DAY6 Book of Us: Demon Review
DAY6’s new album, The Book of Us: Demon came out a couple of weeks ago, and since I’ve had some time to sit and listen to it (a lot) I wanted to do a review of the album. I know that by doing a review of a group I consider one of my top groups is not something I can necessarily do truly unbiased, I still wanted to mention some of the aspects of the album that I really liked and talk a little bit more about my feelings of the album on a whole.
DAY6 really never disappoints with their albums for me. There can be songs I gravitate to more than others, but even when I was just a casual listener they always were intriguing enough to want to listen to all the songs. Book of Us: Zombie really is no different. Except for the timing of this album.
Given where we are and where are mental state is with everything, the album has a deeper meaning than it would have had it been released at, say, the beginning of the year. It also comes at a time when members are also struggling, and have publicly canceled comeback activities. It’s hard not to let those two events influence and impact your reaction to this album once you know everything. Music for me has such a deep connection to my emotional state and tied with how I can handle the world and what’s going on. This album connects with that now and it is exactly what was needed. It mirrors the emotions we are all going through and in the future it will mirror others. Right now I needed good music, and this album is it for me.
On to the songs.
Day or Night
The opening of this one is so much fun, and such a great way to open the album. Bouncy and bubbly with a super addictive chorus on the outside, but when you read the lyrics it’s a whole different story. Dowoon also has a part in this, which I always welcome. He’s been working on his voice for a while, and I loooooove that he has such a deep voice. In a sea of tenors, he’s there and I think he’s doing a great job and when he starts to feel more comfortable he’ll be such an asset to the vocal line.
”You go up and I go down. It’s always the same like the sun and moon”
Zombie
’Zombie’ took a bit for me to really get into. Not to say that I didn’t think I was going to like it, it’s just that I heard all the teasers heading in, and had a sense that it wasn’t going to hook me the way that ‘Sweet Chaos’ did. But I should have known that wasn’t the case as I had it stuck in my brain for a while after listening. Which really is the point of the song, isn’t it? DAY6 is not only good at writing songs, they write in a way that everything is taken into consideration. The song is quieter to convey the message of the song, the persistent drum beat and catchy chorus get stuck in your brain and takes over. The song’s lyrics are about going through life asking yourself “Is this it? The same thing over and over?” and the song’s beat takes the zombie angle to real life as it takes over your life…just like how depression, the feeling of loss, and hopelessness can take over you life. Needless to say, the song has turned from a strong like to a love.
Tick Tock
’Tick Tock’. Ah, ‘Tick Tock’. It was the first song off of that album that I knew was it. This song came out of nowhere for me, because it wasn’t even slightly in the running of top songs in the teaser but this song is good good. DAY6 doing R&B infused with the light rock and doing it well is so what I needed. It literally makes you melt listening to it, a great combo of sexiness and the repetitive tick of the clock cycling the destruction of a relationship. I can have it on repeat for hours and not get tired. Besides ‘Afraid’ this one had the most impact on me from the very second it started and is my second favorite overall.
“We miss each other and fall asleep without saying goodnight…there’s nothing to say, tonight only the clock is heard.”
Love Me or Leave Me
DAY6 said they wrote ‘Love Me or Leave Me’ with concerts in mind, and it shows. It’s a lot of fun and I love how it’s placed in this album lineup, after the melty-slow ‘Tick Tock’. I think it really plays off nicely in that “out of control emotions” kind of way. It also helps that it’s followed by ‘STOP’. I really love the opening of this song. It’s got this really interesting kind of western beat to it that is so on par with the lyrics of the song. It’s like you can see it in a movie where someone is out searching on horseback. Which is exactly what the beat in the chorus feels like. I love it.
”The cold feeling I’ve been feeling, might just be an illusion. I’d know from here, do you even love me now?”
STOP
’STOP’ was my favorite during the teasers, and I don’t know why it took so long for me to connect with the song, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love it. This one has kind of a nice westernish rock vibe to it as well (in fact the trio of ‘Love Me or Leave Me’/’STOP’/’Afraid’ go really well together). It is the harder of the rock songs off of the album, which is something I had hoped for the album (albeit, for the entire album) but am not mad that it didn’t happen for this one, it’s not right for this time. I also love the placement of the album, following ‘Love Me or Leave Me’ as the song that takes a look at the back and forth in the relationship, and with this one finally saying enough is enough.
”Since the beginning, that meeting, was built on sand.”
1 to 10
1 to 10 is such an interesting song in both the type of song, and the placement in the track list. I really love the beat it has - it’s got a real great 80/90’s vibe especially with the synth in the bridge. Wonpil is just made for this type of a song, isn’t he? It also has one of those chorus you just need to bop to, and a love that it’s a little bit…grungier. I’m making up descriptors that don’t make any sense, but especially with Sungjin and Young K keeping a little lower, and Wonpil’s intro make the song a little less pretty vocals and more focus on the beat.
“Words you want to hear, things you want to have. I want to do everything for you.”
Afraid
I don’t know how to accurately put into words how much I love this song. The lyrics are heartbreaking, and the song is able to reflect it whether you understand the lyrics or not. Everyone took this one to a whole other level. Jae’s whisper “I’m so afraid”. Sungjin’s strong raspy voice almost breaking under the emotions. I can’t get over it. It makes me equal parts so happy that this masterpiece exists, but also wanting to cry my eyes out every time I listen to it. I know that my connection is impart to what is going on and how’s it effecting me, but this is a song I needed so very much right now.
”You are like the moon the lights up the black sky, but your light is being gradually covered by my darkness.”
Zombie (English version)
I think it speaks volumes about DAY6 on a whole and their approach to song writing always focusing on issues that everyone can respond to or understand, that they would specifically add an English version of Zombie, and not just recycle the translated lyrics from their Korean version. Everyone does just as great in this version as the other. An excellent choice for ending the album.
If you’d like to see my very first impressions of the album (albeit, a bit sporadic and limited) this is my Twitter feed from that day:
We also did a reaction to the song over on the Certified Noona’s YouTube channel, and I had literally stayed up all night waiting for the mv and album to drop so this was a very early morning (like 6ish?) no sleep Jessie rambles. The only thing I wish was that YouTube hadn’t been weird my first time through the song, because it didn’t actually full screen and so I watched it without subtitles first run through. But the feelings still do apply.
DAY6’s music makes me happy, and this album is no different. It’s really special in a time that I needed it the most.
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