BTS captivated the interest of people worldwide, spoke at the UN, and won many awards. They dropped a long-awaited album, full of comforting, genius lyrics, their songs address self-love and mental health. Their songs bringing more attention to ideas that have been considered taboo for centuries. The playlist that has exceeded all my expectations, “Love Yourself: Answer”, BTS’s new album.

On August 24, 2018, this album was released. BTS had goals to encourage teens and their young adult audience to “love themselves”. The track list is full of hype songs you will have caught in your head for hours, and songs that made me cry. Kim Seokjin (Jin) released his first solo track “Epiphany”. The songs are mainly focused on finding yourself, and accepting yourself. As leader Kim Namjoon (RM) stated at the UN, “ We learned to love ourselves, so now I urge you to speak yourselves.” The storyline, featuring older albums was about not knowing who they are or battling with mental illness. Now, their songs are more positive, encouraging fans to learn that they are better than good enough.

A few songs stood out to me, one being “IDOL”. I watched the trailer thinking it would be more about Korean culture, but it wasn’t. The song was packed full of interesting beats, and combining lyrics about finding themselves and not caring about their “haters” “ You can’t stop me loving myself”, being the hook. The song has a pop background with hints of background vocals. Jungkook’s (Jung Jungkook) solo song “Euphoria” was incredible. The vocal skills were wonderful and soft his scale was fully showcased. I couldn’t believe the effortlessness of his voice as he killed every note. “Answer: Love Myself” is probably my favorite song on the album. The lyrics really resonate with the audience.“But I don’t want to die anymore, Me who used to be sad, Me, who used to be hurt.” The lyrics skip between the line of happy and sad. Mental illness plays a large role, the members struggle with self-love depression, and anxiety, they managed to use their problems to create a song to encourage others. It shows their “light at the end of the darkness” method of thinking.

A song that didn’t make it to my playlist was “Her”. The lyrics were okay, but not impressive. The song was not interesting, it sounded very common, and like any other pop song. The majority of the fanbase, actually really enjoyed the song, it wasn’t my favorite.

Love Yourself: Answer is the perfect album for a comfy day at home, working out, or dancing. It’s overall incredible, with meaningful lyrics that a majority of the population can relate to. A “Tear” slipped from my face when this album helped me realize that I was someone’s “Euphoria.”