jvik’s impression:
What I expected going in was a fast upbeat track, but after listening to the song I could only be surprised and smile. Why? 2011 was a tough year for BIGBANG, full of personal reflection and hardships but what I heard in this song was a revitalized, confident, and strengthened BIGBANG. The first two vocal sets after the introduction had a back-to-back GD and Daesung combination. Having GD open the first rap verse really brings him back to what he does so well. His verse was full of rhythm and bite. The highlight for me was hearing Daesung’s voice. It was full of strength, and he hit his high notes flawlessly, giving everything is going well feeling. I liked that the song formats have stayed the same, with each member trading off vocal verses to emphasiz their strengths. Seungri’s intro to the song gave you a slow, smooth feel, setting the tone throughout the song. Taeyang showed his similar strength to Daesung on the second set, finishing the vocal verse on a high powerful note. The deep vocal style of TOP showed in his vocal set, with more of a spoken rap style.
The song’s theme is that spring has arrived, and the styling and artwork show this. It all came together; the frost-like features in the album art, the oxygen masks, and the blue colors took the artistic level up a notch.
