What makes a song good?

Though multidimensional by nature, this question is debated every X-block by the Critical Music Review Club. The new club focuses on looking into several aspects of songs and albums, grading them and writing thorough reviews.

Club leaders and seniors Sheejin Choi, Rohan Sekhar and Leo Wu-Hacohen are ardent music lovers. They founded the club this fall to feed their musical passion.

Wu-Hacohen said they started the club to take their love of music to the next level.

“I think all of us, we’ve all been avid music listeners for our whole life and talked about it all the time,” Wu-Hacohen said. “We’ve always seen people review music and we’re just like we can do that too.”

“We’ve always seen other people review music, and we thought, we can definitely do that too,” Wu-Hacohen said.

During a typical meeting, the group pitches ideas, listens to their chosen albums and then begins the reviewing process.

According to Sekhar, uncovering the hidden layers of a song or album leads to a deeper understanding of the artist’s intention.

“Like any other form of artistic expression, with music there’s always an inexplicit layer from the artist that’s intended to be consumed,” Sekhar said. “We’re trying to explore that and convey it to people who may not have discovered it already.”

The club also examines other elements of songs and albums. To Sekhar, production, lyricism, instrumentation and rhythm are most important.

When reviewing, the club members concentrate on every note, beat and lyric to capture the music’s essence entirely. Choi, a cellist, has experience with this firsthand.

“As an artist, I know how much expression goes into art,” Choi said. “A lot of musicians add tiny, specific details and, while you might catch them listening casually, investing time to listen to, dissect and review the music will help you understand them more completely.”

Once a review is finalized, a sense of accomplishment washes over the reviewer and all club members. Choi said that the outcome of their lengthy review process is what makes it all worth it.

“My favorite part has been putting out an actual, tangible product,” Choi said. “There’s something really rewarding and satisfying about that.”

Wu-Hacohen and the club leaders hope to develop as a music listeners, writers, critical thinkers and most importantly demonstrate the power of music to all of the high school.

“We’re a group of people who love music,” Wu-Hacohen said, “We just want to share our love for music with everyone out there.”

The Critical Music Review club welcomes suggestions. If anyone has an album they would like the club to review, visit their Instagram page: @ bhscriticalmusicclub.