1. Dear Santa 2. I Like the Way 3. Winter Story 4. Merry Christmas 5. First Snow 6. Dear Santa (English Ver.)
TaeTiSeo, a subunit consisting of Girls' Generation members Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun, have dropped a special Christmas album, 'Dear Santa,' to wish you a happy holiday season. The title track is written by Seohyun herself. :)
"Dear Santa," the title track, starts with an amazing ballad that showcases their angelic voices. If there ever was the slightest doubt these girls couldn't sing, it was erased. It quickly launches into a more traditional fast-tempo Christmas tune, reminiscent of "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Piano-driven and fun, this wishlist to a guy is the kind of tune you want playing while trimming the tree.
"I Like the Way" is very disco-R&B-inspired track and even more lively than "Dear Santa." This is less wintry, but fiercer than the previous tune. There are urgent, seductive bridges, and the vocals are more dulcet here, which just shows you how versatile these songstresses are. The only thing I could hope for is a better hook, as the only repeated part is the chorus. The song, of course, is about how they like the way their man treats them.
They switch gears for "Winter Story," a guitar ballad. It's very pretty and stripped down, with tinkling chimes and snaps being the only other instrumentation. And again, those voices! They handle the vocal duties extremely well, and an MR version of this would be epic. The 'story,' of course, is that there's a man who warms their hearts.
"Merry Christmas" is another ballad, this time dressed up with all the things that you'd expect of a holiday ballad: sleigh bells, piano, and something a little different. The girls use harmonies as accompaniment, using their vocals as instruments alongside everything else. It does more to enhance the vocals than a ton of faux orchestra pieces and makes this a pleasure to hear. This is a song to the fans, wishing them a Merry Christmas.
The song "First Snow" is a gentle dance tune and almost reminded me of A Pink, if it weren't for the vocals. There's an appropriate build in the main verses, and the overdubs in the chorus sound like an army of TaeTiSeos ready to take on the world. It works really well as the payoff in this song. It's a romance tune, talking about "the white light that shines in my heart" and all that.
"Dear Santa" (English version) is not as good as the Korean one. Now you might be saying "They're the same tune!" While they're the same melody, they are not the same song at all. There are no references to heartache or repetition of lyrics in the Korean version -- this one is set up very much like some of the more traditional pop songs that make it into an artist's lexicon when they do a Christmas album. The girls' enunciation, however, was really nicely done. There's only a couple of Seohyun's words I had trouble with. It's not bad, just not as good as it could be.
This was an awesome album. I like it even better because it's original tunes, not just a bunch of rehashes. There's only so many times you can hear someone murder "Silent Night" (though these girls would probably do it justice). And for those who would rather have something more traditional, well, there's tons of other Christmas albums out there. As for me, I'll take these songs dancing in my head over visions of sugar plums any day.
MV REVIEW
See the girls of TaeTiSeo indulge in a Christmas fantasy in "Dear Santa."
It's a cute thing as the girls read an invitation and are teleported to Christmas town (well, okay, that's what I'm calling it). Seohyun is mixing up batter for Christmas goodies, Taeyeon (looking particularly elfin here) is like a child waiting for presents, and Tiffany is window shopping. It all goes even more holiday from there. Even the lion from "Lion Heart" makes an appearance.
There's a tad bit of dancing in red jammies, all 10 seconds of it. Most of the clothes are meant to draw the male gaze, but most of it's tasteful. They've been showing a bit of leg for quite a while now -- it's nothing unusual. They all look extremely cute, and the gowns make them appear absolutely radiant.
The sets are magical like the song is supposed to be. I like Christmas trees, and if the town where Tiffany is shopping is fake-looking, well, that's just a small part of it all. I like it when they're all together in a simply opulent, beautifully-decorated common room. Makes it more fun to watch when you can't see through the facade.
Another good video married to a good song. My "Favorites" playlist is gaining another couple videos, which is always a good thing. It's a nice that this MV is as easy on the eyes as the song is on my ears.
Note: The MVs for both versions of "Dear Santa" are identical. Here's the English version for comparison:
