarely rising to any noticeable climax.

In this way, #GirlsSpkOut struggles to stand out among Taeyeon’s discography. It feels more like a b-side than a single, but repeated listens draw out its subdued charms. Taeyeon sounds flawless as usual, assisted by rapper Chanmina for a few standout bursts of energy. More interplay between the two might have made for a more dynamic track. Ultimately, #GirlsSpkOut’s melody just isn’t all that memorable. The layered vocal arrangement helps make it feel grander than it is, but this is more of a satisfying groove than a killer standout. Still, I’m eager to see if this style makes more waves within the context of her upcoming EP.

 Hooks 7
 Production 8
 Longevity 8
 Bias 7
 RATING 7.5


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35 thoughts on “Song Review: Taeyeon – #GirlsSpkOut (ft. Chanmina)”

  1. The third track sounds like Golden Child doing the Chaser……..I think? I don’t really know , there is some aspect which clicks “Hey! This is Golden Child doing Chaser” Do you feel the same about it Nick.

    Pump It Up Sounds awesome and so does the the second track

    but …….. y’know they could have saved the third track for later in 2021 , July………… just in case.

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      • I don’t know anything about genres (I just get it from your reviews) Is the third track synthwave? is Pump it up synthwave?

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        • From the teaser alone, I’d just call Pump It Up good old fashioned funk pop with some disco influences thrown in. It actually sounds a bit like the Jackson 5 to me, which is a little surprising.

          For the third track, it feels like pretty straightforward electro dance pop to me, which is not a bad thing at all. I don’t hear any synthwave influences in any of the songs.

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          • Hm.. I thought I heard some synthwave, but hearing it again I may have been wrong.As Ohm and Nick pointed out, it does seem closer to electro dance… My Bad.

            Agree with the Jackson 5 comparison. I just want them to now do something more MJ style next.

            Oh quick question Nick, what are your favorite songs of all time in any language? I think the Chaser, Rhythm Nation and something by Savage Garden will probably make it in. I hope I am right. Thanks in advance!

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          • Personally, i don’t see any synthwave influences in the third track. Firstly, synthwave generally has a slower tempo in comparison to straight up dance music. [Perhaps around 100BPM]. I’ve also noticed that the claps and snares are spacious and have alot of reverb to them. The basslines in synthwave tend to have a constant throbbing pulse to them rather than the bouncy (idk how to describe it) one heard in the third track. Not sure if im entirely correct though lol.

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    • I didn’t think I could get more exited for this but guess what- I AM! All of the songs sound amazing already. I can’t wait to see the MV ! >.<

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    • as much as i wanna keep this thread about Taeyeon-
      this has me very excited

      I am particularly excited for the ballad from this teaser
      esp. cuz it features Y so prominantly.

      Don’t get me wrong I love Jungchan, but it’s Y’s voice I anticipate the most.
      I think of young vocalists my favs are Y, Jungchan, Hyujin & MK of ONF and Seungmin from Stray Kids. Oh and of course Ateez Jongho but I feel like that goes without saying…

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        • phew – that’s my bad, I made comment quickly on my lunch break from work so my mind was often halfway between reality and insanity!
          Glad Biaslist readers seem to mostly be millenials and some Gen X-ers or else I’d have already been eviscerated by some GoldCha zoomers (any zoomers reading, I respect you and you truly are the future). Because I’m so typo prone I stay off twitter…

          yes Joochan. and I do admit he has a perfect clean pure tone…but Y is a moody rockstar, what can I say.

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          • I sometimes absolutely hate Goldeness!

            there are a few comments which are telling “I wanted dark concept!”

            or something like that.

            I genuinely prefer if they used their lively personalities instead of using “we moody and depressed”

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          • I think I was born in that weird era between true ‘millenials’ and true ‘Gen Z’ – but I think I’m pretty millennial-minded. I love Joochans vocal tone a lot but I can also understand why you prefer Y because of his tone.

            Also @ YAN ZAMAN thank you for pointing this out, I am always so frustrated reading comments demanding for ‘dark child’! I’m super glad to see an overwhelming majority of comments celebrating the return of ‘bright child’ now.

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            • It’s very frustrating! It shows that moat of them are here for the visuals or concepts.

              Tell me once , have you seen a Kpop Stan talking about the genres instead of that fricking dumb concept and visual.

              They don’t understand that We are talking about a MUSIC Industry.

              just because one has better concepts or shifts better in concept that does not make them better than the other if they used the same genre again and again.

              TXT and ATEEZ are one example of this. TXT is better than ATEEZ because they have wizard/ fantasy concept?

              No! ATEEZ is better because pirate concept is unique!

              No! TXT is BETTER BECAUSE CONCEPT MORE UNIQUE!

              For once these behemoths cannot stop talking about these dumb concepts.

              I am not saying concepts are bad because they elevate a song but they aren’t the major part or vital part.

              And for once , these idiots cannot realize concepts aren’t the main reason why The song is a BoP.

              Also , I loathe the word Bop to no extent.

              “This is a Bop!”

              Some people only use it because they don’t know anything about the genre so They just randomly spew some shit out saying how much of a banger this song is or whatever and I was one of those idiots……………… It happened during the amino days. I hate the word cringe. but My Posts were in fact cringey. I cringed so hard that I could’ve went into the cringe-quantum realm to never return again.

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            • True, MVs and concepts are such an important aspect now. It sometimes completely overshadows any discourse about the music itself.

              I completely understand the hate for ‘bop’ but I’m guilty of throwing that word around as well, haha! Don’t worry, I think it’s going to be replaced by “SOTY” (song of the year). Another word that’s being thrown around until it loses all meaning.. but I fully mean it when I say this comeback might be the soty for me.

              I just adore seeing their personalities shine in these bright concepts! Are you Jangjun biased by any chance..? Hard not to fall for him honestly, hha

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              • Just chiming in to say how much my heart is swelling to see so many unprompted Golcha comments on every post. I guess my years of championing them are finally paying off!!

                Also… I am the Jangjun-biased one, here. Funniest guy in K-pop.

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                • Glad to see you don’t mind the unrelated Golcha spam haha >< It's so exciting to talk to Goldenness here since the fandom is not thAt big TT I don't remember if I became a fan through reading your reviews (I became a fan after Let Me era) but they definitely helped me discover them further through the buried treasures and such.

                  Jangjun is so insanely popular, but it's entirely deserved- talented and so much charisma and humor. You can't NOT be a fan of him.

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  2. It is refreshing to hear a girl power song these days that isn’t so quite in your face bratty new outfit every 10 seconds and loud. For that, plus one point from me!

    Let’s be honest the duet was recorded in completely different studios, maybe not even in the same time zone.

    My go to nice groove girl power song this month is Des’ree “You gotta be”. I have it as physical CD single disc somewhere, but I rebought in on itunes recently.

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  4. It’s interesting how a good… 90% of the comments on this review have to do with boy groups instead of Taeyeon.

    Anyways, IMO Chanmina stole the spotlight – as much as I’m a fan of Taeyeon’s, Chanmina has WAY more charisma and attitude (I wish she’d been given the chance to rap as well).

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    • Haha it’s not the norm, and nothing against Taeyeon…

      It’s just that this blog has become Golden Child central and we’re all excited for the comeback.

      And agreed… I think Chanmina makes a much greater impact here. I’d actually never heard of her before this song.

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  5. This is Taeyeon review song but why many people only talking about Golden Child in here?? Leave Taeyeon alone and her song still better & slay than your opinion about her music

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