It’s been well over a year since Lee Michelle’s debut song ‘Without You’ was released on March 21st, the music video and lyrics speaking volumes of her childhood experiences growing up in South Korea. Now in 2015, we’re glad that she’s finally back with her first mini-album entitled ‘I can Sing’!
Song
Within seconds, we’re greeted by the soft crooning of Lee Michelle as she shares a part of her life with her eagerly awaiting listeners. It’s a slow paced song, the accompanying music matching with her gentle vocals. Though, she doesn’t just proudly display her singing abilities, but as if showing that there’s more sides to her than people think, in the latter part of the song she raps out the following lines.
“It’s me. I’m back in the house.
Where I should be? It’s right here
My weapon is now strong without any flaws
The music and beat have turned into my story
My flow and performing is enough to express it all.”
Source: Popgasa
Lee Michelle reclaims her rightful place as a singer in the Korean music industry, to show how far she has come yet remained undefeated by the cruelty of the behaviour of others. She’s finally in a position where she’s able to tell her story to the world. The phrase and title of the song ‘I can Sing’ is repeated over and over again, as if a statement of triumph to the people who doubted her ability, those who looked down on her and berated her for trying in the first place. Now, she’s the one who’s looking down from them.
Music Video
In comparison to the selection of symbolic parts in ‘Without You’, this can be regarded as taking a simplistic approach. All that Lee Michelle needs to emphasis in this video is her voice, no back up dancers or singers, no intricate choreography, nothing more and nothing less. She’s bringing it back to the basics of being a singer, the ability to affect people with just her voice.
On a final note, I also recommend another song from this mini-album. It’s not a new song from Lee Michelle, but rather the English version of her debut song ‘Without You’. It really gave me chills just hearing it, by the raw pain, it must have taken much courage to have to face such memories with releasing this song. With this album that she took part in writing for, she’s reaching out to others who may have shared similar experiences in their past as a reminder that no one’s alone in this.
