South Korean singer-songwriter MISO's debut single "Take Me" is the promising result of her artistic incubation with the Red Bull Music Academy and clube$kimo (a South Korean hip hop collective created by DJ Millic and DEAN). Drawing inspiration from jazz musicians like Carla Bley, Billie Evans, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, as well as contemporary musicians like Louie Lastic and Kehlani, she describes her music as "a blend of fresh grounded coffee beans of a pungent aroma with a hint of glitters".
"Take Me" takes you a dreamy journey of cathartic instrospection with lush synths and mild percussion. It blends influences from electro-pop, R&B and soul in a way that lets her whispery soprano vocals to take center stage, creating an atmosphere of hazy intimacy with melodic cooing and a chorus of sighs. The lyrics are relatively direct, presenting an interior monologue that dwells on the emotional obstacles that lie in the way of achieving a 'trusting' relationship with her significant other:
'Do you have something to say
Cos the feelings in my mind cannot escape
Would you ever take me
Cause my heart is all I carry
The feelings in my mind I cannot explain
Far away there’s places to see
All the worries and the lies cannot see me
Could you ever take me
Cause my heart is all I carry
The feelings in my mind I cannot explain
Maybe we need some time to mend this broken trust
I don’t want this to end and fade to dust
Baby we need some time to focus it on us
I really want us to start up this trust'
Lyrics: LyricsHot.net
The accompanying pink-hued music video visualizes this interior journey beautifully by presenting an animated avatar journeying through the neon-lit streets of Seoul, staring at the moon and clouds, and finding images of her lover in the scenery around her. After she expresses her desire for reconciliation ('I don’t need a man to complete me/ Strong like a diamond you can’t break me/ But you could be my pearl king/ I could be your diamond queen'), she slips into another dimension - where she lies blissfully next to her lover in a field of crystal formations. Here's an indelible marriage of melody, vocals and visuals.
