BLACKPINK’s new mini album is not worth setting a “DEADLINE” to listen to.
Their first album in over three years, the Korean-pop girl group’s new project is titled “DEADLINE.” Released on Feb. 27, the album impressively sold around 1.46 million copies in its first four hours.
Disappointingly, the record only has five songs. I can’t help but wonder if the producers, writers and others who worked on this album forgot about their deadlines and scrapped songs they viewed as incomplete.
“GO,” the second song off the album, is dominated by forgettable instrumentals that sound like any generic electronic dance music.
While BLACKPINK’s previous title tracks, such as “Kill This Love” and “DDU-DU DDU-DU” were criticized for having relatively empty choruses, their instrumentals were iconic and uniquely BLACKPINK. The chorus in “GO” just makes me want to “GO” to the part where the idols actually sing.
As a super fan of the group since 2019, dancing to “DDU-DU DDU-DU” with my friends and defending BLACKPINK’s empty choruses like a “Champion,” I find this empty chorus to be the most egregious of them all.
Jennie and Rosé’s honey-like vocals during the bridge are by far the highlight of the song. Yet, the monotonous outro quickly stomps out any of the excitement built from their talent.
“JUMP,” the lead single, has a catchy upbeat tone that lends itself well to fun choreography. Although it’s not my favorite BLACKPINK single, the chorus has been stuck in my head for weeks, and I’m not complaining.
Four out of the five songs are entirely in English. When I realized this, I was thrilled. Finally, new BLACKPINK songs I could sing my heart out to without hesitation.
They shine in their deliberately unique pronunciation of certain English words. In “Me and my,” Jennie’s delivery of “givin ’tude to ya” and “glistenin’, it’s in her being” is satisfying.
However, “Me and my”’s atrocious line distribution is surprising in the worst way.
Lisa, my absolute favorite member of the group, has solo lines for over 50 seconds. Jisoo, regarded by some as the most stable live vocalist in the group, ties with Rosé for the least amount of solo lines at 9 seconds. It frustrates me that the lead and main vocalists of the group get so few lines in this song.
Lisa’s vocal tone perfectly encapsulates the bold and confident theme of the song, and I would have appreciated the song more if Jisoo and Rosé had the chance to showcase their excellent vocals, too.
“Champion” is easily my favorite from the album. With a chorus with empowering lyrics and an engaging sound, it’s definitely going to be a song I’ll repeat on days when I could use encouragement or even when I want to celebrate; an unusual combination that speaks to its versatility.
One lyric from “Champion” that I found especially uplifting is Lisa’s line “same team, girl, yeah, I got your back.” Even if it is brief, the song’s message moves from one of “I’m strong and resilient” to “I’m strong and resilient, and I want to be there for others.” If the lyricists leaned into this theme, the song would have been more dimensional.
The last song of the album, “Fxxxboy,” was confusing and unenjoyable for me. Jisoo sings “I don’t like you, I’m just bored.” But, the instrumentals throughout the song sound thoughtful and almost regretful.
If the narrator is bored and “ice cold,” why are they investing so much thought into their interactions with who they are speaking to? Why is Rosé singing “Everyone needs love / Do you do you really want to go down that road tonight?” If this contradiction was intentional, the writers and producers should’ve made it clearer.
From an underwhelming title track to a bewildering ending song, as a long-term fan, I’m unhappy that this is what BLACKPINK came back with. For now, this is their album I’ll “GO” back to the least.
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