Review: "THE ALBUM" - Blackpink

In the last two months I have listened to Blackpink exhaustively as I worked to complete my dissertation so the timing of this album couldn’t have been any better and its release felt like a sort of prize at the end of the tunnel. This is the first Korean album by Blackpink (second overall) and the album cover, as well as all the promotional art I found to look beautiful and very on brand for Blackpink. The title of the album I was less crazy about, though in terms of creativity still ranks just above Childish Gambino’s 3.15.20 (released on the 15th March 2020).

The first two tracks were previous releases that we had already heard which made the album’s length all the more interesting. There would only be six new tracks on top of the two singles, at just 24 minutes runtime. It’s short but these lengths were done to great effect particularly in Kanye West’s 2018 Wyoming sessions. I’ve found usually it makes for an easy listen, it’s better to be left wanting more than to be bored and waiting for the album to end.

The album opens with ‘How You Like That’ which became such a staple on TikTok that it’s hard to believe it only came out in June. I’m not a fan of the horns at the start, mainly as the sound never comes back throughout the rest of the song. Structure-wise I don’t think there’s much new on this track but that’s not a big problem because of the strong melody behind the chorus. The outro is enjoyable and I wish I understood the Korean lyrics throughout so I could work out where on earth “Look up in the sky it’s a bird it’s a plane” came from.

The next track ‘Ice Cream’ features Selena Gomez and considering I had a mini-Selena phase at the beginning of the year when ‘Rare’ was released, the first time I heard this track I thought “Yes, that is excellence.” A common criticism of this track is the lack of a chorus but I like that the structure here is different than normal for Blackpink. The ‘Na na na na’ segment was suggested by one video as a possible chorus but I think this works stronger as a playful breakdown at the end. Selena Gomez blends right into this track, her vocals fitting right into the vibe and on the basis of the track and the music video it beggars belief that she never met Blackpink during its production.

Another valid criticism of this track is the very downplayed parts of Rosé and particularly Jisoo. Lisa arguably shines the most during this track, with her lines in the first verse as well as her full verse near the end bouncing with energy and sass (she might have the most aggressive delivery of the word ‘roses’ I’ve ever heard), without deterring from the overall nice feel at the track. Some of the similes in Ice Cream are reaching quite a bit (ice - fridge?), particularly in the outro: “Bag with the cream if you know what I mean.” I don’t know fully and I’m not sure I want to. Overall though, still enjoy this track every time I listen to it.

Pretty Savage is the first of the new tracks and the saloon piano was an interesting opening as the melody becomes quickly distorted. Attitude-wise and sonically, the track doesn’t offer a huge amount not already heard on the title track ‘How You Like That’, although Lisa’s post-chorus interludes were fun and I especially liked the sudden tone-change when it went straight from that into Rosé’s bridge in the tail end of the song.

Bet You Wanna is another example of the featured artist fitting in seamlessly, especially as a concern of mine was that Blackpink and Cardi B may have two completely different sounds. Cardi B matches Blackpink’s energy fully and I liked how she was a significant part of this track instead of having her part simply tagged on at the end. The guitar offers the song a nice, bubbly energy, and it’s overall an easy listen, save for a few too many bet you wanna’s in the pre-chorus. Lisa’s presence in this song is minimal but the other members work in perfect harmony, their ad-libs and background vocals particularly in the outro enhancing every line. Interesting side-note - the fourth track on Blackpink’s Korean debut contains no Korean lyrics - all-English.

Lovesick Girls kicks off the second half of the album and feels like the centrepiece of the album, not just by virtue of its music video and many promotional graphics, but in terms of its full force and anthemic feel. Co-producing this track is David Guetta and his influence is felt pretty heavily. My favourite parts are the pre-choruses with Rosé and Jisoo, and Jennie and Lisa’s verse that comes in at around the halfway mark. Across the album Lovesick Girls is probably the greatest showcase of each member’s talents, as well as the strongest showing of the group as a whole, combining on the emphatic chorus.

It may be the sheer strength of Lovesick Girls that makes Crazy Over You seem underwhelming but I’d still identify it as the weakest track of the eight. There’s some experimentation with the Arabic-style guitars and whistles but once the bridge comes in they can’t seem to lose those quick enough. The chorus is pretty unmemorable and Jisoo’s “ee ee ee ee”’s that follow, though the most noteworthy part of the song, still have a weirdly ominous feel to them. Jennie’s following verse is fine, Lisa’s less-so, the concluding line “don’t you know I’m loco” a bit too basic.

In the following Love To Hate Me, the opening refrain of “Love” a strong way to open the track. Beyond this, the song doesn’t really burst into life until Jennie and Lisa’s pre-chorus that interestingly seems to interpolate the intro of Kendrick Lamar’s Swimming Pools (note: this is a very good thing). The chorus works too and Lisa puts a lot of the sass into the line “You ain’t worth my love if you only love to hate me” , and her verse goes onto do a great job in expressing the ideas behind the track of rejecting love that does more bad than good to you, I particularly like the line “I could do bad by myself, don’t need help”. Narrative-wise, it may have made more sense for this track to directly follow Lovesick Girls, or precede it perhaps.

You Never Know wraps off the album and I immediately identified this song from the track-list as ‘potential good vibes’ (sometimes you just know). This proved as this is arguably the most emotional track on the album, with a message of not judging someone until you’ve ‘walked in their shoes’. The production is very stripped back which allows the vocals to do most of the work in this track and they do it well. I like the beat dying down towards the end implying the end of the sing, only for the violins to revive the chorus right after. Rosé on the final chorus conveys a lot of raw emotion and Jisoo’s last few lines do just as well and prove a melodically and sonically pleasing way to sign off the album.

The album seems to adopt a few different ideas and each track earns it place in that regard, but cohesion of each of these ideas/messages isn’t realised fully. Ice Cream and then Pretty Savage display the sweet & ‘savage’ charms of each member. The next four tracks seem to explore different aspects of love but do quite a muddled job of it. Bet You Wanna works in its placement as it builds on the previous two tracks, effectively saying “Yeah, of course you’d want me”. It becomes a bit muddled here on as we go from “a prince not even on my list” on Lovesick Girls to “I love you crazy” in Crazy Over You. Lovesick Girls professes the girl’s lovesickness but at that point, the reason for that is quite unclear. Love To Hate Me is left seemingly on its own to quickly cover the negative aspects of love to tie up that storyline. All this said, the final track You Never Know does a damn good job of tying up the two themes, essentially saying “Whether you love me or hate me, only I can understand me fully.”

The aforementioned brief runtime overall proves appropriate for this album. The album manages to pack in many highs in its runtime with these evenly spread out. I think though more considered than their previous release, this album’s concepts still wouldn't have been quite strong enough to justify a longer runtime, and I believe at this still-early stage of Blackpink’s career, it’s wise to make a project that stays high-energy throughout and holds the listener’s attention, which I think The Album manages quite comfortably.

A less relevant point but one I want to raise. I always preferred the Blackpink in your area tagline to Blackpink is the revolution, but in the latter’s absence across the whole album, I did start to miss it. What circumstances have changed? Do Blackpink no longer wish to be associated with the revolution? Has the revolution already taken place, with Blackpink now satisfied that all their demands have been met? I need to know!

In any case, I have enough knowledge of how music reviewing works to know that this review is basically worthless unless I attach a number to it so here you go: I award Blackpink’s ‘THE ALBUM’ seven capybaras out of ten. A welcome addition to the Blackpink catalogue.