Vibe 3rd album: Re-feel

(Doremi media, March 2006)

I think I’ve been overdosing on Korean R&B and ballads recently. Included in my recent YesAsia delivery was Vibe’s third album – another speculative purchase because I was under the mistaken impression that they were going to be playing in London so I thought I would see what I would be letting myself in for. Vibe were a pleasant surprise. I think fundamentally I’m not a Korean R&B person which is maybe why I was lukewarm to SG Wannabe’s third, but this album is very listenable to. There’s nothing too overblown, there’s good use of instruments (the harmonica is particularly appealing, but also there’s a good guitar player, and the strings never take over too much. On the downside maybe that shimmering tinkly thing is slightly overused) and the singers are very sensitive. Does it all work because the band compose their own songs? Anyway there’s some rather lovely stuff here, with a fair amount of variety (including a bit of gentle rapping in the ninth track, and a laid back jazzy bossa-nova in the tenth). Recommended.