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[h98fm]

The Name Chapter: Freefall Review

  Growing Pain In a song that would sonically fit well on a rock album from the late 90s and early 00s, the five members of Tomorrow X together flex their vocal talents that are artistically unseen in the K-pop scene. Kai’s expressive and powerful vocals kick off the heavy rock concept as if he’s been a rock vocalist his entire life. Yeonjun’s R&B flair to his vocals adds a unique juxtaposition to the heavy rock concept that adds to the TXT-ish sound. Soobin’s siren call of a falsetto highlights the lower ranges of the member’s vocals perfectly as if it’s the member’s internal monologue. Beomgyu’s velvety baritone takes center stage building the journey up as if he was born to be a rock vocalist. The team's resident adlib machine Taehyun slides the song into the higher registers seamlessly up the hill to prepare for freefall. It is a step forward for what K-pop could be. Lyrically this song is the perfect first track for an album about choosing growth over being comfortable. In the TXT-ish sound, the dramatic elements of the lyrics pull the song into a full reality of the growing pains of life. From the standpoint of a 20-something Gen Zer who grew up with rock, I’m thoroughly impressed with the amount of attention to detail this song has to the genre. With Yeonjun, Taehyun, and Kai participating in the track’s writing and production, there is a sense that the group members’ training emphasized a dedication to the study of music as a fan first. This gains that authenticity you can hear in their music. 

[h98fm]

The Name Chapter: Freefall Review

 Chasing That Feeling When a group bills their song as New Wave, fans of the genre usually expect a more modern take on the genre, like The Weekend. In Tomorrow x Together fashion, they delivered a New Wave track that exemplifies the different components of the genre while maintaining a freshness only they could deliver. It’s no small feat within the music world today. Coupling the title track with elements of the new style of voguing fits together seamlessly. The space the producers added within the track to highlight the vocals of the five-piece group maintains authenticity while adding the freshness of their modern vocals. As an avid fan of the New Wave genre, this song sits amongst its peers perfectly. The Korean version and the English version could be stand-alone tracks. The English version of Korean songs usually doesn’t hit the same but I find myself wanting to seek out the English version more than the Korean version. The lyricists added the dearness of a txt song building the storyline of the entire album out with the highlight on what comes after the fall from such a great height. 

[h98fm]

The Name Chapter: Freefall

Back For More The song is amplified by how passionate the members are when performing it. The amount of music history knowledge needed to understand that having a Michael Jackson-inspired K-pop hit debuting on the MTV stage is immense. This track is very catchy and showcases the immense talent of the group’s vocals and their intensely impressive dance abilities. No for real, watch their performance of this at the VMAs. There is a certain star power they gain access to when performing this song.

[h98fm]

The Name Chapter: Freefall

 Dreamer

The fourth track is a sentimental and almost mournful track with all five members participating. The idea of finding their name is the key theme of this chapter in their discography, finding it through the R&B style is a very smart decision. This is a genre that TXT does incredibly well and choosing to tell the story of them finding their name through a genre that best suits their vocals is the perfect medium. Coming off of the disco Back For More, as they ‘break it down’ into the guts of the album, the listener can get a sense of their sincerity and pain. With callbacks to previous tracks the members have participated in, the lyrics take us through the valley of their contemplation. Finding your own name separate from who people perceive you to be is a long and lonely road. Facing the reality of the apathy of growing up and delaying your own growth is uncomfortable. Keeping with txt's lore, they call out to the stars to guide them through the mess that is their early 20s. 

As a fan, I like to think the memories of the stars they’re talking about are their memories of concerts with moas and their moabongs. They really look like stars

[h98fm]

The Name Chapter:Freefall

Skipping Stones HANRORO meets Nirvana.

This track has been almost unanimously a favorite among the Tomorrow X Together members. Their vocal talents are on full display with a sound we’ve never heard from them. The all Korean lyrics and the complete surrender into the genre and overall vibe make it the punkest song on the album. The optimistic nihilism that colors A Tomorrow X Together song is amplified by HANRORO’s contribution to the track

[h98fm]

The Name Chapter: Freefall Review

 Deep Down HOT TUBE GIRL ANTHEM My heart breaks a little for the trend dying before this song came out. The virality potential is there. It's an electronic soundscape that is designed to pull you with the repetitive and infectious “more, more more,”. This song is one I could hear in the same realm as PinkPanthress

[h98fm]

The Name Chapter:Freefall

Skipping Stones HANRORO meets Nirvana.

This track has been almost unanimously a favorite among the Tomorrow X Together members. Their vocal talents are on full display with a sound we’ve never heard from them. The all Korean lyrics and the complete surrender into the genre and overall vibe make it the punkest song on the album. The optimistic nihilism that colors A Tomorrow X Together song is amplified by HANRORO’s contribution to the track

[h98fm]

The Name Chapter: Freefall Review

 Deep Down HOT TUBE GIRL ANTHEM My heart breaks a little for the trend dying before this song came out. The virality potential is there. It's an electronic soundscape that is designed to pull you with the repetitive and infectious “more, more more,”. This song is one I could hear in the same realm as PinkPanthress

[h98fm]

The Name Chapter: Freefall

 Dreamer

The fourth track is a sentimental and almost mournful track with all five members participating. The idea of finding their name is the key theme of this chapter in their discography, finding it through the R&B style is a very smart decision. This is a genre that TXT does incredibly well and choosing to tell the story of them finding their name through a genre that best suits their vocals is the perfect medium. Coming off of the disco Back For More, as they ‘break it down’ into the guts of the album, the listener can get a sense of their sincerity and pain. With callbacks to previous tracks the members have participated in, the lyrics take us through the valley of their contemplation. Finding your own name separate from who people perceive you to be is a long and lonely road. Facing the reality of the apathy of growing up and delaying your own growth is uncomfortable. Keeping with txt's lore, they call out to the stars to guide them through the mess that is their early 20s. 

As a fan, I like to think the memories of the stars they’re talking about are their memories of concerts with moas and their moabongs. They really look like stars

[h98fm]

Introduction: who is behind H.98FM

Hello! Welcome to a landing page for my thoughts on different albums, songs, genres, and pop culture. Throughout this blog, you will see posts dedicated to many different genres, including K-pop. It is a genre I pay a lot of attention to. Who am I? My name is Hannah, the H in H.98FM I was born in 1998, the .98 Why a radio frequency? I have listened to the radio for my musical discoveries since I was young. As that is being phased out, I still enjoy the coding system to describe my personal musical review on the internet. Welcome! I hope you stick around with me as I grow!

[h98fm]

The Name Chapter: Freefall

Back For More The song is amplified by how passionate the members are when performing it. The amount of music history knowledge needed to understand that having a Michael Jackson-inspired K-pop hit debuting on the MTV stage is immense. This track is very catchy and showcases the immense talent of the group’s vocals and their intensely impressive dance abilities. No for real, watch their performance of this at the VMAs. There is a certain star power they gain access to when performing this song.

[h98fm]

The Name Chapter: Freefall Review

  Growing Pain In a song that would sonically fit well on a rock album from the late 90s and early 00s, the five members of Tomorrow X together flex their vocal talents that are artistically unseen in the K-pop scene. Kai’s expressive and powerful vocals kick off the heavy rock concept as if he’s been a rock vocalist his entire life. Yeonjun’s R&B flair to his vocals adds a unique juxtaposition to the heavy rock concept that adds to the TXT-ish sound. Soobin’s siren call of a falsetto highlights the lower ranges of the member’s vocals perfectly as if it’s the member’s internal monologue. Beomgyu’s velvety baritone takes center stage building the journey up as if he was born to be a rock vocalist. The team's resident adlib machine Taehyun slides the song into the higher registers seamlessly up the hill to prepare for freefall. It is a step forward for what K-pop could be. Lyrically this song is the perfect first track for an album about choosing growth over being comfortable. In the TXT-ish sound, the dramatic elements of the lyrics pull the song into a full reality of the growing pains of life. From the standpoint of a 20-something Gen Zer who grew up with rock, I’m thoroughly impressed with the amount of attention to detail this song has to the genre. With Yeonjun, Taehyun, and Kai participating in the track’s writing and production, there is a sense that the group members’ training emphasized a dedication to the study of music as a fan first. This gains that authenticity you can hear in their music. 

[h98fm]

The Name Chapter: Freefall Review

 Chasing That Feeling When a group bills their song as New Wave, fans of the genre usually expect a more modern take on the genre, like The Weekend. In Tomorrow x Together fashion, they delivered a New Wave track that exemplifies the different components of the genre while maintaining a freshness only they could deliver. It’s no small feat within the music world today. Coupling the title track with elements of the new style of voguing fits together seamlessly. The space the producers added within the track to highlight the vocals of the five-piece group maintains authenticity while adding the freshness of their modern vocals. As an avid fan of the New Wave genre, this song sits amongst its peers perfectly. The Korean version and the English version could be stand-alone tracks. The English version of Korean songs usually doesn’t hit the same but I find myself wanting to seek out the English version more than the Korean version. The lyricists added the dearness of a txt song building the storyline of the entire album out with the highlight on what comes after the fall from such a great height.