BTS is known to be a group that releases contents not just for the sake of it. They're one of the very few Korean groups which most if not all members participate in the production and creative process of their releases. Moreover, it is not a hidden fact that BTS lay down too many cyphers, wordplays, connections, and references on their materials. Hence, no one can blame their legion of fans called ARMY if they read and put too much meaning into the title of BTS's new album the day it was announced.
But perhaps this time, BTS just want their new material to "BE" as it is.
BE: a verb that simply means to exist, occur, and take place. It is used with present participle to form continuous tenses. It is also the title of the newly released album of BTS under Big Hit Entertainment and Columbia Records. Many theories from the ARMY surfaced online about the meaning behind the album title. But in overview, perhaps it can be assumed that BE just simply means to exist at the moment because life goes on no matter what.
True enough, the members revealed in their press conference that the tone of this new album explores existing with their deep ruminations and subtle frustrations about the effects of the pandemic in their lives. Although some critics may find the idea of their title track "Life Goes On" a bit problematic as it can convey a message hinged on toxic positivity, the reality of its denotation can't be denied. Life really goes on — and BTS just want to use their platform and influence to spread hope and encourage people during these tough times. Through this album, the goal is to let people know that BTS, despite being global icons, are similar to us. They're also just normal guys holding onto something that's quite uncertain, doing as much as they can to get by while waiting for to time to unfreeze.
Since this new album is quite introspective and personal, especially knowing the fact that ALL OF THE MEMBERS took part in the production of it, I wanted to put into words my honest and personal track by track review of the album after looping it for the entire day. The album consists of eight tracks, including their Billboard no. 1 hit "Dynamite". I already did my personal review of Dynamite so I won't be including it in this review anymore, along with Skit.
1. Life Goes On
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'Life Goes On' — the central motif of the album — is a musical form of comfort. It's a gentle tap on our back; a friendly reminder of what it used to be, what it is, and what awaits in the future. The production of this song is quite unadorned but it complements the lyrics and the kind of energy they want to radiate through it. Its soft and soothing beat makes it a perfect song to jam along during campfires.
Lyrically speaking, it truly is a very sentimental song about the universal time paralysis we're enduring right now. The chorus which starts at "like an echo in the forest, the day will come as if nothing happened, yeah life goes on" is easy to remember even in just one listen. The entirety of its lyrics is the actual content of our silent protests written in the pages of our 2020 journals.
Furthermore, since this is the second single from the album, a music video directed by Jeon Jungkook was also released at the same time. I can't explain how easily a mere music video can elicit a certain emotion in me. There were a number of scenes that I personally love; the introduction scene of Jungkook and Jimin, the moment when V glanced at a stadium while driving, and the living room scene where they were just having fun. The latter simply represents how the entirety of humanity is getting by during this lockdown.
However, steering the point of view of this music video to Jin's perspective is what stood out and made me more emotional. There's a part where Jin was closing his eyes and all the members were sleeping at the background while he was singing "close your eyes for a moment, here, hold my hand lets run to the future". Suddenly, the scene transitions to him glancing over the members as they sang in unison in an empty arena. If you know what I mean, you know it. Someday, someday.
In addition, a huge congratulations to Jungkook for directing this music video. It's a GCF masterpiece featuring all the members with an extremely beautiful music bed.
2. Fly To My Room
'Fly To My Room' is an alternative, 90s R&B track from Jimin, V, SUGA and J-Hope. It's a song about being imprisoned in the four walls of our abode, and how home has terribly lost its sense of purpose and comfort over a dreadful period of time. It's a very accurate encapsulation of the things everyone is doing right now in order to cope with this pandemic life. I love how every word they uttered easily resonated to me when I searched its English translation. My favorite line goes like "the room is too small to contain my dream". All the plans we've listed down on our planner when the year started were either put to a halt or tossed away in a bin since the pandemic started. Hence, the lyrics I mentioned perfectly summarises the feeling of resentment of all the dreamers out there — including me.
Sonically speaking, I love the beat drops and its sustenance. One thing I noticed on its music production though is how the beat was on loop throughout the song. Although there are noticeable instruments that are inserted once in a while, the bass beat and snares on loop are specifically the ones prominent to me in the entirety of it. This thought led me into a theory that even the production of the song could somehow be a representation of us doing things on loop this entire quarantine. I'm also picturing them singing this song out of weariness. It's like they are actually bored of everything and they're just sitting on the couch while singing their frustrations out. I mean, same?
3. Blue and Grey
While BTS is mostly known for dropping bops with killer dance moves, it's also good to be fed with heart-wrenching ballads every once in a while — and "Blue and Grey" is that track from this album. During their press conference, V mentioned that this track radiates a gloomy vibe that can easily evoke emotions. Listening to it now, I can say that he was true to his words. It's not a track that can become an instant mass favorite on its first play, but when you put it on loop and read the English translation of its lyrics, it will make you ponder about life and eventually just cry. It's a very promising and well-written song.
If I'm getting the translation right, this song is very dark, introspective, and sensitive as it wanders the reality of anxiety and sadness. The anxiety and sadness could be the effect of being locked down with uncertainty or losing connections and loved ones because of the pandemic, they could also be an existing feeling that just resurfaced and was recently put to a spotlight, or they could be just anxiety and sadness in general. It depends on the situation and interpretation of the songwriter and the listener.
Despite the dark poetry pressed in each verses, the occasional acoustic strums and light beat gives off a very warm feeling of comfort. My favorite line goes like, "Don't tell you're okay because you aren't". I like it because it's very true and straightforward. It's just an honest confession of one's feelings of frustrations and sadness. On the other note, the butter-smooth vocals of BTS in this song is also very impressive especially that of V and Jimin's. The deep baritone of V and the countertenor vocals of Jimin perfectly complement each other. This makes the song even more ethereal and comforting.
In addition, it was mentioned during their press conference that this track was supposed to be included on V's mixtape. However, after further deliberation with the other members they decided to put it on this album instead.
4. Telepathy
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Like their Billboard no. 1 hit Dynamite, "Telepathy" is another disco-pop track from this album. After a quick breather from "Skit" which is a raw conversation of BTS when they received the news about Billboard Hot 100, this track is the prelude of the serotonin boosters curated in this album. On the surface level, it is extremely groovy and dance-inducing that it could be mistaken as a disco song about merely having fun. However, when you zoom in to its lyrics, you'll figure out that this is an intimate message that BTS want to share with their fans.
Many outdoor activities and gatherings were put to a halt during this pandemic. Thus, all their scheduled onsite concerts and appearances were cancelled. Their performances then has become pre-recorded and their concerts were all held online. Through this song, BTS share their musings about temporarily not being able to see and connect with their fans physically. However, the relationship they've build with the ARMY is so strong that even if they can't connect through sensory perception and physical interaction, there's a universal energy magnifying both ends together. It's like an invisible red string. Hence, the title Telepathy. "Even though we're far away now, our hearts are still the same."
5. Dis-ease
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If "Telepathy" stepped on the pedal to boost the energy of this album, then "Dis-ease" accelerated it even more. Listening to this reminds me of the old-school hip-hop Bangtan tracks and also something that we could possibly hear from another J-Hope mixtape. During their press conference, J-Hope reveals that this song is about the disease of the profession of artists like them during these uncertain times. On the other note, the latter part of the song suggests a message of hope.
It was also mentioned during their press conference that this song parallels two different concepts. The Korean word 병 translates to "disease" but J-hope originally wrote the song title as "dis-ease" in which the English prefix "dis" means removing something specific. Thus, connecting "dis" and "ease" together means lack of comfort. It's really kind of mind-blowing how they always come up with wordplays in their songs.
Sonically speaking, it is a well-mixed dance-inducing old-school hip-hop song that I would put on loop on Spotify. I also love how it started with the sound of yawning and then they immediately go on ranting their discomfort about their situation now. The only thing that's quite unsatisfying for me with this track is that I find the beat of the song's bridge a bit generic. Some people loved it. I guess it's a matter of preference but perhaps I could get used to it especially knowing that Jimin wrote its lyrics in just 3-4 minutes.
6. Stay
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When they announced the track list of the album, I immediately thought that this song would be a very soft and sentimental piano-heavy ballad. The beginning of the song suggests that kind of energy, but it turns out to be the opposite as the song progresses and the beat drops in the chorus. Stay is a unit song from Jungkook, Jin, and RM. It's a marriage of their EDM songs "So What" and "Best of Me". To be honest, I would've loved it even more if they listed this as the last track of the album. Its funky EDM production suggests that it is a perfect last hurray for the roller coaster of emotion BTS has put its listeners through. Anyway, I'd still like to think of it as the encore, and Dynamite as a bonus track as it is the only track from the album that is fully-written in English.
EDM is not my cup of tea but I could get used to it sometimes especially when I do love the artists who wrote, produced, and performed it. Aside from I love the artists involved in the creative process of this EDM song, there's no denying that this song is really well-mixed and produced. When I first heard it, I thought of how this is something that we could possibly hear from Jungkook's mixtape. Simply put, it's his cup of tea. My theory was proven correct when Jungkook explained in their V-Live that it was originally intended to be a part of his mixtape as the last track (I told you, it's a good last hurray track). However, they decided to put it on the album instead.
In addition, just like Telepathy, Stay is another personal message of BTS to their ARMY. Despite the draggy period of not being able to connect with each other physically, BTS believe that ARMY will always stay for them until everything goes back to normal.
Overall, I'll give this album a 5 out of 5 stars. It's not because I love them, it's because, YES, I do love them. The flow of the songs and the message pressed through the entirety of it perfectly encapsulate the deep ruminations and frustrations of the pandemic life; one moment everything is okay, the next moment you are drowning with sadness, and then brimming with overwhelming joy again the other minute. The musical curation is just very timely and relatable.
However, it's funny though how up until now BTS is still labeled as "K-Pop" when this album alone and the trail of other releases they have on their belt are very diverse. People and critics shouldn't limit their genre to just pop because their range is insanely wide. I mean, mention the genre, and there's a BTS track that fits whatever it is. People and critics may say that BTS is overrated but if they only dive deep and explore their discography, they would realize how their level of artistry is out of this world.
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Words and main artwork by collene.
collene is 24-year-old self-proclaimed creative old soul who is deeply fascinated by the beauty of music, arts, books and poetry. Catch her wearing her bluetooth earphones on with either a phone or book on hand.
