Thinking back to when the news first broke that they would be completing their mandatory military service, I thought of Elvis Presley and how, at the height of his powers, he too was drafted only to return a fraction of the star he once was. His spot had been taken. It’s not difficult to expect that like with Elvis, they’d return to a changed industry and doing the same old thing just wouldn’t work like it used to. With their comeback, it’s not out of pocket to conclude that it might be better for them to return to the trenches.
Going into ARIRANG completely blind, with my only context being an appreciation for a few of their past records, I had no predisposition for or against this band or their stans. The album cover was the first sign this was not going to end right. You’ll notice that not all of the members are looking right at the camera, it gives the impression that they’re wanting to distance themselves from this project before it’s even out.
That isn’t to say the album is without merit. It’s a departure from their previous work but I can appreciate the experimentalism they reached for, and in some places, it works. One of the successes here is ‘Hooligan’, the chopped-up string arrangement against the metallic strikes could almost convince you you’re listening to an older song of theirs, anchored by great vocal deliveries from V and Jimin. BTS’s aggressive style of rapping on their older work felt difficult to buy into given their lack of menace, land much better here than usual.
Every good song ends prematurely before they are given the chance to compensate for the baffling production choices elsewhere. Mike WiLL Made-It’s producer tag appears on an incomprehensibly large quantity of tracks, only for these to be the worst songs on the album. ‘FYA’ and ‘2.0’ are examples of the lifelessness that makes this album so disappointing, it’s equally hard to believe anyone approved the beats. The boredom exhibited feels like a broader symptom recently seen in the biggest artists in the world, like BTS or Harry Styles are just clocking in for shifts at the pop-star factory.
The odd production choices continue on songs like ‘NORMAL’, which wears its Mk.gee inspiration on its sleeve, where the singing completely fails to coalesce with the instrumental. Then there’s ‘Like Animals’, a pop-rock ballad that calls back to their peak work from a decade ago in a way that can only be seen as sad in comparison. There’s absolutely none of the energy or passion that elevated BTS above their peers.
ARIRANG comes from the name of the country’s most famous traditional folk song. A song that functioned as an anthem of community, collective resilience, and national pride. All ideas that BTS came to embody and represent through their commercial domination over the global music industry in the late 2010s. Yet for how vacuous this album feels, such a reference rings hollow. Like Elvis, with so much weight on their shoulders to make their gamble pay off, BTS could only crumble under the pressure. Elvis eventually recovered, so maybe there’s still a future for BTS.
“190115 BTS at the 2019 Seoul Music Awards” by TV10/TenAsia is licensed under CC BY 3.0.