#tldr: good album! highly reccomend! is a summer-soaked fun vibe and for people who don't care about chitter-chatter opinions!

[redpiperfox]

You know what Itzy's good at? Growth. You know what I absolutely adored? Itzy's new album. You know what I will never shut up about and be happy to waffle a whole tumblr post that's really only for my enjoyment? A freakin Itzy album, so without further ado--

An album listen-through of Kill My Doubt, an absolute gem of an album

Bet on Me

My first reactions are here but I think everyone agreed when this was dropped-- woah. This truly set the tone for the whole debut of the album, with a firm stance on who the album was for, and the confidence Itzy was bringing into the comeback.

The song itself does poetic and emotional, but unlike Trust Me (Midzy), does it from a soundscape that's uniquely and wholly Itzy. It's an emotional bop that you put on to push through the end of your workout/beginning of your cooldown. The video itself was a return to the metaphorical coding of the members that hit so close to the reality mark, I couldn't help but drawing parallels between their individual mv plots and their struggles as individual artists.

Bet on Me is a jog through the fog, it's running beside a train and beating it, and it's being on the edge of tears but turning your headphones up to walk away from the pain with your chin up.

Cake

I knew this would be a summer bop. I was prepared for a summer comeback. And I was prepared for it to be fun, but oh man!

It's Nayeon's Pop for this summer! It's a crackhead version of Stray Kids' S-Class! It's fresh and fun and bursting like a bag of starbursts, skipping down a pastel paved sidewalk, playful and teasing in a riddle that explodes in confidence!

Sononically, Cake achieves what Sneakers failed-- it fills it's soundscape completely, and does not leave it's verses to fend for themselves. Everything is fun and interesting and moves with the intention of keeping your attention and keeping you on your toes. Like Stray Kids, they defend the NMixx switch up in the second verse, and do it rather seamlessly.

Speaking of Stray Kids (and we'll be speaking of them a lot here, sorry not sorry in advance) the music video itself pulled some plot parallels-- lightning in the alley, headphones while a monster attacks, crackhead background plot while the foreground switches between a fun and dark colorscape, with the sassiness of hip hop running through. I hope and think it's intentional, as fourth gen and the generation bordering fifth gen further separate, and maybe as JYP as a company ride on the publically high opinion of SKZ and use that to bring all groups under their company who lack direction in this new corner of kpop that's being carved out, but maybe it isn't intentional, and even then (to me at least) that's pretty cool.

Now, I'm giving this more words because it's the title, and as a title, it speaks a lot for the albuma and direction of the group and I think it's important to notice: Cake is the end of a trilogy (more on this at the end). Sneakers to Cheshire to Cake has been a rediscovery of confidence, not just from their last trilogy, but within the three songs themselves. Just as they did in Wannabe, this song brings them to a peak of fun not giving a damn in that confidence arc.

And it's so fun and catchy! (Can confirm, will randomly start going CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE XP)

None of My Business

I have done /such/ an extensive dissection of this after my first listen, so I'll just leave that here if you want to enjoy.

This is such an easy listen, and there's a raw vocal edge to it, like they're simply monologuing and we get to listen in. It's the lazy feeling of being too tired from the heat to do anything, but happy that it's summer and there's nothing to do anyway but be tired and happy with it.

The video itself is a hazy dream-like flush, with an edge of tipping into womanhood and all the icky edges of it that will come (...along with that green lighting on the bridge, very kard icky XD). It's a stepping off the student sheltered tent and dipping your toes into adulthood, while still relishing every last minute of teenagehood. A hint of childishness that only hormonal teens could pull off in pettiness, all with a ribbon thrown in the air, carefreeness in a warm summer wind.

Bratty

Freaky from their Cheshire album steps into the ocean, with it's bubbling, easy-riding waves. It's bobbing on tubes, losing the beach in the horizon, playing games in a lost cove, sticking tongues and running away from adults that try to end summer, and being unapologetic in enjoying childhood.

This song feels somewhere between the Checkmate album, in revisiting their older fun, bouncing sound with a more developed and mature vocal sound. It's a good song to chill out to without falling asleep.

Psychic Lover

This is a playfully tricksy sort of love song, with the Itzy twist of fun on it. The verses have this enticing drawing in to some mature romance, only to build up to a chorus that's full western pop, of grabbing you by the wrist and pulling you down a kid's slide in bright saturated colors, like they know we both aren't ready for that regal, diamond-studded romance we thought we wanted.

A proper hats off to @the-sunshine-dragon for recognizing the intro and instrumental motif that's sampled is from the beginning Enya's Orinoco Flow possibly (slow it down a bit, to like x0.75ish, it's pretty cool~!)

This song has a quintessential kpop weight to it, with the full-bodied color of reality in the depth of the vocals that are balanced and tempered with fun.

Kill Shot

Mafia in the Morning grew up, joined covert ops, and comes for your throat.

Absolute hit, a complete sniper that rapid shoots itself to the wall. Vocals toy the edge of lazy cockiness and powerful skill, Joker painted in childishness with a finger on the trigger and the barrel to the temple. Their voices are woven into a flawless team, the cohesiveness of five unique talents that have learned each others' strengths and weakness into a well-oiled assassin crew that's good at what they do when you step back and let them do what they do.

The pairing of this song with the nursery rhyme gives it the perfect edge of insanity, a slight stumble in it's perfect edge that pairs a maturing group with it's roots. It's golden, and a powerful end to the album, almost a threat tapered into a taunt to dare and try come for their image again and see what happens.

Some final notes and ending remarks: there's nothing that sells an album more than a group itself absolutely having a blast and adoring the art of what they do, and this era has been topped to the brim of the members having fun. I don't know what Lia's blonde hair, but all the crackheaded, goofy girl we see in hidden corners of their content has come to center stage. Yuna is a full-fledged idol personality (which yall made in telling her she's doing such and such wrong, so I better not hear another comment on how she's acting). Chaeryeong is out promoting in all her charm, and RYeji continue to be their viral scene-stopping selves, everyone get off my lawn, I'm a grandma absolutely enjoying what they do and I won't hear anyone whining about people doing what they love when they do it in such a fun and positive way. (...Enjoy what you like, and if you don't like, find something else, don't tell them to change.)

Itzy has been releasing music in trilogies, alternating between a powerful self-image concept and a powerful love concept. Their third album of each trilogy has been the culmination of the concept from introduction to end, with It'z Me, Crazy in Love, and now Kill My Doubt holding the most amount of songs of the trilogy and the widest exploration of sound scape.

I am so excited to see where they go next, as we possibly return to the love trilogy and experiment with new sounds and themes. (As I write this-- Japanese release?! {straps in for some more hype music] Second half of the year is always Itzy season yall~!)