Left right and centre, BTS has been all over social media (for me at least) for their comeback on Friday with Boy With Luv. This title track featured on their 6th mini-album, Map of The Soul: Persona, which was also released on the same day. So, it would be a major pity for me to delay the album review to next weekend, especially since BTS is getting so much attention. They have been confirmed to now be the fastest video to be viewed 10 million times on YouTube, whilst also be the first KPOP act to perform on Saturday Night Live. They have also broken even more records on other platforms since I published my review for Boy With Luv (link below). Phew, a lot of stuff to keep up on! But here is my review as a treat!

1..Intro: Persona – Performed by just RM, the introductory track to the album centres on rapping, as this is RM’s forte. The song has an urban rock type of vibe to it, which I quite like. And while it does fall into that description and still manages to fall into the hip-hop roots, the song is very light, and this makes it an excellent taster to the album. Unlike most introductory tracks, Persona lasts around 3 minutes but somehow still goes by quite quickly. (8/10)

2. Boy With Luv (작은 것들을 위한 시) (Title Track) – Click here to read the full review of Boy With Luv. (8/10)

3. Mikrokosmos (소우주) – The third track of the album, Mikrokosmos, seems to continue this lightness that we have heard thus far on the album. But while lightness would be a good term to really describe the song, I found it to be quite a vibrant pop track with wholesome lyrics. I think the track does a good job of showcasing the vocals of the members despite nothing technical or over-the-top being shown to the listener. I also thought the rapping was well-tweaked for the track as they still manage to show themselves as rappers but in a more appropriate manner for the track. Overall, I thought the melody was nice and hence it stood out for me. (9/10)

4. Make It Right – Before we jump ahead, Ed Sheeran does not feature in the track. Instead, he is one of the writers of the track. And a collaboration between the biggest boy group and soloist is probably a killer move. Truthfully, I am not a major fan of Ed Sheeran, but I think the song turned out well. That lightness continues from the previous track. I really do like the pop vibes and the unique the instrumental felt with the brass throughout it. To me, the vocals win in comparison to the rapping (not that the latter was disappointing because it wasn’t). I thoroughly enjoyed the low and husky voices of some of the members, along with the amazing harmonies that you can hear between all the members. That final line to the song was superb (and probably the most impactful part of the song). (8/10)

5. Home – Home kicks the energy up a tiny bit, which I greatly appreciated after all those light tracks. The song doesn’t explicitly repeat ‘Home’ in the lyrics. Rather ‘Mi Casa’ which is Italian for ‘My Home’ was used instead. Once again, great vocals and rapping fill up the track. There is this sense of warmth to the song, which I find very appropriate for a song titled as Home. Besides that, however, doesn’t really feel impactful or memorable. It is nice to listen to but isn’t one that I would go out of my way to find. (7/10)

6. Jamais Vu – Jamais Vu features only Jin, J-Hope and Jungkook. The title, Jamais Vu, is a French phrase that means ‘familiar however it hasn’t happened yet’. It is a heartfelt and emotional track with chilling vocals that really leave a lasting impression on you. J-Hope’s raps are also very well done, with the husky rap-speaking concept being well used here. I also enjoyed the minimal instrumental they used in this song, which leaves the vocals to do much of the speaking. My only vendetta against the song is that it feels choppy, which I am not too sure if it was intentional. I don’t really enjoy the flow of it all too much but I would listen to it again for the other elements. (7.5/10)

7. Dionsyus – Ending this album is Dionsyus, the Greek God of grape-harvesting, wine, winemaking, ritual madness and theatre, along with a few other things. But the ones I listed seemed to be referenced in the lyrics of the song. To match the lyrics, the song seems to delve into the rock and hip-hop genres, cultivating into something quite suitable for hyping up a crowd. It is a little heavier than the intro track, which I think is suitable here. But it isn’t too heavy to really make you expect more after this track (and hence is an excellent finisher to the album). I also really like RM’s suspense-building tactic used in the bridge. While the song does kick it up even more for the final chorus, giving the song that peak it needed, I wanted it to go more hardcore, as I think this would literally end the album with a bang. (9/10)

Overall Album Rating – 8.1/10