TXT Allude to Something Darker with the Release of The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE
TXT (Tomorrow x Together) finally returns after seven months with their second studio album, The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE. The members of TXT have said over and over again that this album would be legendary, and boy were they right.
Let’s Talk Music!
Tracklist:
Anti-Romantic
0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) feat. Seori ♔
Magic
소악행 (Ice Cream)
밸런스 게임 (What if I had been that PUMA)
No Rules
디어 스푸트니크 (Dear Sputnik)
Frost
“0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)”
The title track to The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE is a grand departure from the sound we heard in “Blue Hour” seven months ago. “0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)” is a rock track that would be perfect in a concert setting, and it’s the first collaboration track that the group has released featuring vocals from both Mod Sun and Seori. The song also credits BTS’s RM as one of the many lyricists. The track starts off with a slow crescendo before quickly breaking into the classic heavy drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, kick and snare, and hard hits typical of a rock track like this. It also has various battery sounds, and at the bridge, it introduces a light synth and quick audible hi-hats before the desperate lyric, “Girl I need you!”
The drum buildup to the chorus is one of the highlights of the track, and the drum round off at the last chorus is so satisfying to listen to in addition to the arena style vocal ad-libs from Mod Sun and effects like reverb and harmonization with the main vocals. The combination of it all is duly powerful and dreamy. It gives a great contrast to the rest of the song. On the topic of harmonization, the harmonies with Seori were on point at the chorus parts when Beomgyu, Yeonjun, and Soobin sing; they sounded so wistful and airy.
Lastly, the vocals from the members in this song are off the charts! It’s evident that they really worked on their tone and the ability to pull off that vocal distortion and grittiness needed to convey the emotions of the lyrics. This track clearly shows the growth and maturity in image, sound, and quality that TXT worked hard to bring to the forefront with this album, the start of their chaos chapter. They really showed up and showed out; it’s amazing from start to finish.
B-Sides
“Anti-Romantic” is a lovely R&B ballad that starts off the album on a particularly calm note. The backing instrumentation features many different aspects, but most notable are the synth keyboard with an underlying piano, string hits in various octaves, bass, snaps, and mallets. They also include drums at the post-choruses when the members sing “lalalala,” synth violins, and an almost atmospheric effect toward the end. The vocal work by the members is fantastic here, and it’s emphasized by the strategically placed harmonies and ad-libs. It’s a beautiful song that one can listen to for almost any mood; it’s just really chill and an overall great choice for this album.
“Magic” is the only all English song on the album, and if this track seems somewhat nostalgic to you, it may be because Olly Murs had a hand in the creation of it. This track is a classic pop track that brings out TXT’s fun and playful vibe, something that they’ve been showcasing since their debut in 2019. Synths and harmonies play a huge part in this track, and they’re the two most noticeable aspects of it, since everything else seems so simple and less complex compared to other songs on the album. A strong point to this song beside the fact that it’s a gift to MOA is that it’s also perfect for radioplay, not only because it’s in English, but also because it’s catchy and the feeling is fitting for the summer season!
“소악행 (Ice Cream)” is an interesting addition to the album in many ways. It’s in the same pop realm as “Magic,” but in terms of sound alone, it just seems like it doesn’t fit the complete overall aesthetic that this album was going for. In the previous song, there was clearly a marketing purpose behind it being added—most likely it’s going to be pushed toward international audiences and potential radioplay, but “소악행 (Ice Cream)” doesn’t fit any of that criteria, beside the chorus being extremely catchy to sing. Notably, Stella Jang, the singer-songwriter behind the “Colors” TikTok trend that was popular in 2020, had a hand in writing the lyrics as well as member Soobin. In terms of the lyrics, there is a darker underlying message that seems to go hand in hand with their lore and former concepts, which just goes to show that everything is done for a specific reason and has had clear thought behind it.
“밸런스 게임 (What if I had been that PUMA)” is an R&B track with slight interlacing pop vibes. It’s directly related to “PUMA,” a track from The Dream Chapter: ETERNITY, and Yeonjun, Taehyun, and Beomgyu helped with the lyrics for this track. It’s so nice to see the members’ part in the creative process increasing with each album. The instrumentation consists of synth, piano, bass, funky electric guitar that comes in from the second verse, claps, hi-hats, hits with reverb in the bridge, and many record scratch effects for an interesting switch up. There is a lot of autotune on the vocals, but the harmonies and cool hip-hop style vocalizations and ad-libs are enough to distract from that aspect if that happens to be something a listener isn’t too fond of. Even with the heavy amount of autotune, the song is still entertaining and very enjoyable to listen to, which is good because it shows that it doesn’t take much away and was clearly a choice made specifically for stylistic purposes.
“No Rules” is a classic pop track with a hint of funk. It has a lot of interesting things that make up the full rounded-out beat, such as the use of a vocoder, claps, drum hits, bass, electric guitar, many different synth arpeggios, and crescendos. The song also has brass instruments, which give it a slight jazz feel, and spliced sample vocals that go very well with the vocoder. The ad-libs throughout the song surprisingly have different vibes due to the fact that some have effects, some are group ad-libs, and some are high notes that are so nicely done and work well with the harmonies. “No Rules” is directly related to “New Rules,” a track from their first studio album The Dream Chapter: MAGIC, and Beomgyu, Yeonjun, Taehyun, and Huening Kai are all credited as lyricists for this track.
“디어 스푸트니크 (Dear Sputnik)” was written and produced by Huening Kai and El Capitxn, with Taehyun being credited for lyrics as well. This track is a pop rock mix that is 100% Huening Kai’s style of music. Although it’s a new sound for them in general—along with the title track—they pull it off so well. The instrumental is mainly electric guitar, drums, and bass, but it has many synth add-ins like different arpeggios and a piano at the bridge. The vocals are heavily distorted in some parts of the track along with some of the ad-libs. As usual, they had great use of ad-lib placement, harmonies, and selective reverb, but the highlights of this song are definitely the electric guitar and Taehyun’s vocals, more specifically, the high notes toward the end of the song.
It’s a known fact that “Frost” was co-written by Ashnikko and as soon as this track plays, listeners will automatically be able to tell because a bit of her signature sound is intertwined into it. Overall, the beat consists of distorted electric guitar, bass, winddowns, bell arpeggios, claps/hits, kicks, synth crescendos, with a few more various sounds added in. The most interesting aspect of the song is done with the vocals of the members—the purposeful grittiness, overlays, and harmonies are integral parts of this track, but it also has various vocal effects like distortion, some autotuned backing vocals to create a synthetic feel, and vocal splices for the ad-libs with possible reverb thrown onto them. This track is so aggressive in a good way, and it really fits the image that the group is pushing for this particular album.