DAY6 – 'THE BOOK OF US: GRAVITY'

Track List:

1. For me

2. Time of Our Life

3. How to love

4. Wanna Go Back

5. Cover

6. Best Part

It's been nearly six months since their last release, 2018’s 'Remember Us.' That was the second half of their Youth album series. Now they're back with their newest EP. 'The Book of Us: Gravity.' The themes are about identity and such, a little like Stray Kids concepts. Young K penned the lyrics for every track except one. This album is a record-shattering one for the band. It shot to No. 1 on iTunes album charts in at least 11 countries, including Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. They got their first number 1 on domestic real-time charts Bugs and Naver, and their highest placement on several other domestic sites, including B-sides.

They start out with the mellow but upbeat "For Me." I like the guitar influences in this tune. They started doing that a couple of albums ago and it's a welcome change. Wonpil gives the chorus a nice punch, to boot. The guitar banger "Time of Our Life" cranks it up, both in the areas of guitar and tempo. I have to tell them they couldn't have picked a better song for the title track. I like the staccato nature of the tune, not to mention that absolutely kickin' chorus.

"How to Love" is a good guitar ditty. It sounds more playful and wistful than the other tunes like he's right there in the bar telling you his life story. A song like this is pretty familiar, but in a good way, like a friend that you get with on occasion. They get a little elaborate on the arrangements in "Wanna Go Back." This is a jaunty tune, pretty upbeat considering that he wants to go back to when he was younger. As you get older, this is something that gets brought up a lot. And here the boys are talking about it. It's definitely catchy.

"Cover" is where they slow it down a lot. Wonpil starts out the tune, but it's Young K who pulls it out of his hat. His vocals are next level on this one, wrenching every iota of emotion out of his voice. This one really tugs at your heartstrings. "Best Part" has an epic sound to it, which is how a finishing song should sound. One of the things I like about this one is that it really picks up about a minute in. It doesn't lose any of its epic-ness, but instead just gets even better. It's a song of gratefulness and making every day your best one, and that's an awesome message all on its own.

I will admit I've been hard on them in the past because I saw so much wasted potential. These guys are genuinely good, and on some tracks, I'd be vindicated, and others were a bit bland. This one deserves its chart placement, I'd say. The arrangements are complex, the lyrics are solid, and the melodies are well-crafted. Nice job, guys.

MV REVIEW

The boys eschew the outdoors and instead focus on the inside in the MV for "Time of Our Life."

And they don't really get outside the studio. The MV is largely performance pieces set to dynamic hi-color backgrounds. Sometimes one might be sitting on a loveseat in a set designed like a living room, other times playing the guitar in a cramped area with bookshelves around him, or sometimes in a blank room, featureless but for the green wall with something written on it. Each of the boys get their chance in front of the camera, largely alone, though there are some group shots as well.

And it's pretty much all performance shots. They're always doing something wherever they are, usually holding an instrument. Now, this might not be that interesting on its own, but they do add broad splashes of color to every single scene. It makes it a lot easier to sit and watch the thing if you wonder if you'll be seeing a bright red wall or the whole scene shot in yellow.

That's it in a nutshell. No, it's not groundbreaking in any way, but it is eminently watchable.

Score

MV Relevance.......8

MV Production......8

MV Concept..........8

MV SCORE: 8.0

Songwriting..........9

Composition.........8

Impression............9

ALBUM SCORE: 8.7

OVERALL............8.3