Alright finally got around to listen to Ailee's mini.
U & I is really a solid single. The video as we all saw was amazeballs, but the song is much much better. I love what they did with the horns and the feel of the song is just too good. It's rough but it doesn't wanna slap you in the face.
Too bad about the sound quality though, Ailee's voice isn't compressed much, but jeebus christ the chorus with all the horns and everything going on, it's compressed to hell and back. iTunes "Sound Check" reduces the dB by about 12... that's how loud the mix is. And I don't usually care if a song is compressed as I know it's an amazing tool when used right, but here... nope, not one bit.
Here's hoping for a live version on Sketchbook soon.
No No No is also a good candidate for a single. It's energetic enough and I can see it working well during promotions. My only complaint, is again the amount of compression.
Best song is track 4, "How Can This Be." This song is a perfect example of why I fell in love with her. Her singing is just full of feel, combined that with her singing ability... it's just soooo goood.
The rest of the album is also decent, but nothing to write home about really. Regardless, it's definitely much better than Invitation imo. And worth a listen especially if you're after singing ability instead of something else. Also, dem thighs. Best thighs in all of K-Pop.