I Love Natural (PAN Entertainment)
by Michael McCarthy

 

Lee Jung Hyun‘s debut, Let’s Go To My Star, was a techno masterpiece and I still listen to it frequently. Her second disc, however, was more of a dance album and not nearly as captivating. Her third effort, Magic To Go To My Star, was rather disappointing in spite of its intriguing anti-terrorism theme. (That it came out a few days after 9/11 was an eerie coincidence that might explain why it was hugely popular in Korea.) That said, it wasn’t so bad that I lost interest. I still saw her as something of a visionary, but I wished she’d quit trying to be Korea’s queen of pop and make an album as wonderful as her debut. Well, she’s finally done so with I Love Natural (PAN Entertainment). It’s primarily a dance album, to be sure, but she now seems at ease with the genre, whereas it often felt like she was trying too hard on her previous two albums. “Time Machine,” an infectious trance track, might be her best song yet, and the various interludes and intros are as quirky as anything on her debut. I had high hopes for “Brighter Than Sunshine,” which was written and produced by the often brilliant Towa Tei, but it sounds like faux r&b, complete with silly hip-hop style grunts and a rap by the famous Japanese rapper Goichi. Still, in spite of its occasional missteps, this is still probably the best recent dance album I’ve heard since Lasgo.
(www.jhlove.com)