f(x) – 4 Walls Review

fx-4-Walls

Release Date: October 27, 2015

Track Listing

  1. 4 Walls
  2. Glitter
  3. Déjà vu
  4. X
  5. Rude Love
  6. Diamond
  7. Traveler feat. ZICO
  8. Papi
  9. Cash Me Out
  10. When I’m Alone

Review

4 Walls is the fourth album from K-Pop group f(x) and their first since Sulli left the group to pursue an acting career. The title track is the lead single from this album.

f(x) return to the world of K-Pop with an album crafted to get you to the dance floor or an appropriate place to shake your booty. This is a simplistic musical approach that aims to please, especially now that the group is down a member who had caused a bit of controversy.

Of course, missing members isn’t necessarily new to this group, but given the circumstances and the whole overblown hoopla, there’s no surprise that there’s a return to the basics.

4 Walls also appears to try to make up for the lacklustre Red Light, which seems to be a consensus weak effort all around in the f(x) discography. So was it mission accomplished?

I believe it mostly does get the job done. Not surprisingly, the album starts with the title track and just takes off from there. The best songs on the album are those that fall within the four-on-the-floor pounding of dance music, such as the previously mentioned title track (4 walls, if you forgot), Rude Love, Papi (not a cover of the Jennifer Lopez song of the same name) and Cash Me Out.

Those tracks are immediately most enjoyable if you are looking for a few quick hits from the album. If you choose to dig deeper, Glitter and Diamond also deserve consideration for a few spins if you want a break from the kick drum pounding.

Only one somewhat slow-ish or ballad-like song on this album comes at the end with When I’m Alone. It has a bit of that retro 80’s synth-pop vibe, too, and it can be considered a cool-down type of closing track.

The only negative I can find about this album is that the overall sound is still somewhat fractured. It would have been great if the entire thing were straight-up 4/4 dance floor killers since the stronger material is on here within that genre.

Otherwise, it’s much better than Red Light, and for long-time f(x) fans, that should be enough to warrant a purchase. If that is not you, it is still recommended to give this a shot and/or cherry-pick what you like.

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