EXO’s 7th EP — Don’t Fight the Feeling — Album Review
With a playful air, EXO drops their summer love letter focused on a stress-free vibe.
EXO’s 7th EP, Don’t Fight the Feeling, dropped today after a 2-year hiatus from group releases, with the last one being Obsession. This long-awaited comeback from the 9-member powerhouse group from South Korea has fans quite excited, although 2 members (Suho and Chen) were unable to participate as they are currently completing their mandatory enlistment in the SK military. After seeing various photoshoots and teasers for each member, I am super excited to check this special album out! So, let’s get started:
Skip to a Track: Don’t Fight the Feeling, Paradise, No Matter, Runaway, Just as Usual
1. Don’t Fight the Feeling
Opening with a pounding rhythm, Don’t Fight the Feeling doesn’t waste any time in establishing a playful atmosphere that is then further emphasized in the chorus. Interestingly, this song feels like it moves very quickly through that initial first verse, flowing into the chorus before even a minute is really up.
However, then we move towards a tricky but expected rap break. Something that has become extremely commonplace, the trap breakdown before we get into the second chorus, is not novel. Still, at least EXO manages to make it feel well-placed. The beat gets a gradual release before drumming back up into an adlib-filled chorus (I see you reaching for the skies, Baekhyun and D.O.).
As an EXO listener from the beginning of their journey, I’m happy with this title track, if not extremely enthused. It’s safe and well-produced. Kenzie’s lyricism shines through as always. Additionally, the production is slick, which is to be expected with seasoned names like Damon Thomas behind the wheel.
Ultimately, DFTF is a good opening track, but let’s see if we can get some more flavor from the rest of the album, hmm?
2. Paradise
Retaining a slight space-inspired and open sound, Paradise is quite a different feeling from DFTF. Still light, Paradise is the summer fling moment that feels very early 2000s pop, and well, I’m not surprised. Written, produced, and arranged by the American-Canadian boy band called PrettyMuch, Paradise is SUCH a good summer vibe.
But back to the song. Baekhyun and Kai trade-off in the opening with high falsetto before Xiumin takes us into a dreamy space with his range as the percussion falls away completely. This helps establish the romantic nature of the song before D.O. brings us back down alongside the staccato percussion and electric bass line. Hearing Lay on the track was amazing (I missed his voice!), and I’m so glad he participated in the b-sides as well! With a sharp rap line from Chanyeol and Sehun’s more legato rapping with Yeol’s adlibs, EXO once again manages to intersperse the rap effectively into the song without taking away from the overall feeling.
This is the genius of Paradise — a continuous movement from the nebulous vocals to the groovy and grounding bass line, keeping us in our honeymoon-esque mindset. Playlist? Absolutely.
3. No Matter
Still spacey, but no build-up this time! We are going straight into the funk! No Matter really hooks you in with the easy chorus. Interestingly, I think this is probably the most classically “poppy” song I’ve heard coming from Andreas Oberg. It is almost entirely saved from being too repetitive purely because of EXO’s vocals and the various adlibs thrown in.
In this case, the rap breaks are really nice changes of pace that showcase Chanyeol and Sehun’s versatile style. Ultimately a safe play, No Matter is a light jam that might be good for a drive, but not my favorite track on this album for sure.
4. Runaway
Is this the first song that is actually opening immediately with a completely different vibe? Runaway has a slight echo on the percussion to help promote the space-styling of the album that is then expanded upon by the anthemic chorus.
That acoustic guitar on the pre-chorus creates the perfect percussion vacuum for the chorus to hit harder with the clear drumming. With the genius production from Rice n’ Peas trio Kevin White, Mike Woods, and Bazzi, Runaway has hands down the best bridge in this album. It is quickly becoming my favorite song thus far.
5. Just as Usual
We have our ballad! EXO has always excelled in their RnB-focused ballads, and here we have another one. While not the pure ballad style, Just as Usual feels like a Sunday brunch song, with no major shocks and focused more on the vocals.
I thoroughly enjoyed the addition of the electric guitar in the latter half of the song, along with the rappers and the build-up to the ending that drifted back down to an acoustic set. Nicely done!
Don’t Fight the Feeling is a good summer album. Frankly, it isn’t my favorite body of work that EXO has put out, and I think this album was safe compared to some of their other EPs. But, at the end of the day, I enjoyed it. These aren’t songs that surprised me or shocked me, but they are songs that I’ll want to listen to at random moments because they feel timeless.
To put it another way, this album was fun. Sometimes, you just want good music, not a display of your musicality, your knowledge of intricate chord placement, or an experimental melodic form, but just a good tune that you know you will walk out humming because it made you smile. Don’t Fight the Feeling does exactly that, so I’m going to put this album down as a definite success!
