As you can tell by the title, today’s focus will be on DAY6’s first unit, Even of Day, mini-album release that dropped at the end of August 2020. The title of the mini-album is quite lengthy, The Book of Us: Gluon, and it features the vocals of Dowoon, Young K and Wonpil (the other two DAY6 member, Sungjin and Jae, are currently taking some time off). The mini-album has a unique setup. There are only three songs on the album, including the title track When The Sea Sleeps. However, interwoven into the tracklist are an introductory track, two interludes and an outro track featuring commentary and vocals from DENIMALZ 3, the mascot of the three members who form the group (see the When The Sea Sleeps music video for the mascots). For this particular album review only, I have opted to include those tracks in the album review as they are a cool and individualistic draw point to this mini-album.

1. Landing (Introductory Track) – Opening the album is an instrumental track that depicts DENIMALZ 3 making their landing on a planet and discovering a whole new world (based on the ‘vocals’ in this song). The organ-like synthesizer brings a grand welcome type of vibe to the song, reminding me of synths used in the past as part of the theme song for a sporting event in a new city (i.e. Olympics and World Cups). The song then changes towards the end to be a lot more fun, colourful and upbeat. It is a great opener to the album! (10/10)

2. Landed (그렇게 너에게 도착하였다) – The members of Even of Day has said the main difference between their songs and DAY6’s usual discography is the incorporation of synths in the music. Landed is a very obvious example of this difference, with the presence of the synths compensating for the lack of guitars. It is a very different style but I still enjoyed it. I also like how the drums were quite profound throughout this song. What remains consistent between the unit and the original band are the vocals, which I find to be very dreamy and soothing in Landed. The instrumental reminds me 80s ballads and new wave love songs (which incorporated a fair amount of synths). Both come together quite nicely and is a pleasant listen, overall. (8.5/10)

3. Ocean (Interlude 1) – Ocean is the perfect track to have playing in the background whilst having a stroll along the beach. I find the whistling, harmonizes and vocalisations throughout the song quite uplifting and joyful, making this song suitable for Summer. It can go the extra mile and brings some warmth to the listener during Winter as well. I also like how the member’s mascot continue their ‘discovery’ theme, tying both the theme and title track (i.e. the sea references) together quite nicely. The song isn’t my personal cup of tea on this mini-album, but still is a pleasant number to listen to (especially if you find waves crashing into the shore therapeutic) (8/10)

4. Where The Sea Sleeps (파도가 끝나는 곳까지) (Title Track) – Click here to read the full review for Where The Sea Sleeps. (10/10)

5. Forest (Interlude 2) – Forest includes samples of forest sounds, similar to how Ocean contained samples of ocean waves crashing into the shoreline. Once the musical instruments comes into play, the forest sounds become quite subtle and I wished they were somehow more profound. However, the instrumental to Forest has a bit of a kick to it and is almost arcade game-like, which has very enjoyable upbeat energy to it. (8/10)

6. Thanks To (땡스 투) – Thanks To follows the same route as Landed as it sounds like another 80s ballad/new wave love song. What differs with the two songs is this one is a lot more playful with the synths (i.e. that deep burp-like synth sound that constantly repeats in the instrumental), taking the song a step further than Landed and providing an interesting textural background. Their vocals once again are really nice, compliment the instrumentation. The best parts are when Wonpil and Young K harmonize with one another, binding the song together to be one wholesome track. (9/10)

7. To Be Continued (sung by DENIMALZ 3) – Based on the title of this song, DAY6 might still have more coming our way in The Book Of Us series. However, the song could easily just allude to the fact that DENIMALZ has so much more to discover and that their discovery stories/songs will continue into the future. Instrumentally, To Be Continued is the most upbeat track on the ballad, thanks to the saxophone, which coincidentally reminds me of other saxophone centric KPOP tracks (Orange Caramel anyone???). It is fun, energetic and definitely an eventful closer to the album. I also find it cute that their mascots sing in this song and the autotune really gives a crunchy texture to the song. (10/10)

Overall Album Rating – 8.6/10