#6 SOMO:FUME
Can you smell SOMO:FUME? Does it smell like AOTY?
Happy Saturday! (Or Friday if that still applies for you)
While life on Earth is spiraling out of control with so many things happening, JAY B has released his first solo EP, "SOMO:FUME", two weeks ago. Between staying awake until 4 am (was it 5 am or even later?) to push you to achieve the 24 hours goals, chasing a bus that I didn't need to take, and going nowhere, but it's the JAY B BUS, I can't miss it! SOMO:FUME has been a constant in my life on Earth. You would think that by now, after many listening, I can understand its deepest concepts. The answer is: no. Let me rephrase this: it's not that I cannot understand SOMO:FUME concepts and meanings; using the idea of SOMO:FUME as a perfume, when you smell a perfume on someone and when you spray the same perfume on yourself often the fragrance smells differently due to several factors - like the pH value of the skin, the hormone balance. These factors can strengthen or weaken the different notes of a perfume. To me, SOMO:FUME is just like a fragrance; every time I listen to it, there's something different, like smelling my perfume on someone else. (Don't do that, it's creepy).
For this release, I've found myself doing something different from what I've done with the previous ones - in the specific Yugyeom's "Point of View: U" and BamBam's "riBBon"; I didn't read any reviews. I did read one, but I'm not considering it because it didn't please me. Not being pleased with what I read doesn't mean that as a fan, I can't handle someone else's different opinions on the EP or a negative review; I can't handle articles and reviews written without fact-checking and after poor research - or lack of it. I can't handle articles and reviews that are written to please fans and for clickbait. I've seen plenty of them and scrolled past.
While scrolling through 24 hours achievements, physical album spoilers, interviews, etc., and listening to SOMO:FUME, I concluded that this EP is exactly what I was expecting from JAY B - and in some points, it is more than what I was expecting. With saying that SOMO:FUME is what I was expecting from JAY B doesn't have a negative connotation; on the contrary, it is proof that JAY B knows very well this style and he is capable and skilled to own it; he says it in the title, 'SOMO' is the acronym for "Style of my Own" - other than being part of the Korean word for 'to consume' 소모품 [somopoom].
Is it so wrong for artists to release music that relies on their own tried and tested formulas or formulas in a specific genre? In this case R&B (K-R&B) and Hip-Hop.
It has been said - here and there - that SOMO:FUME plays it safe and doesn't take any risks, musically speaking. I thought a lot about this and tried to apply it to my daily life. I have tried and tested outfits for different events and occasions, and I would not change any key elements. When I have my hair cut, the style is pretty much the same because I know that this is what works for me - if I change it, something major might have happened or is about to happen. Same for when I ran out of what it is now my signature perfume, I buy the same - if I decide to change it, it's because I'm either very tired of it or I'm going through some personal discovery and 'moment'.
So, if I have the same hairstyle and wear the same perfume with no one questioning them for years, why do we always expect artists to be on an artistic exploration every time they release something? Why are artists not allowed to bask in that comfort zone for as long as they wish? Why do they always have to sound 'fresh' and 'innovative'?
This is JAY B's first solo release since leaving JYPE, and we all know how difficult it has been for him to express his own style while under JYP supervision - I suggest you watch or re-watch the episode of "Hyena on the Keyboard" with JAY B. It's not that JAY B hasn't shown us his style over the years, he surely did with GOT7, JJ Project, JUS2, and as Def, and he has been on artistic explorations. SOMO:FUME enhances JAY B style and music. In perfumery, it would be a fragrance enhancer. It can be worn alone as a transparent aroma (consider only SOMO:FUME and solo JAY B), but it can also be layered over anything (SOMO:FUME layered over GOT7, JJP, JUS2, and Def.). If anything, now we can see JAY B production in GOT7, JJP, JUS2, Def. in õffshore and Def. on Soundcloud as the sillage; the sillage is the perfume trail left in the air when someone leaves the room, and how long it stays. JAY B is the Eau De Parfum.
[A fragrance enhancer is I DON’T KNOW WHAT by D.S. & DURGA]
While listening to SOMO:FUME and keeping in mind that the 'FUME' part comes from 'perfume', I've tried to smell its sounds and pair each song to a fragrance. It was fun!
B.T.W is CK One. Calvin Klein's iconic fragrance (launched in 1994) is unapologetically bold yet exudes youthful, fresh simplicity. It celebrates individuality and unity; the fragrance evokes the excitement of limitless opportunity.
AM PM is L'Eau des Sens by Diptyque. The official description of this perfume is: "L’Eau des Sens is a composition that creates confusion. It caresses the skin to the point that you imagine you can touch it. When you breathe in its scent, it mixes up your senses, making your mouth water as if it were an indulgent treat, awakening you with its freshness like the sound of a rushing waterfall. L’Eau des Sens owes its originality to the very idea behind its creation: bring together all the dimensions of bitter orange, from the roots to the top of the tree, including branches, leaves, and fruit."
FAME is Gypsy Water by Byredo. "The scent wakens a dream of a colorful lifestyle made of innate nomadism. Woody notes of pine needle and sandalwood associated with intense amber and fresh citrus evoke the fever of gypsy nights spent in the forest." This fragrance kicks off with bergamot and lemon over piney scents, giving you the "gypsy" feeling - cool nights and warm afternoons in the woods camping. Stronger amber and sandalwood comes in - the chorus - and then, later on, the water part is predominant. Gypsy Water has a nice sillage, and it's an easy to like fragrance. Just like FAME.
In To You is Thé Noir 29 by Le Labo. "Thé Noir 29 combines depth and freshness, softness and strength through permanent oscillation between the light of bergamot, fig and bay leaves and the depth of cedar wood, vetiver, and musk. A special extraction of black tea leaves wraps up the composition by bringing to the formula a dry, leafy, hay, tobacco feeling in the dry down to transform this creation into a sensuous and addictive essence." I'm addicted to In To You since the first listen.
Switch It Up is not a specific fragrance but a raw element, Ambergris. Ambergris is one of the most valuable and legendary ingredients in perfumery, with a smell that’s described as “ocean-y and sweet.” The interesting part is how it’s produced - it’s basically sperm whale excrement that floats in the water, gets bleached by the sea, oxidised by the sun, and turns into a substance that’s washed ashore.
Count On Me is your own comforting scent. For me these days is the smell of my flat when I come home after a long day at work - it's woody (Hinoki and Oud scents) and fruity (Baies candle by Diptyque).
Paranoia is the scent of this candle called Concrete After Lightning by D.S. & Druga. "Electric crackle, downpour, panic grass, sizzling asphalt steam. Respite on muggy summer days. The scent after it rains is a favourite aromatic genre of mine – and many people as it turns out." Reads the description on the brand website. It is hard to describe its smell, and it is super unique. When I burnt it for the first time, it seemed super familiar but so hard to describe. This is what I felt when listening to Paranoia, something unique yet familiar and hard to describe.
Did I tickle your sense of smell? Try and tell us what you can smell and if any of the songs remind you of a specific fragrance.
Thank you so much for reading this far. I hope you have a nice weekend!
🌴