In January 2008 Tohoshinki (DBSK)'s third Japanese album T hit the stores. It included the song Trick, which we learned in February is actually made up of five different tracks that were to be released consecutively over a five week period as singles, coupled with a solo track from each member. This marathon was known as the "T.R.I.C.K single project", as the titles of each release formed the acronym. The fourth single to be released was Close to you/ Crazy Life featuring the solo by band leader Yunho.
The single starts off with Close to you, which turns out to be a light and joyful upbeat A-side. Acoustic guitar and funky melody that creates a pretty danceable number - that might be the best way to describe the track. Overall Close to you has a summery and positive feeling and is fun to listen to, especially since the constant changes in rhythm, singing and rapping never let the song get boring, not to mention they haven't made a track like this before. Being "Yunho's single", he takes the lead in the song and gets bigger parts than usual; still it is the mixture of the five different voices that account for the charm in this versatile song.
Following comes an urban influenced hip hop track with an oriental touch - Crazy Life. What else could have been expected as a solo by Yunho? Though rapping is his strength, in Crazy Life he manages to convince the listeners of his singing abilities throughout the track. His deep voice blends in with the gloomy and mysterious atmosphere of Crazy Life. A little weakness of the song is the monotonic feel of it, except for a short rap and instrumental break.
To sum it up, the marathon was a good idea, showing a different side of the group and also giving the listeners a great opportunity to get to know the members' singing abilities better. Close to you/Crazy Life scores as it's refreshing and different. With the first track, Tohoshinki manage to bring some summer into the February month in which the single was released and with Crazy Life, Yunho got the chance to prove those who saw him as the weakest member wrong.
