Soyeon & Park Jaejung Start 2018 Off With Hugs and Kisses (“XOXO”)

Soyeon is a member of the Global H Media girl group LABOUM, who debuted in 2014. LABOUM started out as a six-membered girl group with their debut song “Pit-a-Pat,” but in November of 2017, Yulhee departed from the group after their digital single “Only You,” making them now a five-membered group. Soyeon also participated in multiple OSTs from 2017, singing “I Feel Love” from part four of the Hospital Ship OST and “Cosmic Girl” from part one of the Jugglers OST.

Park Jaejung is a soloist under contract with Mystic Entertainment. You may be familiar with him as the winner of the 5th season of Superstar K in 2013, as well as The Snowball Project where he collaborated with Mark Lee of NCT to release the song “Lemonade Love” last July.

“XOXO” starts off the new year with a clean, bright, and light-hearted feel just perfect for the season. Soyeon and Park Jaejung’s voices mesh very well together, and they complement each other’s verses flawlessly. As the song goes on you won’t be able to help swaying from side to side to the melody and instrumentals in the background. The instruments create a perfectly balanced composition; it starts off with a slow build up of chimes reminiscent of winter, before combining with synth and guitar to create the lovely finished product that was released.

The music video makes use of soft aesthetics and beautiful visuals throughout. The pastel colors complement the sound and feel of the song, and Soyeon and the male lead seem to have really good chemistry with both the song and each other. The video portrays the communication between a couple most likely in the first stage of their relationship where it’s still a bit awkward and they’re unsure of what they should say or do just yet. Soyeon is seen talking on the phone and messaging back and forth with the male lead, contemplating how she should ask him to go out, but by the end of the video they both end up gaining the courage to confront each other. It’s a really cute video from start to finish, and it pulls the viewer in a little bit at a time!

This song is the perfect way to start off 2018 since it delivers many positive vibes, and it really has the ability to cheer people up with just one listen. Please take the time to listen to this track, and I hope that you’ll see why I recommend this song; hopefully you love it as much as I do!