THE BOYZ – 'DREAMLIKE'

Track List:

1. Water

2. D.D.D

3. Complete Me

4. SUMMER TIME

5. Going High

6. Daydream

The Boyz has just dropped their 4th EP, 'DREAMLIKE'. This one has 6 new tracks and includes the title track "D.D.D". Sunwoo helped write the lyrics for the title track. He and Eric (not me) also had a hand in the lyrics for “Water” and "Complete Me".

They start out "Water" crying out for ... um... water. It's a mellow song, not going anywhere near club-banger status. They do a pretty good job of making this song about as refreshing as a tall glass of ice-cold water. It's very easy on the ears and doesn't really pick up until the raps come in. I like the bongos in the background when that happens. "D.D.D" is a serious jam, not to mention the title track. It fooled me, starting out mellow, but picking up speed, getting a tropical house beat, and a pretty danceable beat overall. The exhortation to "dance dance dance" is really what makes this club banger pop. A fun, summery song.

"Complete Me" is a little more mellow, sort of a cross between the first two tracks we've heard. It's a low-key dance track, with a little less repetition and a little more meat to the lyrics. The raps are playful and fun, and they come in and out during the main verses. I like that. It's a solid song. On "SUMMER TIME" they go back to more of a softer vibe. It's a power ballad since they get a little harder on the chorus, backed by loud synths. This is pretty much a laid-back groove, and they don't really change much during the chorus. It's a little more tender than some of the other songs.

"Going High" is a playful track. They don't play this one for laughs, though. It has some stripped-down elements, though they don't stick around for long. The synth wubs banish that idea right away. It's a slow burn, though, with the synth washes and that dreamy vibe that seems to run through this album (hence the title). "Daydream" strikes that hopeful chord in me, the one that sets this song up as inspirational and lofty. It's soft and starts out that way. It largely keeps that tempo throughout. The only thing it does differently is it uses these boys' vocals to carry the song, while the backing track builds. I like the echoey vocals, the synth whooshes, and the final echo for the drumbeats.

As summer albums go, I don't find this one all that dynamic. That is, there's one proper club-banger on here, and most of the rest are all low-key or mellow. However, if there's one takeaway here, it's that The Boyz has some top-notch vocalists. These guys really knock it out of the park with the harmonies and even much of the individual work. While the album didn't impress me that much, as a reviewer I have to say I was impressed with the members and their work here.

MV REVIEW

The members of The Boyz are enjoying a summer day in "D.D.D".

The MV follows them as they skateboard, check out a record shop, play a handheld video game (and get sucked into the game world), get some lunch at a restaurant, and play some table tennis. It's notable that in all of these scenes, they're alone. But they follow a glowing cord and their bunny logo appears in various places. Before long, they meet up, and have tons more fun playing Laser Tag, playing on massive indoor slides, and finally end up at an amusement park for an explosive finale.

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This is all spliced together with scenes of them doing what they exhort you to do during the entire song: dance, dance, dance. And they do this well. With drops and gestures and fancy footwork, they go through their moves. There was nothing particularly spectacular, but it was good enough.

The CGI was good enough to keep me engaged, and I don't think it was overdone at all. Sometimes that stuff can get so out of hand that the MV doesn't feel authentic. Here, it just drove a nice subplot of getting The Boyz all in one place. And I had fun watching it.

Score

MV Relevance...........8

MV Production..........9

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

MV SCORE: 8.3

Album Production.....8

Album Concept.........9

Tracklisting...............8

ALBUM SCORE: 8.3

OVERALL................8.1