Okay I'll be nice and bump my rating up, after getting over my pessimism this is actually pretty decent lol. Not on par with their Dream / Chaos Chapter era work, but TXT is out of the trenches for now. Thank God.

This album has a beginning of two decent-to-good songs, a middle of two okay-to-decent songs, and an end of two... uh, not good songs. Bed of Thorns is the first TXT song in *years* that I've liked enough to really feel in my bones - that retro video game-esque instrumental ... read more

I need to write a full review one of these days but lemme say: FINALLY, an artist who knows how to do a real interlude that isn't just a random sound or vague vibes.

I didn't enjoy this as much as Virtua by trndytrndy, which I think did a better job of capturing the sound and spirit of Utopian Scholastic. But this is still really solid! It definitely has that playfulness that makes you want to think and learn.

Oh hell yeah this makes me feel like a kid popping an edutainment game CD into the family computer

I'll admit that I did not have a brat summer (nothing wrong with brat, it's just not my style of music) but I do love me some chamber pop, so I HAD to check this album out after I fell in love instantly with House and Chains of Love. The whole album is a gorgeous soundscape that fills me with the desire to quit my job and run away to the moors of Yorkshire. All three pre-release singles are great and among the other songs, Eyes of the World is probably my favorite.

I keep coming back to this damn album. It's perfect storytelling - the way it paints a sonic photograph of the Welsh coal landscape, the use of archive recordings in both earnest and ironic ways, the vocals that add perspective to the story. I knew nothing about the coal industry in Britain before I listened to this and I ended up not only learning a ton but empathizing with the people caught up in it.

Not normally a Florence girlie (shoutout to my friend who is, and encouraged me to give this a listen) but wow. This was a journey. Deeply personal and emotional but also mystical and larger-than-life? Not every song on here was my cup of tea but overall this was moving

This is like if a student submitted an assignment that was just a half-finished first draft. Even if your draft has some really good or even great ideas, you don't get full credit for submitting unfinished work.

So many of the songs here have the potential to sound good or great but sound underbaked, end without any real resolution, or both. Over the Moon is heart-on-your-sleeve unabashedly romantic... then it ends when you think it's going to build up. Uh, what? Heaven fits in ... read more

I feel like this album isn't as loved by the fandom - fans tend to love the comeback before this (Temptation) and after it (Tomorrow), and think this was a misstep at best. But I think there's some pretty solid stuff in here, especially among the B-sides. A lot of people think this album is incohesive, and I get it, but I like listening to this album as a collection of individual tracks rather than a whole. A lot of the tracks are pretty cool on their own.

Growing Pain is a daring ... read more

This was my first TXT comeback and while I loved this album when it came out, in hindsight it's just... nice, especially after going through their back catalog. I still think Sugar Rush Ride sounds pretty good, the contrast between the bright, funky verses and the sultry anti-drop chorus is pretty cool, and Devil by the Window is the rare English K-Pop song that actually fits the concept and doesn't sound like pandering to Western trends. Farewell, Neverland in hindsight isn't ... read more

This album is... decent? Opening Sequence is so damn good and nails that darker, moodier sound, and I find myself coming back to it. I like the two sub-unit tracks too - Thursday's Child Has Far to Go is just a good time and there are some fun production choices in there, and I actually think Lonely Boy isn't that bad. It needs to be longer / more developed for sure, but I found it oddly addictive for a time, and Yeonjun's and Hueningkai's voices contrast well. Good Boy Gone ... read more

Everything that I've said about Freeze also applies here: some of TXT's best songs, but also some of their worst, and overall the venture to a more rock sound was worth it. I do like the new additions, though: LO$ER = LO♡ER is so unashamed in its teen angst that it's just plain fun, even if you aren't an angsty teenager. MOA Diary is adorable, and if you're a dedicated fan it's hard not to smile at it. The 0x1=LOVESONG remix isn't as good as the original, ... read more

I feel like I should like this album as much as Eternity or Blue Hour in theory, but for some reason it just doesn't stick in my brain as much. "Run Away" sounds as magical as it's supposed to, "New Rules" is a hell of a track opener with a rebellious kick, and I was obsessed with "20cm" for a good while. But a lot of the other tracks are just... nice to me? Nice but not special.

"Way Home" is kind of a dud but everything else on here is pretty great. "Blue Hour" is still one of their strongest title tracks, leaning on the disco nostalgia sound but still being its own thing. "Ghosting" is a pretty little cloud of dream-pop and one of the more unique songs in TXT's discography. The whole album is just a lovely package of escapist pandemic pop, perfect for its time but still listenable after.

When I think of TXT at their very best - from unique concepts to creative and layered pop sounds - I think of this album. Even the worst song on here is at least decent, while the best songs sound fresh and unlike anything else in their discography. And while there's plenty of angst in this album, it's nicely balanced out by fun and dreamy tracks, like the musical equivalent of smiling on the outside when you're struggling on the inside.

"Drama" is a boppy enough ... read more

I have such mixed feelings about this album because while I think it contains some of my favorite songs in TXT's discography ("0x1 = LOVESONG", which is just legendary to me; "Dear Sputnik"; "No Rules"), it also contains some of my least favorite songs ("Ice Cream", "What If I Had Been That PUMA"). The shift to a rock sound and a more teen-angst concept was definintely an experimental one, which I can appreciate - I'd rather have a ... read more

Kinda crazy to me that their debut holds up so well! TDC: Star isn't mind-blowing but it's solid, good ol'-fashioned fun pop. Blue Orangeade is a funky little opener, CROWN is fun yet earnest and complex, Our Summer is lovely with a bit of a poppy edge, and Nap of a Star sounds pleasantly dreamy.

But most importantly, Cat & Dog BOPS. People keep putting it on "songs that your non-K-Pop stan friends won't get" but I dunno, when I make my non-MOA friends listen ... read more

Heard this at a bookstore earlier this year and now I'm convinced there's magic in it. Like, it's so simple and vibe-y but also captures a really specific emotion that I can't even describe

(loosely adapted from my substack review)

I'm one of the outlier foreign fans who *didn't* discover Sudden Lights via Eurovision - instead the algorithm recommended them to me because I kept listening to The Sound Poets so much. But I'm glad I discovered them in time for this release because wow, this album makes me feel things.

This album reminds me a lot of the atmospheric indie rock that I obsessively listened to back in the 2010s, but more... evolved. You've got your ... read more

EDIT: 65 --> 60 Not as good on repeat listens I'm afraid. Sunday Driver didn't hold up :( Original review below.

I will say that I liked this more than Sanctuary, which I found sounded half-formed and incomplete. There's a better variety of tracks (since this is a full-length album after all), the R&B throwback sounds are pretty cool, and I appreciate that the boys get to use their middle and lower ranges in some of the tracks instead of just belting and big high notes ... read more