Amber’s “Need To Feel Needed” is the chill song of the summer

AmberNeedToFeelNeeded

If Amber keeps releasing quality low-key videos like “Borders” and “Need To Feel Needed,” it may eventually make up for “Shake That Bass.”

“Need To Feel Needed” is composed and directed by Amber, and while passion projects like these usually run the risk of exposing a star’s shortcomings when it comes to talents outside of their accustomed wheelhouse, f(x)’s resident rapper manages to avoid that pratfall by making a video that is as cool as the track that Amber masterfully lays down here.

Shot alternatively from a ballroom and one ridiculously picturesque rooftop, “Need To Feel Needed” gets a ton of mileage out of well-spaced jump cuts, just the right amount of slow-motion for the beat to sequence with the expertly crafted kickback atmosphere of Amber’s Way Too Cool Hangout and agreeable overcast daylight that screams chill.

Then there’s the song itself, which gives Amber a measured key-driven beat that has just enough bass and snare to give “Need To Feel Needed” just enough backbone to bang one’s head to. The softness of the production is matched by Amber’s impressive crooning — helped along by the production’s wise decision to add an echo effect to Amber’s voice, which emphasizes the song’s dreamy appeal and bolsters Amber’s vocals at the same time — and the tandem effort gives “Need To Feel Needed” a replay quality that I haven’t found in a K-pop track in quite some time. Amber’s delivery on the choruses, with its relatively hard emphasis on the lyrics, is pretty addictive, and the “ooh ooh” hook works wonders with the production-assisted layering.

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In all, there’s almost nothing that I don’t love about Amber’s “Need To Feel Needed.” There have been a few much more highly publicized solo releases this year, but I’ll take Amber’s video cut over them any day of the week.

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