“I made a decision to dwell as a dandelion seed,” IU explains in a brand new video on her YouTube channel. She’s discussing the idea behind her new mini-album ‘The Successful’, but additionally a choice she’s made about how she needs to strategy life now she’s in her thirties. Moderately than permit herself to be restricted by practicalities or what different folks consider her decisions, she needs to push ahead freely.
It’s becoming she’s likening herself to a dandelion seed, then, given the plant’s place as a logo of goals and desires. Dreaming huge is a core a part of ‘The Successful’, with IU each explicitly urging us to comply with our personal path and extra subtly celebrating what we are able to obtain collectively in life all through.
‘Shopper’ – a crisp piece of aspirational synth-pop – and the contemporary, cool ‘Holssi’ signify the previous, with IU utilizing them as vessels to encourage us to chase after our needs, irrespective of how not possible they appear. “Let’s go haul,” she exclaims excitedly on ‘Shopper’, inviting us into an imaginary retailer the place the cabinets are stacked with needs and objectives, each materials and intangible. “Fill it as much as make it burst.” ‘Holssi’, in the meantime, finds her beckoning us to hitch her “on a unique highway” with a purpose to “fly excessive to the highest”.
Marching to the beat of your individual drum isn’t at all times simple, although, as IU acknowledges. “The highway received’t be simple / However I received’t fuss about it,” she declares defiantly. “This was my selection; it at all times has been.” That concept of wrestle crops up once more in ‘Love Wins All’, the beautiful ballad that previewed this mini-album. Right here, she makes use of romance as a car for escape from the horrors of the world – or to crash headlong into catastrophe: “Destroy me slowly and chilly, ruiner / I need to get unhappy with you, my lover.” Plunging into darkness nonetheless looks like a victory right here, so long as she’s along with her love.
Like most IU data, ‘The Successful’ is an eclectic however cohesive rush of sounds, veering from ‘Holssi’’s lowkey groove to the bluesy grit of ‘Shh..’. The latter options pioneering feminine singers from throughout Korean music historical past, connecting the dots from the Nineteen Fifties till now. Patti Kim was the primary Korean singer to carry out in Japan and Las Vegas, whereas former Curler Coaster frontwoman Joe Received Solar made developments within the nation’s rock scene. NewJeans’ Hyein additionally seems, representing the present crop of musicians transferring Okay-pop ahead. “Lips holding tales / Connecting one another,” the latter sings in a seeming nod to their contributions. “Particular, we’re.”
‘I Stan U’, the closing observe on ‘The Successful’, dabbles in chugging rock – one of many solely missteps on an in any other case beautiful mini-album. The revving guitars are solely sporadic, however once they crop up, they hack on the vibrant, ethereal pleasure within the tune. Nonetheless, they’ll’t maintain again the giddy message of encouragement IU shares in her vocals. “I imagine in my you,” she tells us. “You’re beautiful, so beautiful.” Minor stylistic faults apart – and with a huge yr forward for certainly one of Korea’s foremost skills – on her first doc of a brand new decade, IU soars excessive and free and stays profitable.
Particulars
- Launch date: February 20, 2023
- Document label: EDAM Leisure
