[This review reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of allkpop.]

Track List:

1. Dynamite

2. Dynamite - Instrumental

Just when you thought you've lost all hope amidst the natural disasters, political nightmares, and pandemic, BTS emerges like the light at the end of an inordinately long and dark tunnel. "Dynamite" is the upbeat, carefree and whimsical disco-inspired anthem that we needed to actually didn't know we needed. The song forced us to take a 3 minute and 19-second break from harping about current events and quite frankly, if I was JYP right now, I'd be clutching on my copy of "When We Disco" for dear life.

The song is the group's only release for now, with an anticipated album later this year. "Dynamite" is entirely in English and stands alone with a powerful, yet simple concept and sound. "Dynamite" marks the group's first-ever all-English release in their entire 7-year long history. In particular, I felt that Jimin's vocals came out exceptionally crisp on this release. His delivery and enunciation perfectly punctuated the song's overall sound. The song is infectious, positive, and without a doubt one of those songs that you find yourself singing along to even though you never actively tried to learn the words. 

My biggest issues with the song lie mainly in the lyricism. I felt like the lyrics were a bit juvenile, considering the gravity and weight of some of their past projects. But, I think in the end I'm willing to trade singing "cup of milk, let's rock and roll" for some unrivaled joy from the song's overall energy. At least the fan chant should be easy to learn. "King Kong! Sing Song! Ding Dong!"

The only other problem I could find with this release was that the line distribution issues seemed to be really off. I looked up some ARMY-made charts to see what the percentage breakdown was and combined, SUGA, J-Hope, and RM only made up about 15% of the song's total line distribution. Likewise, Jin only made up about 11% and Taehyung roughly 14%. The song seemed to skew heavily in favor of Jimin and Jungkook's vocals as the main melody carriers for the song.

MV REVIEW

Lumpens is in creative control as always, and "Dynamite" MV is colorful, retro, and nostalgic in so many ways. The props, sets, and clothing selections seem to showcase that the song sits at the same table as "Boy With Luv" and is definitely geared towards being a bright light in a lot of darkness for many. The charismatic solo shots, homages to Michael Jackson, and a huge variety of dynamic sets make this MV seamless, nostalgic, and hypnotizing. The subtle inclusions of different 70s, 80s, and 90s motifs and themes gave an overall vibe that was uniquely 2020s vintage.

The fact that the "Dynamite" MV itself has reached 76 million views only 2/3 of the way into release day is insanity, and I expect the MV to explode even more as the English-speaking markets finally decide to open their eyes now that the single is in a language they actually understand. Western markets have refused BTS on their circuits for years, but as soon as they change their performance language, everyone wants to tweet to stream the song- so you have to wonder, did anything even change besides the internalized xenophobia? 

SCORE:

MV Relevance…..10

MV Production…..10

MV Concept……..9

MV Score: 9.7

Single Production…...8

Single Concept……...10

Tracklisting…………...n/a

Album Score: 9.0

Overall: 9.4