There was a challenge going around on Music Twitter a couple days ago that asked folks to come up with a list of 20 songs that you really love — but no repeating artists/performers. Because of who I am as a person, I put my list in alphabetical order and made a playlist, so: here it is.
Published Thursday, December 22nd, 2022 — Released on December 2nd, 2022, Indigo had to sit for almost three weeks before I actually pulled myself together, put in my earphones for the highest quality listening experience, and dove into the inner musings of one Kim Namjoon, also known as RM of BTS.
Introduction
Even before listening, I knew I would like Indigo. Actually, I knew I would love it. RM as a solo artist makes music with the kinds of soundscapes that I tend to prefer; and with the concept photos and teasers that were being released, my first thought was that Indigo would be a deeply emotional album.
I wasn’t wrong but “emotional” can be interpreted in a variety of ways. The night Indigo and the music video for its title track, “들꽃놀이 (Wild Flower) (with youjeen)”, were released, the unanimous consensus on the timeline was collective crying. I confess I judged the entire album preemptively by “Wild Flower”, especially after the small snippet I heard playing in the background of SUGA’s drinking show, SUCHWITA (슈취타), where RM was the guest—and that made me want to put off listening to Indigo even more.
Diving Headfirst into Indigo
On Tuesday, December 20th, I received my Weverse Exclusive book and postcard editions of Indigo and decided that I had put off listening long enough. I listened through the album twice, consecutively; and the initial listen-through quickly established that sad was not necessarily the dominant underlying emotion throughout. As a matter of fact, I found Indigo overall to be an album of pure vibes; and while there are certainly elements of melancholy, it is an album that is rooted strongly in self-reflection and introspection. Moreover, Indigo is—certainly as RM intended—an album for the people (ARMY) and not the charts.
One thing to take note of is that only two songs on the record do not feature a guest artist—and RM chose to depart from convention and use “with” instead of “featuring” to indicate his collaborations. It makes sense—RM is very much so a people person, someone who likes to discuss ideas and thoughts with others. It also shows the great respect he has for the other artists, all of whom are well-known in their own spaces. He also chose to put “들꽃놀이 (Wild Flower)” towards the end of Indigo instead of towards the beginning, which is where artists typically put their title tracks.
Concerning “Wild Flower”
Speaking of “들꽃놀이 (Wild Flower)”, I have to devote a considerable amount of time to addressing it. First of all, the Korean title is “들꽃놀이” (pronounced deulkkotnori) as a clever play on words with the Korean word for “firework”, which is “불꽃놀이” (pronounced bulkkotnori). “들꽃” does mean “wildflower” but combined with “놀이”, it translates more literally into “[wild]flowerwork”. You do hear “flowerwork” being used throughout the song but the play on words between “들꽃놀이” and “불꽃놀이” doesn’t quite make sense in English the way it does in Korean. The contrast between the two concepts is conveyed beautifully in the music video with the flower fields and the nakhwanori (낙화노리), which are traditional Korean fireworks.
Second of all, if I had to designate any song on the album as sad, I would say that all of its sadness is contained in this one song. I’m not even sure “sad” is a strong enough adjective to describe the emotionality of “들꽃놀이 (Wild Flower)” in its entirety. And maybe the type of sadness is unique to the listener but all I know is that I’ve listened to it six times since Tuesday and I’ve sobbed like a baby every single one of those times. No small part of it is thanks to youjeen (조유진) and her fiercely expressive vocals but also because of the lyrics—which are, in some ways, reminiscent of “Black Swan” [by BTS]. RM has to reconcile the two sides of himself: RM of BTS and Kim Namjoon, who is ultimately someone who wants to live life simply rather than the grand extravaganza he’s been experiencing since BTS’s road to fame began. There is also no small degree of humility here in that RM thinks of himself as not a big deal when surely most people can agree that he is a very big deal. This is reinforced visually in the music video, where you see the contrasting images of RM in the flower fields and RM on stage; and it conveys a powerful message that many people who face a certain level of pressure can understand. More so than sympathy, there is a deep, deep empathy to be felt—and sometimes with deep empathy comes deep sadness.
Thirdly, going back to youjeen, her voice blows my mind. It’s strong and well-supported from deep within her chest; and you can feel her channeling the necessary emotions like the fate of the world depends on it. Different voices add different colors to songs and the color of her voice is so perfect for “들꽃놀이 (Wild Flower)”. I don’t think RM could’ve found anyone more suited.
Conclusion
The inner workings of RM’s mind are fascinating and Indigo is truly a masterpiece for the ages. Nine out of ten of the songs went directly onto my nighttime playlist, as I found “Change pt.2″ to be a little aggressive but an interesting interruption in the overall flow of the album. My favorite songs, aside from “ 들꽃놀이 (Wild Flower) (with youjeen)”, are “All Day (with Tablo)”, “Closer (with Paul Blanco, Mahalia)”, and “Hectic (with Colde)”. I feel deeply privileged to have been able to listen to something that RM crafted so carefully and purposefully to share with fans—and I don’t think Indigo will be leaving my ears or my heart anytime soon.
Indigo is so beautiful. It's such a vibe. I'm nearing the end of the record and I'm craving more. I love everything about this album, the features, the lyricism..