Classical & Jazz Musicians React: aespa 에스파 'LEMONADE'

[00:00:01]I don't care. I can tell >> the flow [music] now. Are we in Espa mode? Espa mode.

[00:00:17]Today we're reacting to the one and only Espa and their 2026 summertime title track, Lemonade. Of course, the song is inspired by the proverb, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, lemonade."

[00:00:30]>> And the song's lyrics reflect the members taking toxic comments or chaotic situations and using them to fuel their own success and healing. [music] So, the message of the song is, "No matter what trials and hardships come, we will turn them into opportunities."

[00:00:44]The song is composed by Shift Key, who fun fact produce Whiplash.

[00:00:49]>> Love that song.

[00:00:50]>> I love that song so much.

[00:00:53]>> And cool. Written by Jordan Shaw, Absol Cyrus, and the Korean lyrics are by Elisa.

[00:00:59]>> I know. Whiplash.

[00:01:00]>> Yeah, it's a long It's been a long time coming. I've been hearing the song everywhere.

[00:01:04]>> Oh, really?

[00:01:05]>> Yeah.

[00:01:05]>> Maybe I'll recognize it.

[00:01:06]>> Time [music] to hear for the song I've heard a little bit of many times.

[00:01:17]We know what the chorus sounds like. him because I mean it's just everywhere in me because a marketing team did reach out to me to ask me to make a video.

[00:01:26]>> Yes. And I watched your video multiple times.

[00:01:28]>> If you're hearing this right now, that means this video isn't monetizable nor is it sponsored. Instead, this video is brought to you by you, our YouTube members and supporters on Patreon.

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[00:01:46]>> Crazy build up. This is definitely a great like listening exercise [music] for somebody who knows whiplash very well.

[00:01:52]>> Epic chord progression.

[00:01:53]>> Thank you so much to all of you who already support us. We really couldn't keep doing this without you. And now back to the video.

[00:02:00]>> 3 2 1 [music] >> That was not a lemon wine.

[00:02:09]>> I love these the sounds [music] >> riser already. Yes. Okay. Oh my goodness. Okay.

[00:02:18]>> Wow. I was thinking about saying immediately like ariser. This feels like a pre chorus. [music] >> But wait no.

[00:02:29]>> I'm hearing more supernova. I like that distant like ringing in the background.

[00:02:33]Bars. Love her flow.

[00:02:36]>> They're so badass.

[00:02:39][music] Oh, the flow.

[00:02:50]Whoa.

[00:02:51]>> I don't think I've heard a flow like this from [music] all these flows. Wow.

[00:02:58]>> Oh, already hitting the hook. Okay.

[00:03:01]>> Oh, that's nice.

[00:03:03]>> See, context matters. I thought the way they yelled out was very grading in all the ads. She's so much better when I hear the whole song.

[00:03:11]>> Oh, that's really cool. I like that they add a little pitch to it there. I got no TA teaching assistant. [crying] >> I love that bass sound. Man, >> it's crazy because I feel like this chorus definitely sounds like a fun summer song, but the rest of the song was like very futuristic.

[00:03:34]The way that that T's tambber change in the middle of that line.

[00:03:41][music] >> I like the little You got the little frigian dominant thing going on there a little bit, but then that cool chord change.

[00:03:50]>> It's so bright against the rapper. I feel like there's more harmonic motion.

[00:03:55]Like we've done six and four instead of just hitting one or maybe one by two.

[00:04:02]>> I like the [music] bass.

[00:04:05]Oh, >> it's just interesting hook.

[00:04:08]>> Oh, this is groovy as hell.

[00:04:20]>> Fuzzy synth action. Oh, I like that they're not softening it up [music] too much.

[00:04:25]>> A very nice soft, catchy pop bridge. We didn't go anywhere weird.

[00:04:29]>> Oo, long bridge >> because I think the quirk is in the reverse textures.

[00:04:34]It's now it's a limit now.

[00:04:35]>> Oh, that's cool. That's cool.

[00:04:37]>> Character development. Oh, I love the belt over that. [music] >> I like how in tune that is, too. It's hard to do without it going flat the way she's done it.

[00:04:51]>> Oh, I love that.

[00:04:53]>> That's interesting cuz it was a chorus energy, but it wasn't exactly the same chorus drop as before.

[00:05:04]>> [music] >> Wait, hold up. Stop.

[00:05:07]>> Wait, hold up.

[00:05:09]>> Stop. [laughter] >> Hell yeah.

[00:05:13]>> Wow.

[00:05:15]>> Okay. Cool tune.

[00:05:17]>> Yeah, cool tune.

[00:05:17]>> Cool tune. Espa never misses. They They had it going on on this album.

[00:05:23]>> This I think may grow to be the best Espa song.

[00:05:27]>> Wow. Ah, >> I think Supernova probably is [music] still is like right now is definitely better. It's a more complete experience, but the highs are so high here. The experience of like the first two/irds of the song, it's like such a rush of serotonin and dopamine that I can't I don't know. It was just one big high.

[00:05:47]>> That was definitely satisfactory on my on my part. This is a song that I feel like is a very good balance of Espa's sound and also a good balance of like more mainstream elements, whereas I feel like Rich Man leaned a little bit too much into this is pop rock.

[00:06:04]>> I can so see the whiplash sound from that producer. I think it's like in the instruments like that bass like especially the opening and then really like keeping on the sort of club beat.

[00:06:16]Yeah, that like that they like add in here and there. They're very like industrial kind of trash EDM. Not trash like bad quality, but just like garbage can sounding like really cool. A lot of play with uh formant tuning with like like the and you hear the higher things and then like it's really cool too. This feels like a a realization of what Whiplash was starting in the direction of, but like a lot more color and detail in the track than Whiplash had.

[00:06:51]>> What is the color in the track that you hear? [music] >> And then >> more harmonic motion, not not as much just right, right, [music] right? Also, I feel like more like moments that something will stop and then or like have the punchier I'll make you lemonade >> rhythmically cuz yeah, it's like relaxed and drawn back. But this is bam bam.

[00:07:23]>> It does accomplish a similar end of just having more more variety of colors even with a somewhat similar like beat sound and bass style.

[00:07:34]>> I also liked how [music] cool like the instrumentation was. Like it's so roboticy and readyy and like very like like a techno club. It's so fun.

[00:07:43]>> I those that sound at the very beginning I thought like it really grabbed my attention and just it's like it's like it's super like saw it's like very saw saw wavy.

[00:07:52]>> It is.

[00:07:53]>> I just love that intro. That intro is so good. That sort of like choice where like they start with the hook of the song which they would like later appears. It's like oh yeah of course that's the chorus classic chorus verse precourse chorus sort of moment. But this one, I think it's like sort of the buildup is what they start with. [music] So they spoil the buildup, but then they don't give you the satisfaction and then they go into the verse. And also, it just it just sounds so good.

[00:08:14]>> Not only do they have just like a gentle riser going in, but then they like keep adding to the riser besides making the kick [music] very very hefty, they also add a [laughter] >> Oh yeah.

[00:08:28]>> And when the when the the uprising like phaser thing goes, it's just like Wait, hold up. I can't control my mind.

[00:08:37]>> Yeah, that was fun, too. Wait, hold up.

[00:08:39]No. And then the Anacruuses, I can't control, man. It just it very much leads you into the beat and it's >> Yeah.

[00:08:46]>> This is so slay.

[00:08:46]>> Like, you know, things were happening like like this.

[00:08:50]>> Yeah.

[00:08:51]>> Like the background.

[00:08:52]>> There's a part where it literally just started like it felt like it was just drooping. You don't You don't know what I'm talking about.

[00:09:00]>> You don't know what I'm talking about.

[00:09:02]>> What I'm talking about?

[00:09:06]Yeah. Yeah.

[00:09:07]>> Yeah.

[00:09:09]>> And I think there's some >> And it's like pitch the pitch is going down.

[00:09:12]>> Exactly.

[00:09:12]>> I just really love the texture that that provides. And I think that's why it's like not it's it's not super weird in in this like in this section.

[00:09:20]>> Yeah. I really liked Yeah. The bass was really good.

[00:09:23]>> I think the baseline was probably the thing that stood out to me as like the the best part of it. that with the combination of the drums, it just is just a bouncy dance tune.

[00:09:33]>> I I think what I liked about the beginning is that now that I know the song, I know exactly like I know what the beat is, but in the beginning, I didn't quite couldn't quite tell exactly where beat one was. And I think it's part of it is because they changed the note at a weird point.

[00:09:49]Yeah. So, but that's like kind of what the groove is.

[00:09:57]And once you do it like a couple measures, it it does click in. But I think in the beginning the the the spaces happening where they happen gives it like a oh crud, where are we? And then it like kind of locks in pretty quickly. I think it's I I love when it's when there's a little bit of ambiguity right at the beginning before everything really sets in.

[00:10:13]>> I really like the rhythmic ostanado that we're getting and then [music] also the d Oh.

[00:10:27]Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:10:31]>> This is basically hitting the accents with the be with the bass.

[00:10:36]>> Oh, and now this is shifted.

[00:10:41]>> Like it's the same sound [music] but shifted over. Instead of starting on beat one, it's starting on beat two.

[00:10:46]>> I've covered and arranged two Espa songs now for [music] this channel. Um, and something that I really appreciate about all their compositions is that there's um moments of like uh really beautiful rhythm, but also I think they have cool progressions, especially in Lemonade.

[00:11:05]>> I really dig I really dig the harmony in this one. [music] >> That's nice.

[00:11:13]>> Yeah, >> I think they mostly stayed in [music] like E. It was all in E.

[00:11:18]>> E frigen. It's for >> or sometimes [music] they like briefly get like an E major feel but then they add the minor for and the bridge there's a bit of E minor too. So just kind of centers around E in general but the baseline consistently does >> Yeah. which I feel like is very common for a lot of Espa's songs.

[00:11:44]>> Yeah.

[00:11:45]I like [music] the color of when we're this precourse chord progression is a little bit darker, but then when they come in with the I'll make it lemonade.

[00:11:53]>> Yeah. Like that's that's still in major while the progression is moving into minor.

[00:11:58]>> Gotcha. So we got that. We got the zest.

[00:12:00]We got the sour, >> right? We have that thingies. But now that those harmonies are awesome on their own and it all makes a lot of sense. It's all just like playing major chords makes tons of sense. But the bass is uh [music] that's so that's so crunchy. It's like you got the you've got the tonic E major chord up here and then you've got an F natural [music] in the bass and it just makes this beautiful like the really like resonance diminished sounding chord. And it's it it happens very naturally because all you do is you just have your normal [music] this normal like one chord and all you do is you just you you do [laughter] which you've been doing the whole song long. And that that's I I love using approaches that you've developed over the course of an entire song, doing them both at the same time, and then that creates something interesting and dissonant and fun that you wouldn't have that, but it it sounds normal to everyone else because it's been prepared. You know what I mean?

[00:13:05]>> Mortal Kombat. That's what this reminds me.

[00:13:12]This is Mortal Kombat. That's why I recognize this. Well, again, the way the the I'll make it lemonade evolved in my brain and my heart cuz when I've heard it out in the wild, I'm like, "This is a lot." Did they have to like make say it like that and that like naked lemon? But in the song, I'm like, "This is great."

[00:13:33]I will say one thing that does kind of like make it like that makes it like I think kind of fit better is the fact that the vowel is a there. Lemonade. A I feel like just like has such like a grading kind of quality to it. It does >> where it makes it kind of like fit with the bass a little bit more.

[00:13:46]>> And they also have an effect on the voice that is like making it harsher.

[00:13:52]>> That there is one bub in there that makes no sense.

[00:13:57]>> Every chorus.

[00:13:58]>> It does.

[00:13:58]>> It starts off the chorus.

[00:14:00]>> This one.

[00:14:03][laughter] >> Yeah.

[00:14:05]>> It sounds so out of place. I really think it sounds really out of place.

[00:14:09]Like it's like it's like >> the overtones hits all the right notes that are like dietonic. It does, but like I want more of it. Like why is it just there? Like Well, honestly, what I'm hearing what I'm hearing is like a bub. That's like a big three over two.

[00:14:21]Like >> bub.

[00:14:26]>> That would be an awesome.

[00:14:27]>> I know. I know. That's what I'm wanting.

[00:14:29]But it's okay. It's okay. It's fine.

[00:14:36]>> The way that she kind of ended that high note, she went Yeah. It makes me wish that I went, you know, like all the way up there.

[00:14:46]>> Yeah. I wish they'd let that just move more in general rather than hold that so long.

[00:14:51]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:14:52]>> I wanted to keep going up to hit the dominant up an octave like end up up there. She can sing that. She's done D and songs >> when uh Beautiful Christmas and Long Chat.

[00:15:03]>> He's got the receipts. You've got the receipts. I don't know exactly how high Ning Ning can go, but she can definitely go that she's been able to control that because I want Ning Ning to sing up there. Like I don't the D isn't necessarily applicable to this song, but like B or maybe C, [music] something like that.

[00:15:22]>> They put a lot of effects on the on the chorus to make it like really like forward and bright. And then there's also like kind of the way they're singing it is very shouty. And it's not like shouty in a bad way. Like you can hear that it comes from a more supported place. There's also like the way that they're locking into these belts, particularly like towards the end there whenever they had the river on top of the chorus. Um, you can hear [music] that it kind of locks into place and then stays in tune the whole time. Often times when you hit a straight tone pitch like that, what it will do is it'll often like start to go flatter and flatter and flatter. And you can hear that in somebody's voice.

[00:15:55]>> She's already singing harmonies on top.

[00:16:00]>> [music] >> and she like holds on to it and it locks into place and it comes from like this nice supportive foundation where she's activating her core and allowing the voice to just kind of lock into that note and then stops it and then brings it back again to the which is a really impressive thing to do and I'm really glad that I got to hear some like nice healthy singing from them in this. Espa's really good at at singing in general though. I want to say this is one of Espa's most rapheavy songs. I feel like previous songs they would do a little bit more like speak. I guess in in the classical world we keep bringing out the word speechma because it isn't necessarily it doesn't have the rap attitude that I connect with the rap sound. whereas I think this does and those felt more like storytelling or like cheerleading sort of like or like more spoken and this is just like actual rap verse and flows and [music] I really enjoyed personality that they delivered with those with those flows and I'll leave it to Marcus and Jenko to talk about that.

[00:17:09]>> I actually like the rapping a good bit.

[00:17:12]There was a flow I think in the first verse that was just so good.

[00:17:20][music] >> That's good.

[00:17:24]>> I mean, I just like I mean that choice the the zip and then the silence. So like uh the the beat gets dropped out a little bit and then comes back in.

[00:17:32]That's like very text like zip and then back in.

[00:17:38]>> Yeah, that's good. That's good. That's good. That's awesome. Because the flow has to like lead somewhere like you're like building up to a strong beat or something.

[00:17:46]>> Yeah.

[00:17:46]>> I like that it goes to the beat one and the two of the next measure D or it's not on exactly on the two but it's like after the beat like where the phrase ends. Um I like that flow a lot.

[00:17:58]>> It's a phrasealision. It kind of over itself.

[00:18:03]>> Think about that. That's that's Comp's uh >> that's that's comp studies right there.

[00:18:08]Phrase.

[00:18:10]dancing. I'm go >> dirty dancing, you know, just drop dropping that reference. They're having the time of their lives. I know that.

[00:18:18]And I like how you think it's going to stop D, but they go sort of like an extra bar and it's like >> and then they have those little like wait stop and then they continue, but they use it as the ending. And I think that's really very clever use.

[00:18:33]>> Yes. Oh my god. There was that one verse where that where she had like a crazy tambber shift.

[00:18:39]Yes.

[00:18:40]>> I love that. Like [music] >> you hear the descending line in the background, too? That's cool.

[00:18:46]>> Yes. I think it and that that like it matches with her voice so well. Like it's like it's like they're almost mimicking each other.

[00:18:52]>> Very cool. Tambber. Yeah.

[00:18:54]>> Okay. But [music] >> that line she goes like and like it brightens up in the middle of that phrase. I thought that was so cool.

[00:19:04]>> It's like being forced into bass.

[00:19:08]>> [music] >> I don't care if you say >> you're right. It does kind of like change to a more brighter timber. So, it starts a little bit further in the back the placement and then it starts to creep forward.

[00:19:18]>> So cool.

[00:19:19]>> And it like transitions perfectly to the next member who has a brighter tamber.

[00:19:23]>> Yeah, it does.

[00:19:24]>> Amazing. It's a good song. Like I think it doesn't have the level of end buildup that Supernova does. I still do miss that that amount of buildup with E as the tonic and also switching between major and minor. Solid solid song. I think especially the intro choice is is formally interesting.

[00:19:43]>> Yes, >> I really like this flow.

[00:19:45]>> Yeah, this is amazing.

[00:19:48]>> Oh, that Okay, that bass is crazy.

[00:19:53]>> Can we talk about how lemons always get such a bad [music] rap? They don't deserve that. I don't think lemons deserve a bad I think we should eat raw lemons.

[00:20:00]>> Yeah.