If anyone in K-Pop has perfected the art of storytelling through their album, it’s soloist WOODZ. On May 4, the singer-songwriter made a comeback with his fourth mini-album COLORFUL TRAUMA, featuring five self-written tracks.

In his previous album ONLY LOVERS LEFT, which was released back in October 2021, WOODZ expressed the stages of love with the six tracks purposefully organized, progressing from the heart-fluttering beginnings to the heartbreaking endings. Coming off of a cohesively strong album, featuring a mixture of music genres to showcase sentimental feelings, COLORFUL TRAUMA sees the soloist break into his rebellious side with tracks that are heavily rock and pop-punk-influenced. As expected, the singer-songwriter did not disappoint once again, with another album that is strong both conceptually and musically.

The cover artwork for COLORFUL TRAUMA bears resemblance to the cover of rock band Green Day’s album ¡UNO! at first glance with its green-pink color palette. The cover spotlights WOODZ in smokey eye makeup and Hayley Williams-esque orange highlights, with his bandaged hand alluding to the direct interpretation of “trauma,” a central theme for the album and a word also included in the album title.

At his comeback showcase, WOODZ shared that the words “color” and “trauma” have different meanings, and they don’t go well together, but he thought of combining them and saw the phrase as a positive connotation. 

The album starts off strong with two heavy rock tracks, “Dirt on my leather” and “HIJACK.” WOODZ’s gritty and strong vocals match the equally aggressive guitar riffs, which makes for an exciting listening experience. The singer previously gave a tease of this inner rocker in the track “Chaser” from ONLY LOVERS LEFT. The aggressiveness of the two songs and the line, “Aren’t you tired of same old,” in “HIJACK” suggest how trauma is something that needs to be gotten rid of.

The colorful and rebellious title track “I hate you” is accompanied by a nostalgic music video that features punk hairstyles and eccentric props. The pop-punk track alludes to the idea of an individual being able to move on from the trauma by confronting how it has no place in their life. WOODZ ends the mini-album on a more mellow and emotional note with tracks “Better and better” and “Hope to be like you.” The two tracks imply the final stage in the progression, which is moving on.

With a perfect mix of hyper, headbanging songs paired with slower-tempo ones, WOODZ’s ability to show versatility in his style and genres, while still guaranteeing quality, proves he’s one of the best acts that the music industry has to offer.

Watch the music video for “I hate you” below and check out the full album, best enjoyed in chronological song order, on Spotify!

Edited by Omani