Well, have you?
If you come from an Asian region of the world then there is a chance that you may be familiar with IU. However, if you hail from the Western regions of the globe, (or Southern in my case), it's more likely that you don't know who that is.
IU is the name of a young female singer who hails from South Korea. IU would have to be my personal favourite artist from Korea, there is just so much about her to like on so many different levels. Despite being small she is a natural beauty with an adorable, cute, cheeky yet introverted, clumsy, humble and honest personality.
If you have the chance to watch a subbed clip of her tv appearances and interviews you will be wonderfully surprised by her musicality: IU is quite skilled at the guitar and often performs acoustic covers of songs that display her unique voice and haunting melodies. She also has a blunt honesty, is clumsy and doesn't hold back in sharing her insecurities or talking about being shy, which I find to be absolutely refreshing in an industry where artists are always trying to be perfectly flawless angels. Overall there is something genuinely likable in IU that makes her seem like the type of person you would want to be best friends with...well at least I know I would. ^_^
Currently I'm listening to IU's latest album- Can You Hear Me?
This album is her second Japanese EP which I am just loving at the moment! I'm glad that there are new fresh songs in this album, (and not just Japanese versions of past Korean songs), but most of all I'm loving that it's in Japanese and secondly that it's actually available in my country! Yay for me! See most of the time I have found that when a Korean artist makes a Japanese release, for some reason the songs are, frustratingly, not available in my region. (I know it has something to do with the Japanese Record labels because has anyone else found that Kpop is just more accessible than Jpop recently or is it just me???)
It's an added bonus to be since the Japanese used in the songs is actually at a level where I have some understanding without having to whip out a Dictionary. The lyrics are set to a good pace too, (not like some songs where it's so fast that it's almost like a rap being sung), so it makes listening not only enjoyable but educational as well!
There is definately a lot more of an electronic feel to the music compared to the theatrical orchestral feeling in her previous albums but the music still has a sense of drama and that sweet upliftment that is usually found in an IU song.
Whilst I love all the songs on the album, I'm a sucker for a driving beat, so 'Fairytale' is my absolute favourite song. Other songs worth mentioning are 'New World' - upbeat with hopeful lyrics, 'Beautiful Dancer' - it has a very pure sweet sound and a cute video clip. Also I feel I should mention 'Voice Mail' as it doesn't seem to be as popular on iTunes at the moment but I really think it is a great track. It has the sweet, laidback yet very thoughtful and questioning emotion that we first heard from songs on 'The Spring of Twenty' short fan appreciation album.
If you love foreign pop music or hauntingly high beautiful melodies I would definately recommend checking out IU.
If you would like to find out more about IU you can check out the official site here:
http://iu.iloen.com/
And if you would like to purchase her music you can do that on iTunes here:
http://search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZContentLink.woa/wa/link?path=iu
Leave a comment if you have any questions, suggestions or if you love IU too!
Maisy xxx
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