REVIEW Album Review: ACE - "HJZM: The Butterfly Phantasy"

Polaris_Tae

🚀🚩 Social Media Lead Donor+
Joined
Jun 17, 2019
Posts
5,672
Reaction score
13,689
Points
71,920
Location
In jail bc of chomi 😈
Plus Coins
⨭667,759
ALBUM REVIEW: A.C.E– “HJZM - THE BUTTERFLY PHANTASY”
Written by: Polaris_Tae
ace.png

On the 2nd of October, we were finally blessed with what I think was one of the best K-pop comebacks of 2020 in the form of A.C.E's 4th mini-album, "HJZM - The Butterfly Phantasy" and its accompanying title track, "Favourite Boys" — or "Dokkaebi" in its literal title, Goblin. Through this release, the group has continued to prove just why traditional masculinity should be a thing of the past and we should be embracing A.C.E as gods among men. "HJZM — The Butterly Phantasy" takes inspiration from the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi and his concept of the "Butterfly Dream" — where the scholar dreams he is a butterfly with no knowledge of his human reality only to wake in his body not knowing which is the reality. Is he a man dreaming he is a butterfly? Or a butterfly dreaming that they're a man?



'Golden Goose'


The album opens with a bang as we are introduced to "Golden Goose". The song is less of a traditional intro and more of a full-fledged track. A reality in K-pop albums these days is that intros are so much more common than beginning an album rather than a full track. The two aspects that I enjoyed the most about "Golden Goose" were the traditional infused elements that gave us a taste of what was to come throughout the album and its title track, as well as the hook "Let's lay golden eggs // Roaring cheers // Overflowing dollar // Now take your share // Alert in my head // Ring, ring, it's ringing // Come on, split // Split the boat" which adds to its addictiveness and replay worthiness. "Golden Goose" is a hard-hitting track which introduces us to the fact that A.C.E is going to smash it out of the ballpark yet again with "HJZN — The Butterfly Phantasy" while also introducing some traditional sounding elements that are then blended with a deeper hip-hop sound that essentially acts as the perfect opening piece for an already amazing album.
7/10



'Favourite Boys'




This release was the song that made A.C.E my "Favourite Boys" of 2020. The song is an upbeat traditional-inspired release where A.C.E boast about their success. However, most of the traditional aspects within this track are largely drowned out of the instrumental due to the deep bass and percussion that rounds out the background music. One of my favourite inclusions in the instrumental is the use of the organ during the pre-chorus, which helps to add an orchestral feel to an already amazing song which creates an illusion that the members are, in fact, untouchable — just like the Dokkaebi they claim to be. "Favourite Boys", in my opinion, is a conceptual masterpiece in the way the group crafts the story of a "Dokkaebi" and creates a traditional Korean concept — which we have seen become a popular concept following BTS' traditional inspired 2019 release "Idol" — through the use of the "Butterfly Dream". This can be seen by each of the members' characters and what they represent. The album itself is a release that attempts to answer questions related to the theory of existentialism and the transcendence of time and space.

Each of the members represents a separate "Dokkaebi" — a mystical creature that is native to Korean folklore. This can be seen both through the lyrics of the song, "ttak nawara wara ttukttak" is a chant that can be found in the popular folktale
"The Ogre's Magic Bats" — or "도깨비방망이" — a story revolving around the story of a kind young man and his evil older brother as they attempt to steal a set of magic clubs from a group of Dokkaebi. The music video, just like the lyrics, displays a deeper meaning. Both related to the story of the "Dokkaebi" and the message of the song as a whole. The most important figure that we see represented in the music video is seen through Byeongkwan, who portrays the figure of The Man Under The Moon. The Man Under The Moon is a deity charged with the responsibility of tying the red string of fate — seen in the characters of Chan & Jun who are seen with the red & blue strings of fate — which is a common theme in Eastern storytelling and even a rite performed during marriages, as well as the deity in charge of fate and destiny in general.

Through this story, we see that A.C.E is telling us that we control our own fate. This is best seen through the concept of rolling the dice during the choreography. As rolling a die is a game of chance, they conclude that if fate doesn't give you a desirable outcome, all one needs to do is roll the dice until they're satisfied with the final outcome. "Favourite Boys", in its essence, is a fantastic song about boasting about all your successes in life while the music video tells us just how to accomplish our goals to have the ability to boast about them in the first place.

9.8/10


1597833353-20200819-ace.jpg



'Baby Tonight'


"Baby Tonight" is a slower EDM-RnB tempo release and is the first track on the album that diverts from the established traditional inspired sound that can be seen on the albums' previous tracks, "Golden Goose" & "Favourite Boys". "Baby Tonight", rather establishes to take the second half of the album to a more modern sound with less of an influence of the traditional aspect of the groups' concept for "HJZM - The Butterfly Phantasy". This can work in one of two ways. Either it creates a welcome diversion from the monotony of the album by introducing a brand new established sound, or it can be vastly different from the sound that it diverts from the entire tone and meaning of the album. Thankfully, "Baby Tonight" establishes the former, establishing a welcome interlude that breaks up the album into two distinct halves: a traditional inspired first half consisting of "Golden Goose" & "Favourite Boys"; along with a pop-infused second half with the inclusion of "Stand By You" & "Clover".

I felt that one of the few issues that
brought this song down slightly; was the message of the song. As "Baby Tonight" goes in an extremely different direction compared to most other songs on "HJZM - The Butterfly Phantasy", the song does not continue the conceptual theme that has been established in essentially all other tracks on this release but instead is the black sheep of the album. It detracts from this to present a sexual song that tells the story of being incapacitated by your feelings towards another person and that you become so hypnotized that you forget all meaning to life; "My burning heart is the red sun in the desert // As if someone is moving me // I feel like I’m hypnotized... Ooh ah // Forgetting that I am me". Regardless of my previous criticisms, I feel that, despite these flaws, "Baby Tonight" is a fantastic release and one of the hidden gems on "HJZM — The Butterfly Phantasy" that will likely remain on my heavy rotations for months to come.
7/10



'Stand By You'


"Stand By You" is an inspirational song that was released in an effort to communicate with their fans — known as "CHOICE" — and give them an uplifting message during these difficult times when everyone is unsure of what the future holds for them. This is especially relevant during a time when the Covid-19 pandemic & natural disasters are commonplace in society. Both this single, along with "Clover", were written by the groups' leader, Jun. It acts as an effort to further continue the albums' trend of challenging adversity and shows that they stand by those in trouble as they promise to stay by your side. The group tells us that even if they aren't there to physically stand by us — as seen in its accompanying music video — they will stand by us through the best and the worst of times, supporting us in any way possible. This song in particular, heavily relies on the vocal prowess of the members, while the instrumental further aims to act as the perfect accompaniment to this.
8/10


Ef8RWR3U4AImvDQ.jpg



'Clover'


The album comes to a close with its final song, "Clover", which is likely the most pop-sounding song on this release. This song, similar to "Stand By You", is an uplifting and hopeful song that is, in my opinion, just a few steps away from becoming a soft ballad. "Clover", just like "Stand By You", reassures us that everything will be alright as long as they are around to pick you up when you fall and wish our worries away. When it comes to outros, I think "Clover" perfectly sends off this album by topping it off with a soft-pop release with a message that almost anyone could relate to. As everyone has times where they feel like they can't get up to face the day. "Clover" is the perfect song that will give you the strength and inspiration to put your first foot forward and face the world with a smile on your face!
9.5/10

ace-chan-jun-HJZM-The-Butterfly-Phantasy-underwater-hanbok-concept2.jpg


In conclusion, "HJZM — The Butterly Phantasy" is a stunning release that left me gobsmacked at just what I was missing out on by not discovering the group sooner! The album left me impressed and greatly showed just how an artist can use an interlude to establish greatly diverging genres in a single album, without detracting from the overall cohesion of the release. Overall, I loved this release, and with the stand-out tracks such as "Favourite Boys" & "Clover" and I just can't wait to see what A.C.E shows us next!

__________________________________________________

Artistic Creativity: 8.5/10
Vocal Quality: 10/10
Music: 8.2/10


8.9/10
__________________________________________________



PROOFREAD BY: @heidzee!
GRAPHICS BY: @yerm
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom