A.C.E’s Changer : Dear Eris Isn’t Your Usual Repackage Album
After the official announcement, many of us expected a repackage album of A.C.E’s most recent mini-album SIREN:DAWN, but when the tracklist came out, it was an interesting surprise—more of a repackage of their career and relationship with fans. Changer : Dear Eris is likely the group’s last OT5 release for a while, as members will start enlisting to the military this month.
Tracklist:
INTRO : Revolutions
Changer (title track)
Black and Blue (Complete ver.)
Down (Kor ver.)
Talk you down
Jindo Arirang (Prequel)
CACTUS (Eng ver.)
CACTUS (Remix ver.)
Remember Us
Remember Us Inst. (Secret Voice Letter) (CD only)
Changer : Dear Eris feels like a reminder of sincere love, dedicated to Choice. It’s certainly not a final goodbye, but still feels a bit sentimental—discovering A.C.E and becoming a Choice was an important stepping stone for my K-Pop life, and I know I’m not alone in this, because their unique charms are definitely addictive.
Starting off the album a bit melancholically, “INTRO : Revolutions” brings us a beautiful instrumental track with electronic beats. This is followed by the title track “Changer,” a very typical A.C.E song with a bit more laid back atmosphere. Using less of their signature EDM sound, the track becomes more refreshing while still delivering their usual energetic beats, familiar synth sounds, and superb vocals. The lyrics are full of love and reminders that say “Love is not a danger.” It feels like a love letter between A.C.E and Choice, promising each other to stay together. The music video is also very hip, full of trendy editing and simple but cool transitions, and accompanied by tweets that look like messages from Choice—I’m not emotional, you are.
The third track on the album is a new version of a previous favorite. “Black and Blue (Complete ver.)” is originally a sub-unit song by Jun and Wow on their 2018 album A.C.E Adventures in Wonderland. For the complete version, Donghun, Kim Byeongkwan, and Chan also joined and showed their more hip-hop and R&B sounds. So cool! The throwback track is followed by the Korean version of the boys’ most recent collaboration project with GRAMMY-nominated American electronic music duo Grey. The Korean lyrics of “Down” will stick in your head just as easily as the original lyrics.
The next track is a brand new ballad, “Talk you down.” It’s a sentimental song full of love, accompanied by sweet guitar sounds in the background. This is followed by another wholesome song, “Jindo Arirang (Prequel),” a great mix between traditional Korean sounds and A.C.E’s signature music style. They originally released this song with a stunning performance video on March 1, Korea’s Independence Movement Day.
Now we are jumping back to the beginning. Changer : Dear Eris features two new versions of A.C.E’s debut song from 2017. The original “CACTUS” is iconic to this day, and “CACTUS (Eng ver.)” and “CACTUS (Remix ver.)” are just as fun and outstanding.
The last track on the repackage album is “Remember Us,” a solo song performed by Wow, who also participated in writing the lyrics. This touching ballad actually has a CD-only version as well, “Remember Us Inst. (Secret Voice Letter),” which will probably leave all of us very emotional as well.
We wish all the best for Wow and Donghun for their upcoming military service! In the meantime, we look forward to seeing Kim Byeongkwan on screen every week as the new MC of After School Club and to hearing what else is in store for Jun and Chan.