Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
It’s been over two years since Taeyeon’s last full-length album, and in that time her discography has grown in drips and drabs — a holiday album here, a Japanese mini-album there. Judging from her concerts, she’s been sitting on a lot of her new material for awhile, making the release of ‘Purpose‘ highly anticipated.
“Spark” offers a bit of powerful fun — the perfect energy for this particular moment. It feels like Taeyeon’s version of “Rolling In The Deep,” built upon a very Adele-like instrumental and big, soulful vocals. “Spark” isn’t nearly as striking as that song, but it’s nice to hear her tackle something more upbeat for a title track.
“Spark” opens with bluesy guitar and tambourine, soon to be joined by stomping percussion that sets the groove in motion. The entire instrumental is surprisingly rhythmic, relying on its driving momentum more than any other element. This gives Taeyeon an opportunity to attack the melody, and she tears into the chorus (and ensuing vocal runs) with the kind of effortless polish you’d expect.
Though this feels like a new genre for her, I wish the song would have gone even harder. It’s crisp and catchy, but it could stand to be a little dirty as well. Blues influences work best when there’s a palpable sense of sweat and toil fueling the performance.
Ever the professional, Taeyeon’s best moments occur when she plays to her strengths. With this in mind, the vocal arrangement during the chorus is a thing of beauty, enveloping her strong lead with layers of backing vocals that carry through to the handclap-heavy post-chorus hook.
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IATFB says: Taeyeon songs with a bit of edge to them have been fucking gold for me (“I Got Love“, “Something New“), and while this is closer to those efforts than her more ballad-y releases, it does feel like she was straddling the line a bit. Like she was wanting to get the best of both worlds in a way and as a result it ended up not being as amazing as it could’ve been. Still a quality release.
