On April 1, K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together, shortened as TXT, came back with their 6th mini album, “minisode 3: TOMORROW.” This extended play topped 3rd on the Billboard 200 and even surpassed big names such as Beyonce and Taylor Swift on the Billboard Artist 100 for the week of April 20. The album contains seven tracks of all different genres, including Afrobeat, stadium rock, pop, and more. The intended audience leans toward teenagers and young adults, but the variety of genres makes it so that it can be for everyone. Since their debut in 2019, TXT has been producing beautiful and meaningful songs left and right, and this new album is not an exception.
TXT consists of five members, Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Huening Kai. They came up with the name Tomorrow X Together because the members are all different, but since they all have the same dream, they come together to create a better tomorrow, according to their website. They are under BigHit Music, which is the same company that K-pop band BTS, who have made global hits such as “Dynamite” and “Butter,” are under. Most of the songs on the album are produced by their main producer, Slow Rabbit, as well as the founder of BigHit Music, Bang Si-Hyuk, but many of the members themselves have written most of the songs. Throughout their career, their albums have had several concepts referencing famous story characters, such as Harry Potter with “The Dream Chapter: MAGIC” album and Peter Pan and Wendy with “The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION.” This time, they referenced The Little Prince, which is shown in their concept trailer for “minisode 3: TOMORROW.”
This album pretty much sums up all of their stories from their previous releases in the last five years. The first track, “I’ll See You There Tomorrow,” is a fun, upbeat, UK-style house genre song. The lyrics “there’ll be no more sorrow, I’ll see you there tomorrow” reference TXT’s relationship with their fans and how there is more beyond today to look forward to. The title of the second track is actually in Morse code, “- — — — .-. .-. — .–” which translates to “tomorrow.” It’s seven seconds long, and it’s basically an intro to the title track, “Deja Vu.” Just like the title, it gives a sense of deja vu to the people who have been fans of TXT for a long time. The start of their debut song, “CROWN” starts with Morse code as well, which gives the fans a taste of the past and how they have grown up together with TXT.
There are two versions of the title track “Deja Vu” – the original, which is a pop song with rage and emo rock elements, and an Anemoia remix. The word “anemoia” plays a big role in the song, as TXT sings, “The morse code amidst the ruins an old promise, promise / Not knowing the reason of my tears, my anemoia.” Anemoia is the feeling of nostalgia for a time or a place one has never known. These lyrics reveal how TXT yearns for the past and tries to bring back memories of their promises amongst the chaos of growing up along with becoming aware of the adult world. Adding to the meaningful lyrics, TXT uses their powerful voices to tell the story, which gives the audience a burst of emotion while listening to the song. Finally, the strong, angsty and melodic instrumentals give worldwide listeners a compelling sensation, even if they don’t understand Korean.
Overall, this album is definitely one of the best that they’ve released, and it’ll be hard to top. The amazing songwriting, as well as the powerful vocals, down to the impressive and difficult choreography in videos of the songs really wrap up this whole extended play. With all the diverse genres, from the calm Afrobeat song “The Killa,” to the strong stadium rock song “Quarter Life Crisis,” there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
