Only six months after the release of their most popular album “LXVE to DEATH,” Korean alternative rock band Xdinary Heroes released their eighth studio mini album “DEAD AND” on April 17.
The band, consisting of members Jooyeon, Jun Han, Gaon, Jungsu, Gun-il and O.de, began their group activities back in 2021 with the release of their debut single “Happy Death Day.” This song went viral on TikTok and peaked at #12 on the US Billboard World Digital Song Sales.
Following the release of this single and many more, the band’s management label JYP Entertainment then announced their eighth mini album “DEAD AND.” The company provided details on the track list, which consists of seven tracks that the members themselves worked on, as well as special live concerts in Europe and the United Kingdom.
“This album has a lot of songs that we are very proud of,” leader and drummer Gun-il said in an interview with Riff Magazine. “We think our fans will love it and hope the new songs will help bring more listeners to Xdinary Heroes and hopefully be a turning point for us.”
With the release of the album’s title track “Voyager,” the music video has garnered 6.1 million views on YouTube, reflecting how excited fans were for this new release. Before even writing lyrics, the band played around with different musical styles and landed on a mystical synth sound. The song focuses more on the theme of goodbyes, with a mixture of space-like sounds from the keyboard.
“A Voyager is still traveling around,” Gun-il said in an interview with V13 Media while describing the meaning of the title. “It has already said goodbye to the earth, but it is facing another type of goodbye because the signal is about to get lost.”
The first song on the album, “Helium Balloon,” seems to be very experimental as the introduction and ending vocals are pitched to a low tone, as if someone inhaled helium. In addition, the instrumentals and other vocals sung by the bassist and main vocalist Jooyeon are superb. “No Cool Kids Zone,” “Hurt So Good” and “Rise High Rise” are all songs that seem very typical of Xdinary Heroes’ punk-rock energy, consisting of great vocals, loud drums and amazing guitar solos from my favorite member of the band Jun Han. “KTM” is a soft rock track that blends a mixture of aggressive instrumentals with soft and emotional lyrics, primarily focusing on an inner conflict with oneself. One lyric that really stuck out to me was “Self-blame and anxiety cling deep inside my heart.” It is an exploration of inner negative thoughts that are persistent and continue to appear in the mind.
My favorite song from the album has to be “X- room.” This was originally a pre-release to give fans a teaser of the upcoming album and came out on March. 25. The song is a heartfelt, nostalgic ballad that dives deep into the concept of the rollercoaster of emotions during a fading relationship and is called a breakup song by the members. The music video seems to shy away from the theme of a breakup, instead portraying a recollection of past childhood memories and looking back on them while growing older.
“We didn’t really want to portray the content of the lyrics in the music video through visuals,” Jun Han said in an interview with V13 Media. “We wanted to stick to the theme of our group, which is: We are all heroes.”
As a fan of Xdinary Heroes since their debut back in 2021, I am thrilled to say that this is a very sentimental and energetic album. With most of the songs being very punk-rock and the others being soft songs, it’s a great mixture of what the band is all about. I am ecstatic to see what Xdinary Heroes has next in store.
