Note: All translations of lyrics have been completed by the reporter, who is bilingual and has experience in Korean-English translation. Unintentional errors may be present due to differences in grammatical nuances between the two languages.
Member Jin of the K-pop phenomenon boy band BTS released his second solo EP “Echo” on Friday, May 16. Instead of committing more fully to the musical identity he established for himself in his previous EP, “Echo” — with seven tracks and a brisk runtime of just over 20 minutes — shows Jin unfocused and incoherent in style and genre.
While the group went on an extended hiatus in 2022 due to the members enrolling in their mandatory military services, the seven musicians began carving out solo careers for themselves. Last year, Jin released his first solo EP, “Happy,” with a rock-heavy sound reminiscent of Paramore’s 2017 album “After Laughter.” It is unclear what Jin was trying to achieve with “Echo.” He ping-pongs between masquerading as a rock star, an emotional poet-balladeer and a country singer, but never fully commits to a sound. It feels like Jin is undecided about his direction and identity as a solo artist, and too insecure in his strengths to allow them to fully develop.
For the most part, the tracklist is mediocre and unoriginal, sometimes even forgettable. “Don’t Say You Love Me,” the EP’s opening track, is decent, although it is somewhat cliched in their subject matter of self-sabotaging romance combined with a pop ballad production. Listening to the project’s last song, “To Me, Today,” listeners will mistake it for the closing credits soundtrack in just about any East Asian animated film — decent enough to be an easy listen but not good (or original) enough to be noteworthy.
Occasionally, the record has a few moments of strange production choices that are genuinely baffling and ultimately bring the entire record down. The most egregious example of this takes place in “Rope It,” in which Jin decides to include a singular country song exactly in the middle of a project made up mostly of rock and ballads (albeit in very different styles). If the song itself was at least a decent country song, the decision could be somewhat forgivable. However, the track starts off with a guitar strum that is a bad caricature of Ennio Morricone’s soundtracks for spaghetti Western epics, and the song becomes difficult to take seriously. Then, an overdramatic soundbite of a horse neighing plays — and the song becomes impossible to take seriously.
To add fuel to the fire, the verses of “Rope It” are made up mainly of clichéd Korean sentiments on the power of resilience. However, the chorus, written primarily in English, feels like a random assortment of borderline nonsensical lines without a message. The worst example of this absurdity is what seems to be a confounding reference to the Michelle Obama quote “When they go low, we go high.” It is a serious contender for the worst song of the year.
That is not to say the record as a whole has no redeeming qualities. The third track, “Loser,” featuring fellow K-pop star YENA, is a catchy punk rock song. The lyrics are simple and, while not very poetic or original, fun to sing along to. The opening moments of the song, delivered by Jin in staccato vocals, serve as a great hook. Although the production and melody are somewhat cliche and forgettable, when the guitar playing ramps up in the chorus, listeners cannot help but nod along. What elevates the song, however, is YENA’s voice. Coming in around halfway through the track, YENA’s bratty vocal delivery compliments both the production and Jin’s deeper-pitched vocals well.
Another standout moment is the fifth track, “With the Clouds.” It opens with the line “구름은 오늘도 내 전부를 담아” (“The clouds hold my entire being again today”). The writing is confident and highly original in its ideas and competent in their execution. The sublime lyricism continues throughout the songs, with an example being “희미한 기억 속에 / 나를 감싸안은 채 / 그리운 그 손길은 / 나를 물들여가네” (“In the faint memory / Embracing me / The touch I miss / Coloring me”). The evocative imagery is somewhat lost in translation, and so is the economy of the lines, but in the original Korean they are a showstopper. It is some of the best lyricism in recent K-pop history, with new releases tending to favor catchiness and unique production over meaningful lyrics.
Furthermore, the production of “With the Clouds” does not ground itself in trends, but rather takes on a more traditional rock ballad style; in combination with the lyrics, these two elements cause the song to have a timeless quality. The production and vocals on the chorus in particular create a musical progression that — to borrow a colloquialism from the Internet — scratches your brain just right.
But where the EP fails most consequently is in the curation of tracks. If its songs were released as separate singles disconnected from a larger project, there would be fewer issues. But its two best songs — “With the Clouds” and “Loser” — are so different in style that they feel like songs from two distinct eras rather than parts of a single project. This fact, combined with the scar “Rope It” leaves, defeats the entire purpose of creating an EP — to curate an intentional tracklist with consistency and meaning. Maybe the songs would have fared better if they were released as separate singles instead of an EP. When it works, “Echo” reaches soaring heights, but it rarely does, and for the most part the tracks are forgettably decent.
RATING: 2/5
