After a four-year hiatus in the military, BTS is back with another album. ARIRANG, released on March 20, is BTS’s first album as a group since 2022. The album consists of 14 tracks, along with a separate album, KEEP SWIMMING, which includes different versions of the song “SWIM,” the title track of ARIRANG.
The name “Arirang” refers to a Korean folk song about separation, love, and reunion. We think that this is a very fitting title for the album, not only because the members of BTS were separated from one another, but because BTS had to leave their fans for military service.
We noticed that throughout this album, BTS has taken on a more experiential approach with their songs. The songs feature various artistic and musical choices that give the album an experiential sound rather than the well-known pop-song feel of their past work. Although the album isn’t like the musical vibe we’re used to, it seems the members of BTS have developed their own musical styles, with many of them having successful solo careers.
The title track, “SWIM” is calm and reflective, and compared to BTS’s past title tracks and lead singles, it is very subtle. The lyrics have an airy feel. The song uses rhyme at the end of almost every line. The song’s theme of moving forward at one’s own pace also recurs throughout the album. While “SWIM” isn’t the most upbeat song, it certainly is a very emotional one that resonates within.
The music video for “SWIM” does a very good job of telling a story and is visually pleasing overall. The video has seamless transitions and the sound of waves that carry us from the intro to the main song, and the camera angles allow viewers to have a smooth, immersive experience of the story.
Some of ARIRANG’s more upbeat songs include “FYA,” “Alien,” and “Body to Body,” all of which have rap within the lyrics. “FYA”’s lyrics are fast-paced and rhythm-focused, while “Alien”’s lyrics are disconnected and isolated, and “Body to Body”’s lyrics are more melodic. These songs share themes of societal pressure, freedom, and identity.
One really interesting song on the album is “No.29”, which is a completely wordless piece composed solely of meditative noise. The song is 1 minute and 38 seconds long, significantly shorter than the other songs, which average around 3 minutes. We really like the inclusion of this song because it serves as an interlude on the album, and over time, the listener can ground themselves and reset their attention after multiple high-energy tracks.
ARIRANG’s songs are unique within the K-pop industry, and they resemble those in the Western music industry. As someone who listens to a lot of K-pop, I find the album is less emotionally strong than others, but ARIRANG is still a great album. Although the album may not resemble BTS’s past hits like “Dynamite” or “Butter”, it is still very BTS, just evolved and new.
Jacob Shin ’29 echoed this statement, pointing to BTS’s use of Arirang, the traditional Korean folk melody, as the album’s most notable musical choice. However, he felt the album’s direction was muddled by its attempt to target two audiences: Korean listeners through familiar melodies, and a more global audience through heavy use of English lyrics.
“I felt it was pretty transparent that they were going for patriotism within Koreans, since it’s a traditional Korean melody. But I thought it was counterintuitive for them to also use so much English in their song when they intended for the song to be patriotic. And for me, there are two issues with that. The first is that they were aiming to be patriotic in the first place, which was super obvious. But also, the second is that if they were going to do that, then they probably shouldn’t have used so many English lyrics,” said Shin.
This album may not have been the comeback fans were expecting, but according to Shin, it includes multiple songs worth listening to. While he wouldn’t discourage anyone from listening, he’d point newcomers elsewhere to some of BTS’s other successes and recommend a listen for fans already familiar with the group.
