I have a small handful of kpop groups that I genuinely get giddy when I hear they’ll be releasing new music. NCT Wish, Boynextdoor, Illit, KiiiKiii, aaaaand Tomorrow x Together. It’s also wild that 4/5 of those groups are all releasing new music within the span of 3 weeks???? The first of those groups to drop an album is TXT whose album I was Very much anticipating after their last KR release marked the end of their years long album lore journey. We are now in post-Starseekers society…
It’s an interesting change because their new releases won’t be following a strict story created for them. Instead it seems like they’re finally able to get Experimental with it. YIPPEE!!!
They released 7TH YEAR: A Moment of Stillness in the Thorns last week and immediately I had to form my ranking list that I share with my bestie who also loves TXT. Back when I was deeply into kpop in high school, I was far more forgiving of bad releases because I was into EVERYTHING. I took a hiatus sometime around 2020 and only came back to kpop around early 2023. The break was a huge factor in how I viewed the industry and the releases and now I Cannot get into most new groups. Make good music like damn!!! Can’t everyone just make bubblegum pop like the Wishies…
Anyway. Backstory over, it’s review time. The album starts with Bed of Thorns which, for almost the entire first listen, I was convinced was going to be my favorite off the album. It starts with this synth-y beat that immediately pulls you into their album’s neon lit world. Immediately obsessed. You can tell their direction for future releases will take on a less boxed in style and test the waters with genres that might not have broken into the kpop mainstream before.
Second track, Stick With You, is their title track for this album which surprised me because I thought Bed of Thorns was the title when I listened to the track previews LOLLLL It makes sense though, the chorus is CRAZY. The music video was pretty funny to me though because this group is gay as hell and seeing them pine over the same pretty girl was incredibly funny. I wasn’t fully on board with the title right away, the verses didn’t hit as much as the ultra-vibey chorus, but it’s certainly not a skip. I need to live in that chorus.
Then we get to Take Me to Nirvana. Dreamcore is a Super fun genre pull for TXT and really fits with their album concept. The featuring artist, Vinida Weng, adds in vocals that compliments the group’s tone so well that I feel like that floating Spongebob gif. LOVE. Easily my third favorite track.
Now. So What. I have a bit of a vendetta against kpop rap focused songs unless they’re from Boynextdoor. So my initial reaction was Skip. It has absolutely grown on me though. It’s a continuation of the style formed for Yeonjun’s recent solo album, No Genre, which had THE best marketing I’ve seen in recent kpop history. So What is still one of the weaker songs on this album to me personally.
21st Century Romance. Here’s their ballad number. I also didn’t fully love this and I think it was because it was coming right on the heels of So What so the energy change was total whiplash. I’m a HUGE ballad lover. Have you ever heard Xdinary Heroes’ Good Enough… Oh my GOD. So I think if I had heard 21st Century Romance on its own, I would’ve had a much better listening experience. And I just relistened to it and LOVED it on its own. I think its placement in the album is just.. kinda strange. And then it gets followed by one of the best songs TXT has ever made so it does not do 21st Century Romance any favors. LOLLL
Now we get to my number one. I looped this song like a crazy person after my first album listen like are you KIDDING. Dream of Mine, you beautiful piece of art. Dream of Mine is the final song on their mini album and what a way to go out. The instrumental is a pretty bare unrelenting beat + bass synth but it’s paired with continuous vocals in a style that I don’t normally hear in kpop. My jaw genuinely dropped Several times listening to this. You get to the bridge which drops into an acoustic version of the instrumental allowing for a tiny break from the neverending synth. Not to mention the vocals are INSANE. My favorite thing in any song really is MODULATION. GIVE IT TO MEEEEE. The journey this song takes you is crazy and it’s only 2:21. Make it longer what is wrong with you guys. The only downside to this song being the final on the album is that when I try to put the album on loop in Youtube Music, it doesn’t listen to me and it’ll play some BULLSHITTTTT after.
My Thorns album ranking is:
- Dream of Mine (BESTTTTT)
- Bed of Thorns
- Take Me to Nirvana (ft. Vinida Weng)
- Stick With You
- So What
- 21st Century Romance (they’ve made better ballads anyway, still good though)
It’s such a great new direction for the group to take moving forward after finishing such an impactful era in their careers. I hope they continue with the experimentation on future albums and hey, maybe they’ll eventually make a song that dethrones Song of the Stars. Tough song to beat though. And you don’t even have to ask, yes I am a superfan of this album and the group itself. #TXTFOREVA
