Album Review: Dreamcatcher Brings "JUSTICE" And Power In More Ways Than One With "VirtuouS"
Dreamcatcher's 10th Mini Album is comfort food for their fans, who can rest assured that the core of their rock identity isn't going anywhere.
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Last time around when I wrote an album review for 9th Mini Album "VillainS", I put forward the fact that expectations were subverted and that what we got was something still decidedly Dreamcatcher, but different in the way that drew in the concept and storyline while also evolving Dreamcatcher versatility and musical style.
The side effect of such an album was a large range of opinions about the work, and especially about title track "OOTD". Regardless of whether that opinion was negative or positive, all the discourse around it created a sense of curiosity about what the next album would bring us. How would Dreamcatcher close their duology "VersuS" storyline? Could we expect Dreamcatcher to lean more towards the pop portion of their rock/pop identity? What could tankzzo, one of the new prominent names on the producer credits, bring to a new album?
Sometimes, the answer is simple and straightforward - show your fans your strengths and do so powerfully as part of your milestone release. So it was that 10th Mini Album "VirtuouS" hit our ears on the 10th, the first of Dreamcatcher's releases past the "seven year curse". Here's some thoughts on what I thought about all the other tracks on the album, wrapping up with title track "JUSTICE".
Intro: 7' Dreamcatcher
In a recent trending world where K-Pop total playtime seems to be much shorter and individual songs rarely crest 3 minutes in order to optimize streaming numbers, having a 4 minute intro track might seem like a little crazy. But if Dreamcatcher has done anything during their seven-year tenure, it's in doing things differently than their peers in the industry. Still, even for them, an intro that was not a short bridge to the title track was an unusual decision.
Instrumentals for me carry a bit of limited value. At some point, I need words to go with the instrumental to increase the impact and meaning of a song. That said, there are exceptions to the rule, and that's when the instrumental has a lasting effect through its structure. That's what "7' Dreamcatcher" does for me - it starts out fairly standard but then evolves into a whole song with different movements and structure. Maybe it's because I've been playing a ton of FFXIV lately (for you gamers out there, look for a Dawntrail article from me in the very near future), but a long instrumental like this one gets a pass, especially when it's setting up the mood for the title track. If anything, it sets up the fact that what we're in for is very much not what the 9th Mini Album gave us with its focus on guitar, drums, and heavy sound mixing.
STΦMP!
This song (which I'm quickly going to regret having to mention by name due to the Greek Phi in it that requires I copy and paste it) was billed by Dreamcatcher as a track depicting a warrior/fighter "stomping forward aggressively". It's powerful, in your face, and is, certainly, a headbanger. Yet I don't know if it's my kind of track.
Usually the track immediately following the title song, as this one is, is quick to establish itself as a true "B-Side" in the sense that the genre was different. "STΦMP!" seems to be more of an augmentation to "JUSTICE", a reminder that this album is all about how powerful your message is. That may be great for album cohesiveness, but I feel it's a bit slow after the fast-paced inevitable aggression of the title track. I do admit to a bit of bias in that shouted lyrics in the chorus aren't quite it for me, especially after hearing what simple, yet epically powerful chorus lines can do in "JUSTICE". I do think, however, that despite me not quite vibing to this song, that it will be an absolute great song to play live in concert. Live stomping and shouting will probably create a great atmosphere and perhaps make me appreciate this song when I see Dreamcatcher live in November.
2 Rings
Ok, real simple - this track is my second favorite of the album. Why? Even though JiU described this as referencing the "two wheels of a motorcycle representing Dreamcatcher moving forward to achieve goals", the way it does it is satisfying on a few levels - and as a bonus, it is still squarely in the mostly-rock wheelhouse that pretty much the entire album occupies.
The deliberate pacing of this along with the swagger of the lyrics reminded me a lot of Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me". This classic rock track was used in a movie called Coyote Ugly in 2000, the concept of which was a small-town girl getting a job at a bar where the women who worked it had to have appropriate bartending skill and charm, and present a front as charismatic, talented workers, seeming available but never actually being so. Sound similar to a certain music industry in South Korea? It should.
Anyway, I was reminded of that video and that song when hearing both the track and seeing the showcase performance of "2 Rings". Yes, this is a song talking about Dreamcatcher pursuing their goals persistently, but they're doing so in their own way, with a slow-rock swagger and moves to match it. This song was them saying they were unapologetically who they are as musicians and performers, and I really like that confidence in your own self that bleeds right out into every bit of the song.
Fireflies
From the highlight medley, you might have been deceived into thinking that even despite this being a ballad it would be a bit standard, and in many respects it is. It hits the right emotional beats and is very much a slower-paced, calming song after the hard-charging music of the previous tracks. It even has a simple message of, according to Yoohyeon, lovers looking at fireflies in search of love.
Yet where I think this shines is in the lyrics and harmonies between the members. You have Siyeon and SuA pairing up, as well as Gahyeon and Handong, and everyone literally contributing to the chorus. Then JiU and Handong, Gahyeon and Dami, with Yoohyeon over the top - and that's just before the bridge. It's actually a really awesome way to make this truly a 7-member ballad, putting the members together like this and playing around with vocal combinations. Add that to Dreamcatcher's usual way of communicating the message in a way that it could be an analog for their relationship with their fans and you have a ballad that is very much not a standard one, and is a display of the evolution of their vocal ability over the years.
JUSTICE
Finally, we've arrived at the title track. One common thread I've seen, especially after Siyeon's comments on Fromm that this was completely opposite to "OOTD", is that "Dreamcatcher is back". I can't disagree with this sentiment more.
Guys, they never left.
They're just reminding you that in telling a story of heroes, the mirror opposite of villains, something different is needed, something more akin to what we're used to hearing from Dreamcatcher as they played benevolent spirits and planet protectors the last two story arcs. Being not only powerful warriors but those that endure and fight for what they believe in when doing so.
From a story and world-building perspective, the stark subversion of Dreamcatcher as "uncharacteristically" villainous and narcissistic in their pursuit of the crown in "OOTD" was necessary in order to show you that the message is to reject it entirely and literally destroy that which makes you selfish - to be just and fair and have strong conviction to do so to protect that conviction. Villains are superficial and care only about themselves and their outer appearance, while heroes build barriers, protect others, and understand that what's inside is what's real. In that respect, "JUSTICE" works.
But let's say you aren't concerned with the lore and you want to judge this track strictly "by the numbers", musically. That's fair, in which case I can say Dreamcatcher never left because evolving and experimenting with their rock/pop sound never meant they'd never go back to the well of what they are strong in. That strength is that aggression and in-your-face attitude you can only get from having rock as the core of your music, and being able to do so consistently well live - the thing many Dreamcatcher fans get drawn to. This wasn't a pivot or return - it was simply a reminder that at their core they are and always have been a rock-focused pop group.
Are the lyrics simple and the music almost as expected in terms of a classic alternative rock banger? Certainly. Do we have a chorus that relies almost entirely on it's vocalization to deliver it's power and memorable feeling? Of course. But strip away the safety net (for the most part) of a backing track and listen to it via 1thek's spatial audio DancEAR version above, and what you get is that solid live vocal performance that makes a simple and straightforward song a powerful one. If "OOTD" needed to have interesting pacing changes and non-traditional song structure to intrigue (or in some cases irritate) fans then "JUSTICE" only needs to have the heavy guitar/drum instrumental and the sharp boy group style choreography turned up to 11 on the difficulty scale to reassure fans that Dreamcatcher is still Dreamcatcher and this is very much within their wheelhouse.
And looking at it from a performance point of view, when all the elements come together, "JUSTICE" is not only within their wheelhouse but one which has challenged them significantly. SuA rated this an "8 of 5" on the difficulty scale, and you can see why, with having a choreography put together that is in time with the fast guitar beat, involves jumps and sudden movements, and which also requires that power vocal to be delivered by multiple members, sometimes while doing some of the dancing. The result is a comfort song genre-wise that is still challenging to perform and which is easy for audiences to get into. I've seen comments that the chorus, despite its simplicity in lyrics, be inspiring, a song that immediately goes on a workout playlist, one that people felt would motivate them to run through walls to achieve their goals through just sheer strength.
That hero's attitude is, I think the thing that ties most if not all of the tracks on "VirtuouS" together. There's a sense of power and will that is anchored by "JUSTICE" and is augmented by the other tracks (even "Fireflies", which has an emotional strength of its own). Subversion and trickery isn't needed for this album - it's a straight-up message of determination, and selfless determination at that, that kind of thing that rejects narcissism and pursuit of objects like the "crown" we've seen throughout this duology, and which is more true to Dreamcatcher's self. It's been hard for me to put the album down as a result, and I can see it having many more plays in my playlist for years to come.
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