On the face, Jimin edits himself: a review

“The main point was freedom.” When Jimin sat down a result Discussing his pre-release single, “Set Me Free Pt.2,” he shared this sentiment, a sentiment that also largely applies to his new album, FaceAvailable today, March 24. Welcome to the show, where Jimin is officially taking center stage.

The BTS member is known for many things — his combination of athleticism and onstage delicacy, honed with years of ballet and modern dance training, makes him one of the best artists working at the moment. His airy, acrobatic voice has made him responsible for many memorable high notes and harmonies throughout BTS’ vast discography. In any case, he is known to be kind-hearted and thoughtful, and shown to be the creative type who feels things deeply. Face is a brand new take, and it poses a question for longtime listeners and new fans of BTS alike: Who is Jimin, when he’s on his own?

Listen to Face Below, and read on for our analysis of Jimin’s first solo effort.

Face It opens, perhaps a little abruptly, with a circus-type tune on “Face-off”. The world of entertainment is a wild one. The experience of an intense presence in the public eye can sometimes feel akin to wearing a full face of make-up and performing for everyone in the vicinity.

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In the notes that accompanied the album’s flow, Jimin specified that this opening verse is about finding resilience after feelings of doubt and disappointment. Land it like Ariana Grande local-to a song distilled through the powerful expert lens of a BTS recording session (highest compliments from this writer); In short, the song absolutely kills. “Tonight I won’t be sober… It’s all over,” Jimin growls. Jimin wrote lyrics on every track of the album, and fellow bandmate, BTS leader RM, is credited as a co-writer on two of his overall strong projects highlights, “Face-off” and “Like Crazy.”

“Face-off” morphs into “Interlude: Dive,” a mix of sweet and sad sounds and memories. The vignettes offer an intimate look at Jimin’s daily life, especially since these are the tracks he chose and, in some places, recorded himself – there’s a knock on the door followed by the sound of someone catching their breath; Later, we hear flashbacks of Jimin introducing himself on stage at a BTS concert. Is it a coincidence or an easter egg that the chord progression mirrors bandmate J-Hope’s “Blue Side”?

The centerpiece of the album is title track “Like Crazy,” a pulsating, sleek, and glossy offering that commands attention as a song from The Weeknd can. (The final song on the project is an English version of “Like Crazy,” and the fair world will watch it find a happy home on the radio.) The synth-infused song is a nod to the 2011 movie of the same name, one of Jimin’s favourites, and featured charged fan whispers throughout. As he sings: “I’d rather get lost in the lights / Lose my mind”. “I want to stay in this dream / Don’t save me.”

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Then Jimin pulls things back with “Alone,” a tender, vulnerable look at his pandemic experience filled with doubts, frustrations, and fear. He’s having a sexy time in his lower register here, always a treat from the singer who naturally often ends up with other responsibilities on BTS tracks. This is followed by “Set Me Free Pt. 2”, the gritty pre-release track that signaled to listeners just how daring and dramatic this era could be.

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The only downside to Face is his length. Many of Jimin’s solo songs in BTS’ expanded discography are sweet, tender, or more in ballad space; It’s quite amusing to see him prioritize harder edges, beat drops, and R&B influences on this project. Its six tracks wrap around very quickly, and although it’s been determined that Jimin doesn’t consider this a full-length project, it does leave the listener longing for more music in this vein somewhere down the road – it’s worth repeating that the energy of “Showdown” is one He must be thinking of chasing her more than anything else.

But back to that key point that Jimin shared – the idea of ​​freedom seems relevant to every song on the project, perhaps floating on top as the biggest takeaway by then. Face finish. Throughout, Jimin appears mature and confident, unafraid of topics or words that people might not have associated with him up until this point. “Have I come so far to find what I once knew?” He asks for “Like Crazy”. “I feel alive.” When BTS announced a second chapter, one with a dedicated space for the band members to explore individual endeavors, it was hard to imagine what could happen next — the “Face-off” mood, choreography and choreography in “Set Me Free Part 2”, and the lyrics in “Like Crazy” feels like expansions, rather than track corrections, of artist Jimin’s development over the past decade.

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The quote many BTS fans tend to hold back comes from his 2020 class commencement speech, where Jimin shared, “Remember there is someone here in Korea, in the city of Seoul, who understands you.” He is an artist who has spent the past decade giving – giving time to his collection, giving his material commitment to perform as best he can, giving himself to the work required to create and writing about his feelings about it all. This version is the one that required a certain amount of courage; Perhaps when sharing this group with the world, Jimin himself will feel a little more understood, too.

Basic tracks: “Face-off”, “Like Crazy”, “Set Me Free Pt.2”

Face Album artwork: