Release Date: January 4, 2013
Track Listing
- Days & Nights feat. Eric Benet
- Street Cat
- While You’re Sleeping
- Let’s Hug feat. Jung Yup
- Silent Stalker feat. Double K
Review
JeA is the leader of the Brown Eyed Girls and the group’s final member to release a solo project. This was once considered an impossibility since Ga-In released her second album in October of 2012, and promotion seemed to be focused more on Talk About S.
But earlier this year, JeA finally released this, her debut mini-album.
Just JeA is less on the heavy-handed production that dominates Narsha and Miryo’s albums. It’s much closer to the laid-back feel of Ga-In’s Step 2/4 with an R&B/Pop twist.
This is self-produced, making this a refreshing change from her bandmate’s material. The songs on this album are pretty damn slick, and most are not overproduced to the point where it gets annoying or plays up to the lowest common denominator of the listener.
With that said, Just JeA has a much more mature sound than one would expect from a typical mainstream K-Pop album. But if you follow the Brown Eyed Girls closely, this is not a surprise as they have been gravitating more towards this material recently.
A real surprise on this album is seeing a duet with Eric Benet. Days & Nights is a fine piece of R&B that mixes English and Korean. Unlike other multi-language collaborations, this doesn’t sound awkward or weird in execution. Both artists get equal billing and enough time to show off their vocal chops.
The other duet with Jung Yup (Let’s Hug) is more prototypical of a K-Pop ballad and forgoes the slick R&B groove for a more intimate, candlelight-driven affair. Sure it’s a bit sappy, but what ballad like this isn’t?
The other track worth noting is Stray Cat, which has a bit more of a jazzy feel than typical Brown Eyed Girls-related material. The stripped-down simplicity of the song makes it stand out amongst the rest of the songs.
Of course, there must be a bit of bad mixed in with the good. While You’re Sleeping tries the chest-thumping diva balladry admirably but falls flat due to the pure cheese factor as the song continues. Maybe some of you like this showy song, but it does nothing for me.
Even though it was a little overdue, the lateness can be forgiven as Just JeA made the wait worth it and continues the fine tradition of excellent Brown Eyed Girls solo releases.
