K-pop boy group TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT) sold 1.58 million copies of their 7th mini album, The Star Chapter: SANCTUARY during the first week of its release. This places the K-Pop boy group at the top of the weekly album chart according to Hanteo Chart. On day one of its release, the album sold a whopping 1.21 million copies earning “first-week million-seller” overall!
All five members of TXT took part in songwriting for the album. “Heaven,” the opening track, was written by Soobin, Yeonjun, and Taehyun. While the album uses a lot of R&B elements this song is mostly pop with its light and catchy instrumentals. MOAs (the name given to fans of TXT) like to describe the lyrics as “written in glitter gel pen.”
Their lead single, “Over The Moon,” is where the R&B aspects of the album really come to light. The instrumentals are reminiscent of early 2000s R&B, which the group admits they listened to a lot of for inspiration.
The group is known for their story-driven music videos, and cleared up some confusion is a Youtube video reacting to the music video. Member Beomgyu said that “There are a lot of MOAs who want to understand what the music video is about.” The general consensus is that they are getting ready for something, and Soobin further explained, “In an innocent boy’s head the destination of love is marriage, so [we are] going to a wedding.” Marriage ties into the more mature lyrics of this album compared to their earlier releases.
“Danger,” written by Yeonjun, Beomgyu, and Taehyun, is another song with clear influence from the early 2000s. The production sounds much more complex and the vocals, at times, dip into lower tones compared to the previous tracks.
Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Huening Kai took part in writing “Resist (Not Gonna Run Away).” It has more of a reggaeton vibe with the acoustic guitar, bongos, and maracas. The catchy falsetto matches the passion of the lyrics that show a strong willingness to hold on to love no matter what.
“Forty-One Winks” means to wake up and reunite with the person they love. It is a play on the phrase “40 winks” that is an idiom for a nap. The song also comes back to the R&B sound with a smooth rhythm and steady beat.
“Higher Than Heaven” also keeps a steady beat but the bouncy rhythm makes it fit better under the pop rock genre. Taehyun was able to contribute during the writing process of this song. It’s title and lyrics are clearly a call back to the opening track of the mini album. The repeated “you make it feel like heaven” at the start of the album is developed into “I’ll take you higher than heaven.”
With TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s newest mini album, they hope to invoke a feeling of nostalgia with a fresh R&B sound that listeners won’t get tired of anytime soon. Their popularity only grows with each release, and their future projects are certainly something to look forward to!
