Record Club_ Keshi – War with Heaven
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Sound-to-Color Synesthesia
Record Club: War with Heaven by Keshi
Losing the person you love most. No matter the person, we’ve all experienced the pain of losing someone we love dearly, whether it be losing them figuratively or physically. The song, “War with Heaven,” was Keshi’s contribution to the soundtrack for the 2021 Marvel superhero film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Known for his distant falsetto vocals and textural instrumentals, Casey Luong, known by his stage name Keshi, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. During the chorus of the song, Keshi harmonizes with himself:
“Might go to war with Heaven
For keepin’ me away from you, so long, eh-eh-eh
Might go to war with Heaven
‘Cause I don’t know what else I’d do
If I was away from you, so long”
As heard in the song, Keshi uses “going to war” as hyperbole for fighting for a relationship with his lover; always wanting to be closer than they were before. The idea of “going to war with heaven” to reclaim someone you love is relentlessly grand and romantic, thus being the reason it resonates so much with his listeners. To love someone so deeply that you’d want nothing else but to savor them in your arms, even if that means going to war for them.
Being familiar with Keshi’s discography and how he likes to structure and execute his compositions, this song was similar to yet different from his past works. In this song, Keshi maintains his signature falsetto vocals, however, if you listen closely to when he sings ‘heaven,’ it’s part of his high falsetto riffs. This song specifically is also in a higher range than what he would typically sing because rather than his usual tendency to just hold the note, he instead goes down the scale. But while the composition of this song was different from his current discography and was also made for a soundtrack, this song was no different in context as he was able to yet again capture the truest human emotions and put them into words.
Regardless of the context of how you once lost that person, the feeling of longing to do anything for the person you love is universally felt. Not only that, but when he belts the chorus, it’s as if he wants the person from above to hear and understand the desperation he has for them the us, making the song so heart-wrenchingly relatable as his efforts might not come to fruition as they already belong to “heaven.”
Tiffany Tong’s Album Review: Sam Kim – Sun and Moon
When you think of the recent Korean pop culture craze and phenomenon on the internet, I’m sure the first thing that comes to mind is BTS and the absolutely psychotic K-pop stans that usually end up trending on Twitter. K-pop is intimidating and quite frankly not for everyone but the common misconception that people have is that any South Korean music across all genres is considered “K-pop.”
My favorite genre and someone who I consider to be most digestible to new and curious ears, I introduce producer, singer, and songwriter, Sam Kim. Differing from the usual K-pop artists that sing and dance on stage, Sam Kim does nothing of the sort as he mainly produces K-R&B (a hybrid genre, a creative mix of hip hop, rap, soul, and funk) and K-Indie (understood as an umbrella term for certain sub-culture music genres of South Korea). Do not be mistaken: The R&B and Indie genre you are used to is utterly contrasting to K-R&B and K-Indie. He didn’t popularize this genre for nothing.
Along with other previous EPs, his first album Sun and Moon (2018) is the perfect encapsulation of how he showcases his individual sound and how he is of his own genre. Tied alongside contemporary and soul elements, his sound is straightforward, soothing to ears, conveys the truest and most honest human emotions, and either makes you want to prance around while holding hands with your lover or ugly cry in a deep dark ditch. From its tune to melodies to the overall messages and execution, the album’s entirety is in a completely different league from his mainstream counterparts.
Sam Kim – Sun and Moon Full Album
Among my favorites, “It’s You” is a song that perfectly encapsulates the nervous and awkward emotions of first love. The song begins with the acoustic guitar in the minor key which is later then complemented by the piano that introduced the melody in a major key. The acoustic guitar remains the same in tempo, setting the beat and rhythm for the song however, the melody from the piano consistently fades in and out throughout the whole song thus structuring each verse and chorus as if it were a single thought. In the second verse he sings:
“You make me ponder alone
Wondering if you’re thinking this
Wondering if you’re giving me hints
Or if you’re just playing with me
Which one is it?
I don’t really know
I’m trying so hard
Cuz of you…”
As mentioned before, think “prancing around while holding hands with your lover” during Spring time while the cherry blossoms are blooming. That odd stage when you start talking to someone but you don’t exactly know how they feel, it’s like you can visualize the curiosity and shy interactions between the two young lovers. The context is further emphasized in the pre-chorus when he syncopates the line, “Cuz of you,” which then leads to the chorus. The last verse and bridge are then featured by Korean Rapper ZICO, where he completely changes the rhythm, tone, and phrasing. Shifting it from curiosity and unsureness of the new profound love to “date me already,” as he raps:
“Love is not an easy thing
You’re probably bad at expressing it’s okay
If you’re good at it, confessing would seem like nonsense…”
Similar yet different from the first song, the entire intro of “Sunny Days, Summer Nights,” is carried by acoustic guitar. Accompanied by the xylophone and trumpets later in the pre-chorus, it’s as if the instruments are having a conversation; complementing and replying to one another. The song is about reminiscing on the day he fell in love and to think of that reassuring feeling no matter how sunny or rainy their days get. In the first refrain and pre-chorus, he sings:
“Remember this right here
Us, who fell in love
Someday in the distant future
When that summer day comes to mind
Let’s laugh about then together
Sunny days
I’ll be next to you
I promise
You can always count on me
Rainy days
When you feel alone
So that you can rest comfortably
I’ll now be your warm night
Like our first day…”
Curiously, the pre-chorus is what carries the main melody of the song rather than the chorus. Traditionally, the message of the song is emphasized in the chorus whereas the chorus of this song is mainly made up of interjects and the phrase, “right there next to you,” until the next verse. However simple and straightforward, it is effective in conveying how optimistic he is about their future regardless of all the good and bad days they may encounter.
