[UPDATE] Put your hands up, and get your drinks up! 2PM is rocking the house with "Hands Up"!

The boys of 2PM (L to R): Junsu, Junho, Chansung, Wooyoung,
Nickhun and Taecyeon

UPDATE - Am I right, or am I right!?!? Hahaha!!! As expected, the video for "Hands Up" was just released through the 2PM YouTube page. It's probably one of the most fun dance videos I've EVER watched... you have to see it after the jump!


Originally posted June 20, 2011 1:30pm GMT +8
A week ago, I posted about the pending comeback of 2PM to their Korean stage. I was surprised with the amount of searches and hits I got for that post, which is currently sitting on the top of my weekly list (if you want to read that post, you can click here). It's a clear indication of how well anticipated 2PM's comeback album, "Hands Up", is. With teaser after teaser coming out from JYP Entertainment, I guess everyone is just as excited as I am to hear more from the boys coming from their triumph in Japan.

Their album was released earlier today, and within 15 minutes, I was seeing the hashtag #2PM2NDALBUM trending in Twitter. When I checked Allkpop.com, they were already at the top of the real time music charts in Korea (click here for the article). From the look of things, 2PM has truly solidified their position as a hot property in Korean music.

Looking through the 13 tracks of their new album though, it's not surprising that not all the material is new. 2PMs last full-length studio album, "The First Album 1:59PM", was released in late 2009, and during the period in between their last album and this one, they released a two mini-albums in 2010 ("Don't Stop Can't Stop" and "Still 2PM"). I can then understand why I was familiar with nearly half of the entire album --- "I'll Be Back" (which got me started listening to them in the first place), "Without U" and "Don't Stop Can't Stop" were all past hits of the boys.

"I'll Be Back" by 2PM (MV with Eng Subs)

Apart from their re-release of their past hits, the album also includes 6 new tracks. What's notable in the general theme of the album is the amount of high-paced energy in the tracks. A good example of this energy is found in the first two tracks of the album --- the title track, "Hands Up" and "Electricity". Both songs are very club-friendly and heavily infused with electro-synth arrangements and heavy beats. They're particularly well placed for release since it's summer time in Korea, and would be perfect anthems for vacation time.

In terms of vocal arrangements, the boys are able to both showcase their individual singing styles, while harmonizing at key points of the songs.

"Hands Up" by 2PM (Audio with Eng Subs)
NOTE: Considering that the album was just released today, I'm hoping that the 
MV for "Hands Up" will be released either later today or tomorrow. Once that's 
up, I'll post an update with the video. 

UPDATE!!! - "Hands Up" by 2PM (MV Only)
NOTE: The video is seriously crazy and cool --- fun club club scene with a lot of crazy 
camera angles, and fun choreography. JYP did himself proud with this number! Oh... and 
yeah... I LOVE TAECYEON'S LED JACKET! Wohooo! 



"Electricity" by 2PM (Audio with Eng Subs)

What interesting about this album is that Park Jin Young, JYP Entertainment's big boss, seems to be mentoring his protege's by allowing them to develop their own material for this album. "Hands Up" also contains two tracks that were written by members of 2PM --- "Give It To Me" by Junho, and "Hot" by Junsu.  It's great to see the boys develop as artists by being able to create music that they can share with the world!

"Give It To Me", written by Junho, is a mid-tempo dance-pop at it's best. It starts out a bit slow, but builds up towards the chorus. The rhythm of the song is ruled by a mean bass beat and synthesizer work that remains pretty consistent throughout the song. Its good that this song takes advantage of the fact that 2PM can harmonize well together. The only beef I have with this song is the way it was wrapped up --- I'm not a big fan of fade-aways.

"Give It To Me" by 2PM (Audio with Eng Subs)

Junsu's contribution to the album, "Hot", brings the album back to pace with the theme of the album. The track is relentless electro-dance pop, and makes good use of electronic elements and heavy bass to create a party atmosphere. I'd have to say that this is one of the stronger songs in the album (the only difference with "Hands Up" was that it was a cleaner, more defined house track compared to "Hot").

"Hot" by 2PM (Audio Only)

Another song that caught my attention the album is the sole ballad in the list of new releases for "Hands Up" --- the 4th track in the album, "Like In The Movies". The song moves up back into 2PMs home turf - songs about break-ups and lost love. It's interesting that the song uses the sound of a film reel running in both the beginning and end of the song to establish the theme of the track. I like the haunting and hazy feel of the song with the combination of piano and electronic synth in the background. The chorus is built up well with the use of drum beats and solid harmonization from the boys.

"Like In The Movies" by 2PM (Audio with Eng Subs)

2PM has certainly gone a long way from when I first watched them a year ago (seeing videos of them with Jay Park, when he was still with the group). All the boys have developed into strong vocalists and top notch performers who are recognized not just in Korea, but in different parts of the world. Now that they're developing their potential further by creating their own material, we can look forward to seeing them grow as artists, showing more of what the real 2PM is behind the music.