TVXQ are celebrating their twentieth anniversary with the release of their first Korean album in five years. There are few active K-pop acts I’d consider “royalty,” but TVXQ are legends among legends. It’s always exciting to have them back with new music, even if a lot has changed since 2018’s New Chapter #2: The Truth of Love. New single Rebel is as frustrating as it is thrilling — a series of strong ideas undercut by a lack of development.
My favorite songs tend to anchor themselves around a repeated centerpiece I look forward to each time I press play. This is usually a chorus, but it doesn’t have to be. Rebel plays like all the great pieces surrounding this centerpiece, but it’s missing the main course. For what it is, the song is quite good. Its pulsating, industrial dance beat is fresh and exciting. The production’s constant stop and start works without sacrificing too much momentum, and most of its individual segments are successful on their own. I can’t tell if the melodies interpolate Carol Of The Bells or not, but either way they give the track an odd Christmas sheen that may not play well in the long run.
Rebel cycles through its ideas with plenty of energy, but fails to find an engaging chorus. After the music has lurched to an empty pulse, the track moves into a spoken word breakdown — almost like an anti-drop. This is where I crave a big, bombastic chorus on the level of past TVXQ glories. It never materializes, and with the song’s two-minute-and-forty-five-second running time, Rebel could certainly accommodate some added heft. Instead, I find myself latching onto the descending melody that first appears in verse one and later becomes a post-chorus highlight. It’s not enough to forge Rebel into a beacon of their discography, but at least it’s something!
Hooks
8
Production
8
Longevity
9
Bias
9
RATING
8.5