Imagine suddenly listening to a seven-second song filled with just morse code. That’s how unique the songs in TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s “minisode 3: TOMORROW” mini album really are. Each song has different tunes, melodies and meanings, which helps to achieve a different and diverse feeling for listeners. Many listeners have praised and admired such a unique album from the boy group.
“TOMORROW X TOGETHER” is a five-member Korean boy group who debuted in 2019 under Big Hit Entertainment. The boy group explores different music concepts in each of their comebacks, with most of their title tracks, which are songs heavily promoted by their company, performing well on music charts. TOMORROW X TOGETHER also has a lore that was present in most of their albums, extending all the way from their debut album “The Dream Chapter: STAR” to the group’s previous album “The Name Chapter: Freefall.” Their lore, which is about staying as adolescents, has a big influence on all of their songs, since each title track has to explain the desire to live and stay young in different situations. However, since the lore has theoretically ended with the members accepting reality and staying in adulthood, their recent album “minisode 3: TOMORROW,” released on April 1, 2024, had to take a different approach to start a new stage in the group’s storyline.
“Deja Vu” is the title track of the album, with an energetic, emo-style approach but an interestingly mysterious, sad feeling. After the first and second choruses, which sound vibrant but melancholic at the same time due to the intense melodies but despairing lyrics, there are siren sounds that suddenly and unexpectedly change the mood and melody for a few seconds, adding to the mysteriousness and uniqueness of the song. The lines ‘폐허 속의 morse code/오랜 promise, promise/이유를 모르던 나의 눈물 내 anemoia,’ which translates to ‘The morse code amidst the ruins/An old promise, promise/Not knowing the reason of my tears, my anemoia,’ describes how the members are facing anemoia, nostalgia that they never knew. This ‘anemoia’ makes the members realize that they made a promise during young adulthood but suddenly forgot it and the ‘morse code’ represents their early stages of youth. These sad but meaningful lyrics, along with the energetic but sobersided feel, help to create a unique song for listeners that contrasts TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s typical type of song theme.
“I’ll See You There Tomorrow” has a different approach to the album, being energetic, catchy and following a house genre. The song is aimed towards TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s fandom, called “MOAs.” The three-minute track describes how the members would love to meet their fans without any fear, hence the repeated lyrics ‘There’ll be no more sorrow, I’ll see you there tomorrow.’ The song is a huge contrast from “Deja Vu” because the song follows the genre of house music, with a flow of happy and positive lyrics throughout the song. “I’ll See You There Tomorrow” stands out from the rest of the album’s soundtrack because it is the only upbeat and energetic song in the mini album.
The most unique and distinctive song in the mini album is “- — — — .-. .-. — .–,” being only seven seconds long. During the seven seconds, only morse code can be heard. This short audio may cause confusion to listeners as it doesn’t seem to belong in the album at all. However, the sounds have a hidden meaning. This morse code is the same code found in the boy group’s debut song, “Crown.” The short track intentionally brings nostalgia to the group’s beginning, making listeners remember of the boy group’s past.
“Miracle” follows a similar approach to the title track of the album, having a sad, ominous tone. The song starts off energetic but sad lyrics immediately follow. The song has a rock-genre tune like “Deja Vu,” and the structure of this track is extremely similar to the aforementioned song. Both “Deja Vu” and “Miracle” share many similarities, ranging from the overall tone to the arrangement of the instruments and the members’ lyrics.
“The Killa (I Belong to You)” is the song that creates diversity in the boy group’s new album. Out of the five members in the group, only two actually sang in this unique track. Different from the other songs in the album, this song falls in the Afrobeats genre, due to the repetitive drums, guitar and claves in the song’s instrumental, making listeners enjoy this distinct and melodious track. The same instrumentation plays throughout most of the song. This unique approach stands out from songs from other Korean groups because it follows a type of genre that not many bands tend to incorporate in their songs.
“Quarter Life” is quite similar to “Deja Vu” and “Miracle,” integrating a more energetic feeling with a sad tone. The instrumental of the song gets more intense as the song progresses to the two choruses. The structure of this is similar to the two prior songs stated. The first chorus feels brief and short but the second chorus seems too long and repetitive. Although the song is under three minutes like the two other songs, the song feels quite short for what it should be.
“Deja Vu (Anemoia Remix)” is the last song of the album and, like the title suggests, is simply a remix of the mini album’s title track. The song just takes the lyrics of “Deja Vu” and adds it into a different tune and melody. The track adds a more exaggerated rock instrumental than the instrumental of the original song The song even feels sadder than the original song. This remix adds more suspense to the members’ reminiscence of their past due to the exaggerated tune and despondent, sad feeling.
TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s new mini album “minisode 3: TOMORROW” is mixed with a diversity of different tunes, melodies, meanings and feelings. The album starts off a new lore for the boy group and with these unique songs, that lore may be fascinating and engrossing to many listeners in the future. Some songs may provide a sorrowful and melancholic feeling, while others may either be cheerful or simply just have random sounds. Whatever the songs sound or feel like, though, TOMORROW X TOGETHER accomplishes another incredible mini album with every song being worth it to listen to.