REVIEW: V - LAYOVER

4/5

V For Victory.

Ever since 'Proof' of South Korean super K-Pop group BTS' hiatus last year, we've had plenty of music from the boys between World Cup anthems and military service. Leader RM gave us 'Indigo'. Jimin his 'Face'. And J-Hope ('Jack In The Box') and Suga ('D-Day') amazing albums and major movies to go with them. But on Agust D's road to military service, an ARMY of fans sure miss their 'Love Yourself' soldiers together in heart like the fingers of a world reaching hand gesture. All of this has felt like a 'Layover' for the biggest band of brothers since The Beatles (believe that). And that's exactly what V gives us with his new album, no peace sign to his firm friends.

'Layo(V)er' (you get it, right?), marks a big-hit debut for the unsung hero of BTS, really hitting his high-notes now. Collaborating with NewJeans creative director Min Hee-jin. Rocking and wearing his R&B and jazz, pop infused style like Levis on a cowboy. Even washing his laying over loneliness with some vivid music videos. This six-track with a puppy on the front begins with some Mary J. Blige like 'Rainy Days' that brings back that RM 'Forever Rain' feeling, quite possibly one of the emotive songs these epic songwriters have ever done. "Rainy days, I'm thinking 'bout you/What to say, wish I knew how to/Find the way right back to you/On rainy days like-/Staring at my phone 난 깨있지/Hoping for your call lately/I've been on my own maybe/이젠 지난 일에 맨날/Time with you was so amazing/Haven't changed, it's still the same me/늦었지만 우리 다시/Can we go back to that moment again, yeah?" His pain falling on his apartment block window like tears.

It's a kind of 'Blue' like Joni Mitchell, miles away. And as V yearns, "What if I show you/And make it all new/Green, yellow, red, blue/Whatever seems good to you/달에게 하루/빌려온 별들/널 보네 모두/But baby you're still blue, blue." Believing in that comeback love. Even if it's hard to see through those tears that rain. Or the pain that is 'Slow Dancing' (and it's painful piano reprise closer) like John Mayer in a burning room of old letters and photographs. Look at it this way, 'For Us' takes us back even more in a bittersweet reminisce. "You went from my home to/It was nice to know you/And it breaks my heart/That we gave it our best shot/Now I'm in California/I'm still waitin' for yaWill you change your mind?/I would give it all up/For us." Just like the 'Relentless' latest from The Pretenders or the end of the world from Thirty Seconds To Mars last week, if you're going through it, you're really going through it here in this endless summer where the only thing that seems to stick around is the heat. Yet for all these track and tears in these turbulent times when we want more than Bangtan to get back together, it's the lead single 'Love Me Again' that gives us hope. "몇 번씩이나 뭘 하는지 널 생각해/Lost without you, baby/Lost without you, baby/Lost without you, baby/I wish you would love me again/No, I don't want nobody else." We feel you V. Hope this layover is just a brief respite before checking back in to take flight. And not staying over in a lonely hotel room watching others soar. This could all be so much more. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Love Me Again', 'Rainy Days', 'Slow Dancing'.