It’s no secret that, in Okay-pop, it’s the woman teams who’re main the way in which proper now. Every launch over the past 18 months or so has felt like a brand new levelling up, a constant elevating of the bar with a number of totally different approaches to creating world-beating music – wholesome competitors from which all of us profit. Because the stakes proceed to ascend, SM Leisure’s aespa are – after months of delays – right here so as to add their newest launch to the combination and, hopefully, set a brand new customary within the course of.
‘MY WORLD’ marks the four-piece’s third mini-album and – apart from the Tetris OST contribution ‘Maintain On Tight’ – their first new materials of 2023. After the combined bag of its predecessor, 2022’s ‘Women’, it additionally indicators the group really coming good on their early promise with a set of six songs that every attempt to out-do the others.
Though that is aespa’s first huge outing this 12 months, 4 of ‘MY WORLD’’s quantity is likely to be acquainted. The majority of the tracklist was premiered on the group’s ‘SYNK: Hyper Line’ concert events in Seoul in February, the place followers had been teased with a setlist that was nearly half made up of recent songs. However that doesn’t cease the recorded variations from being thrilling additions to the aespa canon, exhibiting their versatility and serving to the quartet make a bid for major pop woman standing with their infectious hooks and impeccable performances.
‘Salty & Candy’ leads the pack, throbbing with industrial synth grinds and the form of unconventional instrumental approaches which have turn out to be a key celebration of aespa’s DNA. It’s darkish and all of the extra scrumptious for it, a seductive slink by means of the shadows of the group’s world. “’Trigger I’m salty and candy / You’ll be able to’t resist this recent new deal with,” they hum within the refrain – a self-fulfilling prophecy given how onerous it’s to get the music out of your head afterward.
‘Thirsty’ opens with a rippling melody harking back to Ariana Grande’s ‘thank u, subsequent’, however aespa are deep within the throes of flirtation, fairly than shifting on from somebody. It’s fluffily comfortable, encapsulating the head-in-the-clouds feeling of a brand new crush. Bringing issues again right down to Earth with a bump is ‘I’m Sad’ – ‘Salty & Candy’’s greatest rival for greatest monitor. As its title suggests, it captures melancholy and longing, however provides the topic a singular, aespa spin on issues. They use the digital world as a metaphor for feeling disconnected from these round them and, as the ladies lengthy for “the actual factor” as a substitute of social media’s faux facades, Karina observes: “Everybody appears good day-after-day / As if I’m the one one logged out / The gap between the world and my coronary heart is / To date.”
By the music’s finish, the group have settled on some type of happiness, and that emotion carries on by means of to ‘MY WORLD’’s ultimate monitor, ‘Til We Meet Once more’. It’s fairly and glowing, a delicate ballad that may very well be a message to their followers or fellow members. “Til we meet once more / Keep in mind if you’re alone / The facility of the music / Will join us,” the four-piece reminds us, though the candy message doesn’t make the music itself extra memorable.
‘Til We Meet Once more’ may be directed at aespa’s new collaborator, nævis, who seems on ‘Welcome To MY World’, one of many pair of name new songs on the document. Within the group’s lore – which has been closely referenced of their earlier tracks – nævis is an AI system that lets the quartet’s æs be seen in the actual world by the members. The character was supposedly debuting at SXSW in March as a part of a VR live performance from aespa, however failed to look.
Right here, she does present up – however is definitely missed. Her contribution to ‘Welcome To MY World’ – a music that builds from whispered foundations to a grand epic – is minimal, solely reportedly singing a sequence of “da ra ra di da da” backing vocals and echoing the human members within the bridge. It’s in step with the way in which aespa’s lore feels rather more refined on this batch of songs – traceable when you look onerous sufficient, however with no mentions of Kwangya to confuse or overcomplicate issues for the informal listener.
‘MY WORLD’ would possibly water down the layers of SM Tradition Universe in its songs, however it doesn’t dilute the sound that aespa have turn out to be identified for. Title monitor ‘Spicy’ is a first-rate instance of that, a burst of attitude-filled pop that zips and revs and roars. It’s assured and funky – the form of music that makes you are feeling like the primary character by way of confident lyrics (“Inform me what you see / Once you have a look at me / ‘Trigger I’m a ten out of 10, actually”) and a wholesome dose of ’90s woman energy spirit. To date, aespa have been the primary characters within the SMCU; now, ‘MY WORLD’ is proving they may dominate different cosmoses too.
Particulars
- Launch date: Might 8, 2023
- Report label: SM Leisure
