[Album Review] EXO packs winter album with catchy pop

EXO
“Sing For You - Winter Special Album, 2015”
KT Music

The best thing about EXO’s “Winter Special Album” for 2015 is that it doesn’t feel like a winter album. There are no thinly veiled Christmas carol rip-offs or songs about being giddy about the holidays. Thank goodness.

Instead, the five-track EP brings catchy tunes and pop beats that would have made the songs hits at any time of the year. With the double lead tracks “Unfair” and “Sing for You,” the members of EXO show that they can handle both dance and vocal tracks, with “Sing for You” easily being one of the year‘s best soft ballads. 

The album feels a bit typical with the medium R&B track “Girl x Friend,” but it turns around with the seasonal song “On the Snow,” decorated with holiday percussion sounds. “Light Saber,” the group’s collaboration with the “Star Wars” franchise, makes apt use of synth and EDM sounds for a futuristic feel. With this stylistic combination, EXO creates a winter album that is a showcase of their versatility.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)