In the unlikely event that any products you have ordered and received from us are defective, broken, or missing upon delivery to you, we will accept and process return requests from you for such items in connection with our return policy as set forth below. It tastes intentionally ephemeral, like a fast food offering.RETURN, REFUND AND EXCHANGE POLICIES Please understand that ALL SALES ARE FINAL once the product has been delivered, except in the case of broken, missing, or defective products. The band’s dime-store aphorisms tap into a broader empire of pop psychology, which is ultimately designed for people to outgrow. This is about commodification, not psychotherapy. After all, their label Big Hit Entertainment is also selling copies of Murray Stein’s book Jung’s Map of the Soul alongside the new record. The commercial thrust behind the group makes their nods at lofty themes of enlightenment - like referencing Carl Jung among many other semi-intellectual breadcrumbs left along the way - seem a little silly. Being an ARMY member means doing the work, and the work is making this group more famous in the second act of their careers. There are many obsessive pop music fans out there, but this group holds a special place in its technocratic takeover of social media platforms. It’s no coincidence BTS fans are called The ARMY there’s a militaristic, compliant culture of fandom and also in the production and marketing of the work itself. Their work obviously has touched many people, but their politics remain rather gauzy. BTS’ musical genre scramble isn’t unique to them, but their ability to splice different forms of positivity and bring awareness to mental health issues and other broader causes is their signature. “Jamais Vu” is a messy jumble of elements but delivers that sort of smorgasbord style that many fans will likely eat up. The latter is pop pap that contains the most telling line on the whole EP: “The more I fill up, the emptier I get.” The more deserving radio fodder is “Make It Right,” co-written by Ed Sheehan, as well as “HOME.” The former is a fairly catchy and inoffensive R&B number with a silly but effective synth trumpet that possibly hints at the broader, more adult contemporary direction BTS is sliding toward. It also includes the stodgy middle-school-level lines, “ When I realized that, I vowed to myself (Yeah) / With the wings of Icarus you gave me (Uh) / Not towards the sun but towards you / Let me fly,” which gives you a sense of how clumsily the band plays with mythology and other references. This one ends up sounding more like Halsey than BTS. The lead single here is “Boy With Luv” (a quasi-sequel to “Boy in Luv”), which features pop EDM chanteuse Halsey. It’s a pop-music problem in general these days - genre is wallpaper, but in liking everything, the artists never make clear what they love.Įmma Stone and Cecily Strong Welcome BTS to the 'SNL' Studioįortunately, there’s more enjoyable fare in the middle of the album, despite the band never staying in one moment long enough to fully milk it. The songs play like unintentionally comedic genre mistakes, like the Jay-Z/Linkin Park album, and belie a key flaw in BTS: You have no idea what music they actually enjoy. This bombastic, musical theater intro and outro couplet - replete with circa-1999 wikki-wikki baby scratches - feels like a juiced-up version of the band’s older stuff sandwiched around a different EP. The new record is bracketed by its weakest tracks, “Intro: Persona” and “Dionysus,” particularly off-putting songs that leave a lingering sour aftertaste. BTS has assumed a ton of market share in the boy-band drought, despite a recent Jonas Brothers revival. Their music isn’t supposed to be revelatory or novel - it’s supposed to teach listeners how to be a fan of things and to help continue the band’s crossover into America after scoring a hit with cake-throwing DJ Steve Aoki last year. Like much of the mega-pop artists’ work, this album in particular feels like it’s packaged on an assembly line and by committee, even though members of BTS do more of the writing than some of their contemporaries similarly to The Monkees, they’re fulfilling a role in their artistic existence (which I guess is the most Jungian thing you can do, really?). Their mythos and extended universe are particularly developed and invested in, and their Easter egg/allusion-rich output can be read like much of TV and film culture - as reddit-bait. BTS are the proud product of Big Hit Entertainment’s sausage mill, and they’re the most visible ambassadors of Korean culture around the world this past decade, holding a unique space, at least in the annals of American pop culture.
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