TXT – 'THE DREAM CHAPTER: STAR'

Track List:

1. Blue Orangeade

2. CROWN

3. Our Summer

4. Cat & Dog

5. Nap of a Star

The long wait is over, and TXT finally made their highly anticipated debut. TXT stands for Tomorrow X Together, and consists of five members: Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Huening Kai. The band is created by Big Hit Entertainment, the same company that BTS is under. Their first ever five-song EP is 'The Dream Chapter: STAR.'

After some sampled scratches, the song kicks in immediately -- no instrumental intros for these guys. "Blue Orangeade" doesn't break any new ground, but it is a fun club-banger, and a great way to open an album. A morse-code opening along with some synth washes starts the title track, "CROWN." This one has a higher tempo and feels a little more masculine than "Blue Orangeade," and I like the pre-chorus on this one. The chorus feels bolder and more filled-out on this one. "Our Summer" is soft around the edges, and only picks up steam during the chorus. It had me fooled, at first, thinking that it might be a ballad. But no, the obligatory ballad is found at the end of the EP. I like this, because it's a refreshing take after a couple club-bangers.

The hip-hop styled "Cat & Dog" has us drowning in autotune. This is probably my favorite song on the whole EP. It's upbeat, playful, and cheerful, even, despite the lyrics. You're just meant to enjoy this song and not think too much about it. The lone ballad "Nap of a Star" is a very soft, very tender affair. It tends not to stray from its initial melody, only adding a beat to move the song forward. It's nice, because the instrumentation doesn't rise to drown out the singer, so he doesn't have to scream over the music. This is a ballad done right, like we're hearing more and more nowadays.

These guys are seriously lite and poppy. If there's a cute boy band category, they probably fit right in. They haven't shown much range, is my only concern, but this is just a freshman outing, too, so that should be okay. There's always room to grow. This EP gives off a lighthearted vibe, so if that was the feelz they were going for, they nailed it.

MV REVIEW

“Crown” broke the record for the most views accumulated by a K-pop debut music video in the first 24 hours since its release. I'm not sure why, since it's a bit of a hot mess.

Let me explain. There's a lot to unpack here, but I'll try to keep it from becoming a TLDR.

There's a ton of animation all the way through. Everything from cute horns sprouting on heads to tracers as they dance, to cat tails wagging. Not sure why they put all that in there, and it seemed to be the main point of the MV. And there didn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to it. But kudos to some of it, where you could practically hear the sound effects with the sound off. No, there weren't any sounds in reality, but you could definitely hear them in your head.

The rest of it seemed to be boy in the box style stuff, plus some other effects to try and shake that trope up a little. A noble goal in itself, but the net effect made it look a little cramped. Like there was very little space and they had to make do with some special effects to generate a background, for instance.

The dance sequences? Don't get me started. Watching those felt like some kid's show had launched into a song and dance number about how you're special and there's no one just like you. The choreo didn't look challenging, just cringy.

It just seemed like there was little rhyme or reason to it, and it looked too busy, to me. You'd hardly finished viewing one special effect before they jumped right into something else. I feel that I would have liked shots to let us know the band better, rather than relying on a boatload of gimmicks.

Score

MV Relevance...........7

MV Production..........7

MV Concept...............7

MV SCORE: 7.0

Album Production.....9

Album Concept..........9

Tracklisting.................9

ALBUM SCORE: 9.0

OVERALL................8.0