When he made his solo debut with ‘Empathy’ in 2021, D.O. proclaimed he was “targeted on doing music that [he] needed to do”. An announcement like which may appear apparent, however in an period the place streaming events and charting positions dominate music discourse, it felt daring and refreshing. Arriving two years later and simply in time to usher in autumn, D.O.’s sophomore venture ‘Expectation’ feels just like the pure continuation of that mantra.
There are numerous connecting threads between ‘Empathy’ and ‘Expectation’. Compositions led by acoustic guitars and lyricism charged by love musings notably take centre stage in each initiatives. Even when sonically cohesive, ‘Expectation’ delivers an edge thematically. As a substitute of that includes songs loosely primarily based on related emotions, the mini-album narrates a narrative from begin to end throughout its six unique tracks. To function the principle automobile for that narrative, the venture is noticeably cut up into two halves: love and loss.
Epitomising the honeymoon section of a relationship, the primary half of ‘Expectation’ is hopeful to a fault, focusing solely on the constructive sides of affection. D.O. goes from manifesting a companion who’d embrace his flaws within the folk-pop title monitor ‘Any person’ to fantasising a few future along with mentioned individual within the Jason Mraz-esque ‘Marvel’, earlier than totally proposing within the playful pre-release single ‘I Do’. “You already know / You’re all that I would like (Simply you) / Be my endlessly and say, ‘I do, I do’,” D.O. cheekily asks amid superbly layered harmonies.
Encased within the center like a gemstone in a mine is ‘Misplaced’, the venture’s standout and inflexion level. Changing the main acoustic guitars with quick and heavy percussion momentarily, ‘Misplaced’ smashes the rose-tinged trifecta with heartbreak. “I keep in mind every thing about our story / From the clumsy confession to the final anniversary,” D.O. croons within the opening traces, which instantly introduce a seismic shift. “There isn’t a lovely ending to a breakup,” he later declares.
The singer’s honeyed voice takes the highlight within the refrain of ‘Abnormal Days’, a gradual acoustic ballad that reminisces about what may have been. This sense of melancholy and nostalgia continues by way of ’The View’, which brings the mini-album’s story to a bittersweet shut with tambourine shakes and an beautiful mixture of melodies. “I nonetheless see you in my recollections / ‘Trigger you’re the view, I miss / I miss, I miss you, the view,” D.O. sings within the last refrain, equal components despondent and ruminative, earlier than an instrumental-only nearer takes over.
Other than the songs themselves, D.O. merges his ardour for each music and movie within the mini-album’s spotlight medley, which was offered within the type of a brief movie. Directed by brief type maestro Kim Jong-kwan, the video sees D.O. starring alongside Pachinko breakout star Kim Min-ha, recounting the love cycle offered within the 20-minute sonic trip in reverse, just like the chronicle of a loss of life foretold. The brief movie poignantly depicts the estranged lovers’ dynamic, additional elevating the venture’s quasi-prosaic nature.
‘Empathy’ and ‘Expectation’ are indisputably birds of a feather. Throughout each initiatives, ‘Misplaced’ is the one outlier sonically, although D.O. additionally performs it protected right here, returning to his tried-and-true M.O. with an acoustic model of the tune as ‘Expectation’’s seventh and last monitor. Nevertheless, in a venture that feels so private, we are able to’t assist however lament the omission of self-penned tracks, particularly after 2021’s ‘Rose’ and his 2019 SM Station single ‘That’s Okay’.
Even when distinctly completely different from his work with EXO, which is basically rather more danceable and luscious, D.O. appears to be taking a considerably formulaic strategy together with his solo releases – from their naming to their construction to their sonic style. However, because the saying goes: if it ain’t broke, don’t repair it.
Particulars
- Launch date: September 18, 2023
- Report label: SM Leisure
