[Review] “Before You Go” by TVXQ

Because TVXQ is TVXQ, promotions for their 2011 comeback album, “Why (Keep Your Head Down)“, are still plowing through the first half of the year, and they will likely extend beyond April, as the boys have released their repackaged album this week with the (very) hot new addition of their current promo track, “Before You Go.”

When TVXQ releases a sexy R&B number, it’s hard not to gush over them (because past singles like “Tonight” were simply breathtaking), and it has really been a while since our last taste. So when “Before You Go” began its first few spins, several thoughts crossed my mind – most of them praise related and there was minimal criticism.

“Before You Go” is littered with falsetto flairs and powerhouse melodies that feels like an intentional throwback to the mid-2000s R&B style of SM Entertainment’s Yoo Young Jin (singer/songwriter and producer), but there’s enough of a kick (or perhaps a few kicks and an uppercut right to the kisser) to bring this song into the now.

TVXQ – or more accurately, Changmin and Yunho – need not have their vocal ability picked apart, because they are exceptionally brilliant singers in their own right, and that explains exactly why not a single recording engineer or producer ever dares to mess with their voices, at least not as severely as we’ve gotten used to hearing in pop music today. However, what listeners will hear in “Before You Go” is a more raw vocal performance – this being a slow tempo song and everything – and the lack of the meatiness that JYJ brought to the group.

The producers have layered Changmin and Yunho’s voices like crazy, and both singers have done an impressive job of expanding their range to cover all of their bases, but still, a five-part harmony would absolutely slaughter this type of song. Yeah, we’ve had enough time to listen to TVXQ without the mids, but there’s far more material WITH the other three and it’s just difficult to restrain the wandering ‘what ifs’ in our (or just my) conscious while indulging in what is already blissful ear-candy.

As far as the actual style and delivery of this song goes, there’s something about TVXQ that everyone should understand: they can sing everything. Personally, however, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are able to musically sell any given style or genre at 100%, and that’s kind of the case with me and “Before You Go.”

TVXQ pulled this song off, that’s a given, but they fell just a hair short in the believability of this particular style. There’s a certain soulfulness that goes hand in hand with these songs, and I’m not completely getting that from TVXQ in this. I can say the same for SM The Ballad’s “Hot Times,” which sounds a lot like this song, but this is supposed to be pop, and pop it is.

Will I shun “Before You Go” to the left? No, but this is clearly a boy band singing an R&B song rather than an R&B ensemble singing R&B. There’s nothing really wrong with that, at least not with these two, as they will generally kill it every time.