Between being the mastermind behind the majority of DAY6’s moving lyrics and serving as one of the band’s stunning voices, it seems like a no-brainer that Young K would be suited for a solo debut. Following the news of his upcoming October enlistment, the DAY6 bassist announced his first official solo project, Eternal. Led by the title track “Guard You,” the release is a heartfelt reassurance that Young K’s bond to his fans is, well, eternal.

Things have been changing for My Days over the last few years, perhaps leaving many to wonder what lies on the horizon; in “Guard You,” Young K promises that fans have nothing to fear. The mid-tempo track has a heavy drum beat and a classic pop-rock sound, but it’s the lyrics that truly make the song shine. The singer has always been explicit about his appreciation for fans, but the declarations in this song (“It’s my all for you,” “I won’t ever let you cry”) take his sincerity to the next level.

Though much of the album, including “Guard You,” could be understood as an ode to romantic love, the music is never explicitly romantic in itself, and can therefore also be interpreted as Young K’s tribute to fans. In the past, Young K revealed that DAY6’s song “When you love someone” was inspired by the selfless love contained in the fan letters he received, and “Guard You,” along with the whole of Eternal, feels like a response to that sentiment. It’s this idea that sets the very personal tone to this release. 

The video for “Guard You” takes things in the literal sense, with the singer doing his best to survive an apocalyptic setting. Several meteors strike Earth, but he keeps performing even as the setting starts to crumble around him.  

“best song” starts the album off on a feel-good, poppy note. It sounds like a take off of some of DAY6’s self-proclaimed Western inspirations like The Script, but the clever song-inspired lyrics are surely something only Young K could write. “Guard You” is the second track on the album and picks up the pace, but the third track “not gonna love” kicks Eternal into high gear. With a pop-punk sound, the song is incredibly fast-paced and guitar-driven, allowing listeners to get a taste of Young K’s playful side.

Things begin to slow back down with “Microphone,” a cleverly-written track that features Dvwn. The song has a bluesy feel to it, which allows Young K to really lean into the vocals and gives the track a sultry sound that’s only made all the better with Dvwn’s verse and his slightly higher register. “Microphone” continues the musical metaphor found in “best song,” as Young K vows to be a microphone for the one he loves.

Upon the first note, “want to love you” is the kind of song that makes it feel like time has stopped. Set against a quiet piano, this is the first track on the album that lets Young K’s voice shine. Between heart-wrenching falsettos and some of the most emotive vocals thus far in the K-Pop industry this year, this is a track that only someone with Young K’s overwhelming caliber of talent could pull off. The bridge swells into something otherworldly, but ends on the same quiet note on which it starts. “come as you are” is another soft and reassuring track that puts Young K’s selflessness at the forefront of its message. Promising to be there at the end of every bad day, it’s probably not entirely coincidental that the song sounds vaguely similar to a wedding march.

If the rest of the album wasn’t already the most sentimental release of the year, “goodnight, dear” seals the deal. The song starts off acapella, building only to sparse instrumentation as it continues. Like many lullabies, the comforting song is a little sad, made even more so by a somber cello in the latter half of the track. Though it’s sure to pull anyone’s heartstrings, the song is a particularly moving one for fans, and one that is likely to be on repeat throughout the next two years as he serves in the military. Personally speaking, as someone who has been Young K-biased for years, this is a song I have trouble listening to, and I’ll admit it moved me to tears on the first, second, third, and even fourth listen. As the song fades once again into acapella with a final soft goodnight from Young K, I have to assume this song will make me cry for quite some time to come.

Young K has always delivered with DAY6 and also in his unofficial solo ventures, but Eternal is something different entirely. It goes without saying that the album is good, after all, this is Young K we’re talking about, but Eternal achieves a level of intimacy that’s rare in music, let alone K-Pop. This is fitting for an album titled Eternal—a nod to the singer’s birth name Younghyun, which sounds similar to the Korean word for eternal “영원” (pronounced youngwon). In press rounds for the album, Young K admitted he wanted the album to be a comfort to fans, but to label Eternal as a comfort seems limiting. Instead, it feels like having found the most loyal, never-wavering friend in musical form.