On March 19, 2026, BTS made their long-awaited comeback with their album “ARIRANG.” Even though the last time I cared about a BTS comeback was my freshman year of high school, I was very excited to see what they were going to come up with after serving in the military. Coming into it, I was hoping to hear more from the rapline, less autotune and impactful lyrics, even if that means the song is in Korean. After listening to their album, I have good news and bad news. The good news is we did get to hear from the rapline, and the band is certainly trying out a new aesthetic. The bad news is that the autotune is excessive. Let’s dive into this album.
One thing I loved about the album was its instrumentals. They were unique, especially compared with BTS’ past music. It was confirmed before the release that BTS was working with different notable producers, including Diplo, on “ARIRANG.” Listening to the album a couple of times, I found myself focusing more on the diversity of sounds than the lyrics.
“Body to Body” kicked off the album. I thought the song overall was okay, but my favorite part was the bridge, which featured the Korean folk song “Arirang.” “Arirang” is a song, which is incredibly influential to Korean history and culture, so it was cool seeing BTS use it in their album following their military service.
The rest of the first half included more hip-hop-oriented songs. I thought I would like these for this reason, but I was not the biggest fan. These songs not only had autotune issues but also had lyrics that didn’t really draw me in. They are not songs I would just listen to in my free time. For instance, the song “FYA” uses a lot of autotune and just feels like a club song. That might be your taste, but I know I would not be walking to class in the morning with that on.
The title track “SWIM” is definitely an earworm and was the perfect song to put in the middle of the album. After listening to the more rap-heavy songs that are reminiscent of BTS’ debut, “SWIM” brought me to their later eras. It was solely in English, and I would say it is far better than their other English releases, but that’s not saying much. The instrumental was eerie, and Suga and J-Hope’s verses gave me chills.
“One More Night” gave me a nostalgic summer night vibe. The vocalists and rappers both did a great job on this track without anything feeling out of place.
“Into the Sun” concluded the album, and this song made me feel conflicted. I love the instrumental so much, but the autotune in the chorus kills me. Like “One More Night,” the song was nostalgic and gave summer energy. The lyrics “I’ll follow you into the sun” just make me feel so excited for summer.
BTS did an interesting job combining different aesthetics and themes in this album. This is probably the reason why not every song was my cup of tea. “ARIRANG” is definitely an important album for BTS. BTS represented their Korean roots through allusions to Korean music and naming the album after the most popular Korean folksong. They also celebrated their past discography by including both hip-hop and pop on this album. The themes were perfect for this major comeback; however, I wonder if BTS will continue to consistently make music together after this album, as they established solo careers during their hiatus. The past solo projects showed how different their styles are. It will be interesting to see if BTS will continue to regularly make music as a band. If they do, I’d love for them to drop the autotune, but I doubt they’ll listen to me, so it is up to the BTS Army to speak up. All I can say is good luck!
