Pitchfork reviews BTS' Love Yourself 'Tear' and gives it a well deserved 7.1/10 score

[pinklunacy.livejournal.com]

The latest album from the masters of the K-pop formula is a slick, loosely thematic album about love and loss, with a stronger emphasis on rapping than ever before.



K-pop has long been poised for a breakthrough in the U.S., and the stars have aligned for the Korean boy band BTS. It doesn’t hurt that it is easier now than ever to be a K-pop fan on this side of the world, with the genre being tailor-made for our current algorithm-fed content chain. BTS has seized the opportunity, building a ravenous fanbase, not just at home and stateside but in South America and Europe as well. Bangtan Boys (their full name, Bangtan Sonyeondan, translates to “bulletproof boy scouts” in English), are designed for this moment, highly curated, aesthetically optimized for Western consumption.

BTS have been presented as the art-house alternative to K-pop’s manic energy: a modish, dilettantish, act whose music is a vehicle for larger artistic choices and statements. After debuting as a swag rap outfit, they evolved from rap-sung mashups to posh electro-pop pageantry. The concept for their 2016 album, Wings, was inspired by Hermann Hesse’s 1919 book Demian. The visuals for one of the best BTS songs, “Blood Sweat & Tears,” were picturesque stills framed in a pop-up museum featuring “The Fall of the Rebel Angels,” Michelangelo’s “Pietà,” and Nietzsche quotes etched in stone, which all produced dramatic fan readings of the video’s symbolism. The members co-write and co-produce their songs, some of which delve into mental wellness and social responsibility, a process that has led many to dub their songs more “personal,” a word sometimes used as a dog whistle for music appealing to be taken more seriously. Their tactics have been emulated by boy bands who have followed, but in many ways, BTS are simply the K-pop model maximized for efficiency.

Love Yourself: 轉 ‘Tear’, which follows the 2017 mini album Love Yourself: ‘Her’ and the Japanese full-length Face Yourself released earlier this year, is a kaleidoscopic mark of that efficiency, observing the finely tuned formula BTS have been perfecting since 2015. ‘Tear’, like ‘Her’, is a concept album of sorts. Roughly half the songs adhere to the album’s subhead. If ‘Her’ was an assortment of heart-professing love songs, then ‘Tear’ is the inverse. It deals primarily, though not exclusively, with the cycle of grief that lingers through a separation. But all of the songs generally find their way back around to self-love at some point. The album’s opener, “Intro: Singularity,” provides its thesis. “Even in my momentary dreams/The illusions that torture me are still the same,” V sings. “Did I lose myself, or did I gain you?”

Written and arranged with longtime producer and frequent collaborator Pdogg and Big Hit label CEO Hitman Bang along with a team of collaborators (Steve Aoki, MNEK, Chainsmokers co-producer DJ Swivel), ‘Tear’ aims for cohesion and produces fun, prismatic songs in the process. There is some level of thematic consistency on ‘Tear’ with at least a semblance of an emotional arc being teased out across the 11 tracks: navigating a dream world and the real one in search of a personal paradise (which at times reads like an analog for being a pop star, especially on “Airplane Pt. 2”), losing love and facing the requisite anxieties and loneliness. These all come to a head on the foreboding lead single “Fake Love,” characterized in full by a lyric that roughly translates to: “I grew a flower that couldn’t bloom/In a dream that can’t come true.”

K-pop is often experimental in form and function, which produces full-lengths that can be spasmodic in tone and quality. BTS aren’t immune to this, but the rappers—RM (or Rap Monster), J-Hope, and Suga—anchor the group, not only keeping it moored to a unified aesthetic amid constant stylistic shifts but dictating much of what happens in the music. On the bruising, all-rap closer “Outro: Tear,” the three take turns ripping through the track with punchy cadences, at times suddenly swapping places. The group’s vocalists trade off short, sweet passages that revolve around and often pivot off of rapped verses. Where rap verses are often stopgaps for other K-pop groups, obligatory aspects of pop roleplaying, they are essential to structure and composition here. Whispered, breathy raps slingshot into the supple hook on the flute-powered “134340.” On “Love Maze,” RM balances elastic syllabics with singsong musings while Suga dashes into a tightly twisting flow. Between them, the other members let loose mellow, honeyed coos. The sequencing of the vocal routines is as carefully synchronized as the choreography in their videos.

‘Tear’ isn’t as ambitious or stunning or tragic as Wings, which gave each of the seven members a solo turn ranging from lounge-ready piano balladry and symphonic, single-spotlight melodrama to brooding alt-rap with “Blood Sweat & Tears” as its ideological and aesthetic centerpiece. But there are moments here when BTS seem more poised and more in sync than ever. The Aoki-produced “The Truth Untold” is an epic misdirection; instead of leaning into their EDM-flavored pop or the blitzing trap of Aoki’s “Mic Drop” remix, they opt for a seamless piano serenade wherein the group’s four singers weave in and out of each stanza. “Paradise” is largely propelled by graceful exchanges from Jungkook, V, Jin, and Jimin, who surface and retreat gently. Across Love Yourself: 轉 ‘Tear’, BTS are at their best when they feel for and support one another.

source @ pitchfork

I bolded my favourite parts (which could have been pretty much the whole thing). Really nice read. I'm a little emotional TBH. I don't always see eye to eye with Pitchfork's reviewers who tend to be supremely harsh, especially towards widely acclaimed acts, so this is a huge accomplishment in my opinion. I love this album to pieces and I'm glad it was applauded for its musical quality.

Comments

[katheli.livejournal.com]

it's a really good album tbh. I've listened to it a lot this last week and it really holds up. It's cohesive even though it's got such a variety of sounds. Only a couple of songs in the middle kinda blend together. I've already identified my faves (six songs) and the songs I can do without (two). I mean compared to Wings, where I legit saved two whole songs out of 15 that's pretty great.

The review is honestly really good for Pitchfork, I thought they'd be way harsher. Doesn't surprise me that the reviewer liked Wings more lol, that seems right up their alley.

[donaldjdrumpf.livejournal.com]

idg how anyone can like Wings more lol, other than it having a WAY stronger title track. I actually think DNA is stronger than Fake Love even, but BST is >>>>>>.

Still this album overall is the best thing they've done since HYYH no doubt imo.

[pikapika217.livejournal.com]

I definitely think this one is more cohesive. Wings was fun but it was basically a mini album plus solo songs, some of which I LOVE but do not an album make.

Album wise I think Dark & Wild is still my overall favorite - more variety, a cypher - but Tear is right behind it

[pikapika217.livejournal.com]

oh goodness, if we're considering mini albums instead of just the full ones then I have to put TMBMIL 2 far ahead but it's still slightly behind D&W.

I hated the titles for D&W and SLA myself too but the other songs make it worth it.

[kcaomei.livejournal.com]

i could've written your whole comment lol ia with everything you said. i feel like every one of their albums has at least one song i'm not into tbh. but re: D&W and SLA - the title songs are my least favorite on both too but those albums are definitely my top ranked. i'm honestly starting to wonder if any release will ever surpass D&W for me

[yxerin.livejournal.com]

yeah, i think wings' weakness lies in the forgettable group songs (expect bst and maybe cypher 4, i personally don't rly care for it that much but i know it's a fan favorite so). however i still think that some of the solo songs are up there with their best tracks. stigma and mama are some of my absolute favourite bts songs

[pikapika217.livejournal.com]

Wings gave us '21st century girls' which I think will be a really great crowd song for them forever but overall the album does feel uneven despite the fact that Wings as a song is honestly one of my favorites they've ever done.

[lypi00.livejournal.com]

I also think DNA is a stronger title track and I don't even like DNA. I dunno what they were thinking with Fake Love. I dig the lyrics but that's about it. For me they're 0 for 2 when it comes to title tracks in the LY series, it's kinda sad. Singles are so important in pop music... when I heard them say they wanted to crack the top 10 in the Hot 100 I was like... really? lol.

[donaldjdrumpf.livejournal.com]

Yea Fake Love was not gonna cut it. One one hand I wish BST was their title track this time but I also know that BTS may not have been as big as they are if they didn't have Blood, Sweat and Tears earlier because their popularity grew so much during the Wings era.

Fake Love is ok, it's just not lead single material that I expect from them. I want them to keep evolving but not increasingly towards sounding like a generic EDM-Top 40 hybrid.

I do really like the album a lot overall though tbh.

[existingisfunny.livejournal.com]

"masters of the K-pop formula" hmm

[ah0000.livejournal.com]

Hm I mean I don't listen to them avidly but I thought this album held up. I actually don't like Airplane tho. I think the Aoki song is the one I like best

Even then I don't listen to it the way I listened to the album with Fire.

[lypi00.livejournal.com]

I wonder how this author would rate HYYH pt 2. That one had zero fat and it's still their most cohesive (and best imo) album. I never skip a track on that one. Tear has at least 2 filler tracks (Love Maze, So What) and clunky tracks like Airplane pt 2 and Anpanman which... I mean, I get what they were trying to do with those songs but they're a bit too derivative for me to fully enjoy. When the Pitchfork review describes BTS as "modish" and "dilettantish" those 2 songs are what I think of lol

It's still a good album though!! I enjoy it waaaaaaaay more than Her. And I think Big Hit & BTS are finally figuring out the rap/vocal balance for the musical direction they wanna go in. Paradise >>>>>>>>>>>>>

[annayism.livejournal.com]

i agree that hyyh2 was their best album

[annayism.livejournal.com]

overall i think this album is a bit better than wings. wings was pretty weak with the solo songs even with bst as its standout track. tear kinda averages out a little stronger for me i guess

[jackieee94.livejournal.com]

I love everything about this album. They peaked with hyyh but I feel like with this album their slowing getting back up there music wise.

[jyusou.livejournal.com]

+1