JUNE – Always (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

1. Always
2. Reason to believe
3. Can We Talk (JUNE mix)
4. Always (instrumental)

JUNE is an R&B pop artist for Sony Music Records. He is from Seoul, Korea and was inspired by pop artists such as STEVIE WONDER, ERIC BENET, R.KELLY, LAURYN HILL and MICHAEL JACKSON.

He grew up listening to R&B and soul music and in fall of 2000, JUNE and a group of friends went to sing some karaoke and sung a Stevie Wonder song but it was bad. So, he underwent special vocal training and kept practicing Stevie Wonder’s song “Lately” for two years.

By Winter of 2003, he cut his first demo tape featuring Musiq Soulchild’s “LOVE” and Sisquo’s “incomplete” and in 2005, that demo tape was heard by music producer Matsuo “MC” Kiyoshi who went to Seoul to meet with JUNE and since 2005, JUNE began learning Japanese and by 2006, he released his first single “Baby It’s You / Romance ☆ Discotheque”.

Now, JUNE is back with his fourth single “Always” which he self-produced.

The first track “Always” features an upbeat pop track that showcases JUNE’s smooth vocals and it’s a really catchy pop track featuring piano and cool deep beats.

The second track “Reason to believe” is an upbeat pop track nearly featuring all English lyrics and it’s a solid track featuring cool vocals and cool music.

The third track “Can We Talk (JUNE mix)” is a cover of the hit song by Babyface and an all English cover of this slow-jam. JUNE’s pronunciation of the English words are good for most of the song, especially the harmony section during the chorus.

The fourth track is an instrumental version of “Always”.

The CD insert is a standard bi-fold with lyrics and production credits.  Also, included is an insert promoting a Korean MBS drama and promoting JUNE’s live concert.

Overall, “Always” is a pretty solid single with three cool tracks. If anything, I definitely enjoy the music of JUNE and look forward to listening more of his work. A single worth checking out!

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