BTS - ARIRANG

BODY TO BODY, what an opener. It feels so close to 90s club hits, has all of the BTS pop you’ll ever need. The reverb, the beat, the chanting from 2.10 onwards in the back. Phew. Hooked. If we get names wrong, forgive us, we’re new here.

Errrr, they cooked on HOOLIGAN coming in with a Disney feeling opening, then spinning with glitch and beat. Keeping the Disney dream running in the back of the track throughout. It was almost dancing in the rain, but then the knives came out. It feels like a huge step away from K-pop into the global limelight, and a lot more grown-up.

It sounds very American, with strong influences from some of the biggest acts, while still keeping that unmistakable BTS stylization. The album is relentless, it is experimental, and fun. BTS has never had a lack of fans, but with K-Pop Demon Hunter, the game changed. The genre landed on the laps of people who wouldn’t normally opt to listen to K-pop, and the album became one of the biggest successes in the last few years.

While that album wasn’t as hotly anticipated as this one, it was more os a surprise hit; it paved the way for new listeners. For the uninitiated (like us), the four-year hiatus was due to all of the members of the band being required to carry out South Korea’s mandatory 18 months of military service.

They could’ve come back with the flavor of music that their fans were used to; instead, they’ve come back with something that is rap-heavy, dripping with fat synth, and bassy. SWIM sounds like it has a huge touch of Justin Bieber’s usual styling. It’s bright, pop, and incredibly catchy.

And it was the right decision to sit SWIM after the No.29, which has a cool history. It’s not pointless static; it contributes, it just might not be what you thought you were getting. It signals the change, the middle point.

The intro to NORMAL is one of the best on the album; we heavily enjoyed those draggin synths.

But for us? The standout track is LIKE ANIMALS. It has everything you want, the catchiest of choruses, vocals distorted, sitting in the back, a combination of hot-hot and romantic - open to interpretation in both cases. Check the lyrics, and they work in multiple ways, and that for sure was the intention.

You’re messy? I’m messy. Now we’re messy together- that type of thing.

But the sharp drums, the long notes, the cadence, and the vocal switch between the group with Jung Kook in the background - it is layered perfection.

Our pick: