Music Monday | Alex (Clazziquai) — Waltz Lesson

Hihi BAYOG Fam~ I’m back with a quick Music Monday post. Again, I’m currently just sharing songs I wanted to share back in February lol Today’s song is a really sweet track, as well as a throwback. We’re also switching it up to a ballad today. Today’s track is 『Waltz Lesson』 by Alex and featuring Whale. It’s a soft, sweet, and dreamy love ballad~ I’ve been thinking of this track for a long time now. But also decided to use it for today’s music post since we just recently discussed Clazziquai in the BAYOG Discord~ Anway, let’s go~

So Alex or Alex Chu was born Chu Hon Gon(추헌곤). He’s simply known as Alex(알렉스) though. He’s a Korean-Canadian, after having immigrated to Canada with his family. He’s most famously known as a member of the electropop project group Clazziquai Project(클래지콰이 프로젝트), which is also just simply known as Clazziquai (클래지콰이). Clazziquai was an electropop band that combined various genres into their music like electro-music, jazz, house, etc. Their music was very experimental at the time. But their music was well received and they grew in popularity online after releasing their first short unofficial albums.

The members of Clazziquai included DJ Clazzi and vocalists Alex Chu and Horan. They also had a guest vocalist Christina Chu, Alex’s sister. Initially, it was Alex and Christina who were acquaintances and sang on the first couple of short albums with DJ Clazzi. Christina left though, and Horan filled in. However, Christina occasionally contributed her vocals, usually as an uncredited guest. You can find her vocals on tracks like 『Speechless』 and 『Stepping Out』. Their first album Instant Pig was released in May 2004. By the way, you’ll see the pig appear a lot on their stuff. Anyway, songs from the album were pretty well received. It definitely had more of a bossa nova and jazz influence on it for a lot of the tracks. I would say one of the things that really made them big was their contribution to the soundtrack for the K-Drama [My Lovely Samsoon]. 『Be My Love』 and 『She Is』. 『She Is』 is probably the most famous, and it’s one of my absolute faves. It was also recently covered by [Peakboy] too. I think I prefer 『Be My Love (English House Remix)』 though. Those tracks got released on the second album Color Your Soul. This had a more funky and acoustic vibes to it. You know, I used to not particularly like jazz music. However, Clazziquai did spark a bit of interest in me. I loved the use of bossa nova in some of their tracks. And now I really enjoy bossa nova. Anyway, I got a lot of faves from or with Clazziquai: 『Sweety』, 『Love Mode (Feat. Tablo)』, 『춤』, 『Tell Yourself』, 『After Love』, 『After Love (Female Version)』, 『Romeo n Juliet』, 『Chocolate Truffles』, 『You Never Know』, 『Brown Gold Eyes』, 『#궁금해』, 『Take back (feat. 홍다혜 of OurR)』, 『What if (Feat. Suyoung Kim)』 Epik High’s 『혼자라도 (Feat. Clazziquai)』, and m-flo’s 『Love Me After 12 AM (Feat. Alex (Clazziquai Project))』. There are also some English versions of these tracks too. My favorite is probably the English versions of 『Sweety』, m-flo’s 『Love Me After 12 AM (Feat. Alex (Clazziquai))』, 『Chocolate Truffles (Unplugged Version)』, 『Tell Yourself (Daishi Dance Remix – English version)』. Alex also has a wonderful cover of 『화분』, originally by [LOVEHOLIC]. I just find Alex and Clazziquai fascinating because Alex has this smooth, dreamy, and sweet singing voice that’s perfect for ballads and all. And Clazziquai has such a wide range of sounds and genres. It’s also just fascinating because they were originally just meant to be a project group, but they ended up gaining a good amount of success. Aside from Clazziquai, Alex also acted in several Korean dramas like Smile, Dong-hae, Pasta, I Need Romance Too, Hotel King, My Lovely Girl, and Once Again. He was also known for his appearance in the first season of the show We Got Married. It was a reality show where celebrities basically got paired up and kind of lived a married life together. He was paired with actress Shin Ae. On a whole other note, Alex was also just kinda interesting back in the day cuz the dude was incredibly buff during a time when it wasn’t really common for male celebrities to be like that. After all, it was the era where soft flower boy images were more in, Cuz it wasn’t til like 2010s that male celebrities got more into working out and becoming more built. But yeah, it was also just kinda funny cuz Alex has this really soft and soothing voice and sings these ballads and all, but he’s like super built lol It’s that unexpected gap in his image lol

Anyway, the song we’re focusing on today is 『Waltz Lesson (Feat. whale)』 from Alex’s first solo album My Vintage Romance. The album originally dropped back in June 2008. Again, it was his first solo album. The album basically falls under ballads, R&B, and soul. Honestly, I think that the overall sound and concept for the album really fit Alex. There are a couple of great tracks that I love. But again, most of these are ballads, so they’re not for everyone. Although we do have some features from Korean rappers like Gaeko from Dynamic Duo and Simon Dominic. 『Waltz Lesson (Feat. whale)』 was definitely an instant favorite for me, and obviously my top favorite track from the album. It’s probably my favorite solo from Alex. It’s a very sweet, soft, and dreamy type of track. I also think it’s a really romantic type of track too. I like that the track itself isn’t overwhelming as there are just a few simple elements like guitars and pianos. It also pairs so well with Alex’s crooning. Now, as I said, it’s a very romantic track. As you can presume from the title, it’s like Alex is teaching a waltz and comparing their love to the waltz as well. And with the lyrics, you get that imagery as well. It even ends with Alex counting the dance steps. It’s simple but really sweet and romantic. So yeah, I instantly loved it because I’m a sucker for sweet and romantic things like this. It’s like heart-fluttering sweet.

You can find 『Waltz Lesson (Feat. whale)』 and the rest of My Vintage Romance on Spotify, here:

You can find 『Waltz Lesson (Feat. whale)』 on YouTube, here:

Like the lyrics just make me go, “That’s so fucking romantic and sweet~” It’s sweet, earnest, and simple. And thinking about it now, it seems pretty accurate to compare loving someone to learning to waltz.

One, two, three
One, two, three

Now, follow me
After you have gathered your feet
Relax your knees with your shoulders
Let’s hold hands facing each other
As we match to the rhythm of each other’s breathing

To the side, rise and fall
Is it a bit hard?
Hey, don’t worry, let’s do it again one, two, three
To the front, heel and toe, you’re doing well
Please remember this feeling
You and I are still awkwardly tuning our hearts
Now it’s merely beginning
The most beautiful dance in the world
Perhaps, it’s that. Yes, it is

To the side, rise and fall
Is it a bit hard?
Hey, don’t worry, let’s do it again one, two, three
To the front, heel and toe – you’re doing well
Please remember this feeling
You and I are still awkwardly tuning our hearts
Now it’s merely beginning
Maybe it’s the most beautiful dance in the world
Yes, that’s it exactly!

(It’s precisely) knowing love
(It’s precisely) knowing love
(It’s precisely) knowing love
(It’s precisely) knowing love
(It’s precisely) knowing love
(It’s precisely) knowing love

One, two, three
One, two, three

Translation credited to: kahel_luna @ vintage_alex

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Anyway, that’s it for today’s Music Monday post~ I hope y’all enjoyed it. I had a fun and nostalgic time going through Clazziquai’s discography while writing this. Of course, I also loved listening to 『Waltz Lesson』 again. It’s just so freaking romantic and sweet. Ballads are usually not my favorite as I do prefer some more upbeat KRNB or K-Pop tracks. However, this was such a sweet song that I couldn’t help but love it. I hope you enjoyed it too! Let me know what you think~ Have y’all heard of Clazziquai or Alex before? What are some of your favorite tracks? Got any other throwbacks that you like? Let me know!~ Anyway, take care, stay safe, and have a lovely start to your week friends!~

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