Review: Sunny Hill–Pray

Well is this video absolutely stunning or what?

This music video certainly blew my mind. It puts a morbid, surreal concept in a blender with realistic emotions and themes, the result being a beauty that is obscure and chilling, but in an organic and relatable way.The Korean cinema is well-known for this technique, so to see this utilized in a music video absolutely thrills me; this video is unique to Korea, and boasts emotions that would be lost in translation in any other music industry.

Unfortunately, there are many variables that prevent more material like this to jump from out of its water into Kpop land: the rampant KBS and SBS banning muffles any dark or morbid qualities that give concepts like these dimension and flair. Kpop’s narrow budget buckles the knees of unique material because it doesn’t please the masses or feed the sales, a la Trends and Repetition. So Sunny Hill and their team deserve a lot of respect for having the guts and mentality to pull through with this type of thing, regardless of the prevalent downsides.

I like that this music video is open to different interpretations, but at the same time it’s not some art-damaged mess that lives and breathes on ambiguousness. What a breath of fresh air for this industry, as there aren’t many interpretations that can be delivered from the standard 7 pretty boys with goofy hair dancing in a room.

A lot of the interpretations emerging suggest that this is a comment on the Korean music industry, similar to “Midnight Circus” and the art of being experimented and stretched into doing something that you can’t control. It’s a valuable theme, and a brave one at that.

I personally focused on the two motifs of the cross symbols and looking out of windows. I think it suggested that in knowing our savior is coming (the cross and woman)–or simply the fact that we have to be saved–can develop into a dangerous awareness (looking out of the windows, looking into the mirror) that can evolve in an anger and discontentedness (Mr. Monster lashing out at the scientist and then escaping); the brighter the world to come, the darker our present world. In Mr. Monster’s case it lead to death, concluding that the existence of a savior has the potential to ironically take our life from us. They have the controlling power to do so, and the ability to scramble our mentality into restlessness and disarray. By waving the lock of freedom in front of our faces, they can take our life.

This explains these frequent images as the video progresses: the more light our world to come promises, the dimmer our present world becomes. Mr. Monster realizes how dark his surroundings are once he sees the beauty of the room he can’t be a part of.

It also explains the blending of cross images (representing the savior) with the imprisoning ones: our savior can lock us up just as well as they can save us.

Maybe this isn’t one of the central themes, but it was most brought to life for me with the abundant metaphors and images provided.

And gosh did that monster do a gorgeous job acting. Ugly has never been that beautiful.

As for the track itself, this is probably the sturdiest I’ve heard yet from Sunny Hill. Although their Midnight Circus EP had a lot of flash and bang, it was a bit short on providing the cohesiveness and structure that would bring their artistic ideas to life. However, “Pray” emerges directly from a musically rich, sturdy, pure, and aware place; a lovely, melodic ballad being the result.

Right in the first few seconds and its haunting, deflating tune we pick up on the track’s central strength: its raw and velvety melodies.

There is a delicate expressiveness about these melodies, and they posses substance that delves beneath notes and rhythms. They sprout out in relaxed, whirling streams that linger with an eerie and mournful nature, but at the same time have a set destination in which they stylistically and seamlessly wrap themselves around. They cycle around in smooth, sorrowful loops that pace through the song exquisitely; rhythms, passages, and intervals overlap in each section. This pads the song with a lulling familiarity, latching its colors together into a pure and cohesive big picture. It doesn’t hurt that the delivery is fitting as well; the girls’ airy voices match the character of the melodies and really give them life.

The instrumentals add a nice polish to the track as well. Instead of assigning each instrument to its default role–making the guitar strum boxy chords and the piano echo the melody–it blends the roles of the instruments and unifies their textures. The guitar is both lyrical and chordal. The piano follows its chorus supporting run in the beginning with shattered, twinkly melodies with an orchestral effect. The organ floats out of its warm chords into more flexible runs. These instruments are the ingredients of a classic ballad, but are arranged in an artistic format that adds an extra shimmer to the track.

It was a breath of fresh air to experience the refreshing package Sunny Hill had to offer. This gentle ballad boasts a unique artistic flavor with raw melodies that give the song a lovely musical shape, polishing it off with an organic progression and skillfully utilized instrumentals. It balances good artistic vision with discipline, a combination that the finest music sprouts from. Same thing applies to the music video, so seeing these two mingle together is nothing short of magnificent. Sunny Hill has some amazing ideas up their sleeves, and definitely left my ears in anticipation for their future.

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