TRANS] Tiffany Interview in 1st Look - “Broken Heart”
After a lover who was loved wholeheartedly for a long time leaves, a woman remains as if trapped in memories. Tiffany, who has momentarily broken away from the group and is standing alone on stage, sings about that pain and hurt. Broken heart, but Tiffany’s pouring honesty of expressing that feeling is strong.
Prejudice is scary. Even if you try to keep an open mind, when you hear of an ‘ambitious project’ of a solo album of a popular idol group member, people can’t help but prescribe or assume something. Hidden behind flashy accomplishments, the desire or resolve to do something different, or stepping toward a different future is a type of rite of passage. Of course, this isn’t about trying to disparage their sincere passion or shining abilities when it comes to music. The fact that they’re getting out of the strong fence of the group, and filling an album alone under their own name is in itself is a meaningful declaration and proof of ’something’. However, paradoxically, because of that, the standard for sympathy becomes even higher and it’s easy to listen to it mindlessly.
When Tiffany, a member of the girl group ‘SNSD’ whose 10th year of activities is unprecedented, announced her solo, as expected, the first thoughts that came to mind were similar. You could almost call it a ‘Great War of Solos’, riding the wind of idol group members who were actively ‘standing alone’, we thought maybe she ‘wanted to be greedy once’ as she had shown extraordinary affection for music. Tiffany’s vocals captured our ears with her exceptionally charming sound, even though several voices are mixed among many members, and to know her vocals well, we did think that one day she may show her whole colour. And then without huge expectations, we listened to her music. Predicting ‘suitable’ songs that would draw out her slight husk and the rich quality of her voice.
The result was, everything we had thought were all wrong. From the mini album that was first shown last May to the new song ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ unveiled on June 10th. Tiffany thought deeply and prepared for a long time about what kind of music she wanted the public to hear from her and also as a musician, what path she should take; the end result is a memorable one that clearly demonstrates all of this. Powerful, but delicately tuned voice, suitably new and stylish melodies capture our ears, without being ostentatious, and the comfortably composed flow makes us hit the repeat button. Her visual making abilities which appeared during SNSD and TaeTiSeo promotions stand out. Especially in the song, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, which tells the story of what happens after longtime lovers say goodbye, from concept planning to the entire storyline, she showed a music video with her heart and soul in it, delivering emotions a level richer than before. She doesn’t stop at just singing one song, but outfit, image, stage production are all intimately fused, she shows her appearance as an artist with a definite colour. It’s impossible to assess her simply with record chart scores or temporary influence, but it’s a moment when we can verify Tiffany, who is standing alone and tall on a path beyond all of that. A girl who used to emit bubbly energy with lapping short hair and loveable eye smile has turned over a new leaf as an artist who is telling stories of life within a diverse musical field, we are together in this welcome time.
These days, Tiffany’s 24 hours are jam packed with things only related to music, like working on the songs, album planning, performance preparations, stage promotions. Not just physical time, but time for emotions and energy which all make up a person are all like that too. It’s obviously tiring, exhausting and often, difficult and terrifying moments find her. But the important thing is that right now, Tiffany herself is enjoying these days.
“The day I showed my first solo stage, do you know how nervous I was? I’m not exaggerating, I was really incredibly nervous. Truthfully, while preparing for the promotions up to the moment I stood on the first stage, I was like that the whole time. But a friend who I have been particularly close with since I was young said this. The friend said ‘Enjoy your own heart’. They also said that more than any other time, my face is prettiest and I look most excited when I’m doing something related to music. After that, every time I hesitate, I keep looking in the mirror, and even when I think about it, I think it’s true. The thought that comes to me most these days is, ‘I must really like music’. I didn’t even know that I was a person who wanted to express everything about life through music to this extent, or that I was a person who liked myself on stage this much. Going forward, I want to collaborate with various musicians like I did on this song, I want to put out my voice as a normal woman who is living in this time, and I want to have frequent performances,