#i talk way too much im sorry sdfs;dhfasdhfjh

[jongintricacies]

my humble DMUMT review

STRAP IN AND STRAP ON LADIES, DMUMT IS A FUN RIDE!

y’all can blame Natalie for this - not under a read more bc idk how to put one in on mobile sldfhasdhf RIP. I’ve only listened through the album once, so here are my first impressions:

OVERALL I love how cohesive this album’s sound is - it took a style we know Exo does well, and that we love, refined it, and gave us a delicious sample platter! One thing that I will give The War and Ex’Act over DMUMT though, is that those past albums were more experimental. Throughout DMUMT, I found myself wishing that the producers had let Exo push the envelope juuuuust a little more, to really get into that weird territory (think Shinee, but more industrial). I think SM is a little reluctant to let Exo get Weird™ because it IS a risk, but........they should just do it. WE’RE STILL HERE AFTER WOLF, AREN’T WE??

Tempo: okay, miss tempo is much more fun and light-hearted than we were lead to believe!! i guess you can say that......I CANT BELIEVE (im so sorry). But yes, Tempo is so so fun and I haven’t watched the live performance from the showcase yet, but it’s a perfect title song to show off Exo as well-rounded performers (rap line killed it, vocal line killed it, everyone is amazing). ALSO, that a capella breakdown????? that was “if I ever fall in love again” by shai vibes!!!!!! fricking fantastic my dudes

Sign: transformer’s demure, sexy sister! this is a note that’ll be repeated in literally every song review, but Jongin’s voice!!! is so beautiful!!!! I also really like him and Minseok singing together, I realized that I don’t hear it often, but you can parse out their voices in the chorus and it’s a nice blend! something that I’m constantly impressed with is how tight Exo keeps their harmonies, even with 9 people! (yes, I know that this album has 8 voices except for the chinese ver of Tempo sdhfsdh let me live)

Ooh La La La: smooth af!! very very catchy chorus, more tight harmonies, I love the addition of the acoustic guitar!!!!! I’m always a sucker for vocalizing on top of rap. and I will say it again: JONGIN’S VOICE!!!!!!!!!!!! The verse that he starts off has real 90s/early 2000s boyband vibes (but more 112 than backstreet boys, yknow?)

Gravity: I listened to this in my car on the way to lab, and I shit you not, within the first 8 count I yelled to myself: “OH SHE’S A FUNKY BITCH!” and indeed she is. I also think i caught that little video game-style riff from Power in the beginning? Nice my dude. At this point, Gravity is one of my top favorites - the retro 80′s-esque sound really does it for me. Rap line SNAPPED in this song, I really want them to promote this!! Oh another reason that I’m realizing I like it so much is that it reminds me of Infinite’s older bangers (Hysterie, Be Mine, etc etc) With You: Your standard mid-tempo song - if DMUMT were a video game, With You would be that pleasant town you come across that’s convenient for grinding, but also has a lot of fun little side-quests for you to complete before moving onto the main storyline. A very chill aside, weirdly reminds me of “Sex You” by Bando Jones???? I think it’s the deep bass beats lol

24/7: The chorus is VERY catchy, and I love the production on this one. I feel like this song wouldn’t have been out of place on Ex’Act. We’re still in side-quest town territory with this one, but it’s definitely more memorable than With You.

Bad Dream: Okay, so this is the sound that I’ve always wished El Dorado had based on the teaser audio! Mature, house-y, synthy goodness. And yes.......JONGIN’S VOICE!!! (I want to note that everyone sounds amazing in every song, but as a Jongin stan, I was pleasantly surprised to hear him so clearly!)

Damage: An ass-shaking anthem if I’ve ever heard one. Let Out The Beast who?? Do It Together who????????? I only know miss Damage and mister Kim Kai’s VOCAL RUN. Thanks king.

Smile On My Face: Okay I have an implicit negative bias against non-Shinee ballads, bc they usually don’t do it for me, but I actually like this song!! It’s nothing novel, but the harmonies are lovely and the production is minimal, so it’s a very pleasant listen.

Oasis: It’s so interesting to me that they put this last - it calls back to Going Crazy as The War’s closer, to have kind of a darker, more serious sound versus something uplifting or bop-y. I do love the sound of this one though, I think that it isn’t something that they’ve quite attempted before (it’s surprisingly very indie!) and they executed it well!

I haven’t looked up any lyric translations, or watched any of the live performances, but God DAMN Tempo and Ooh La La La better have amazing choreography to make up for the lack of Yixing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (i really do miss his voice in the mix TT TT )