Multi-song rollouts are becoming increasingly common for HYBE artists, and BTS’s V is certainly taking advantage of the strategy. His solo album isn’t out until next month, but we’ve already heard two of its tracks. Rainy Days follows yesterday’s understated, jazzy Love Me Again, ever so slightly upping the energy to a soft shuffle.
Time will tell what Layover has in store for listeners, but if these two pre-releases are any indication this is going to be a muted, sleepy album. There’s nothing wrong with that — especially given V’s self-professed love for this kind of music. But as with any genre or style, the songs themselves need to be strong to succeed. When writing about Love Me Again, I remarked on the strength of V’s tone. That remains palpable here, even if the phrasing feels a bit mushy. However, Rainy Days is too much of a slog to take advantage of that asset.
Yes, this song has more swing to it than Love Me Again, but that’s like comparing oat bran to unleavened bread. Neither has much flavor, and the memory of each dissipates very quickly. The lo-fi, jazzy instrumental supports a clunky melody that circles round and round without any clear objective beyond fading into the backdrop of your day. And as pleasant as V’s vocal is, it seems intent on maintaining as modest and sedate a performance as possible. I’m happy for fans who are able to gain some comfort from the calm atmosphere these tracks provide, but their brand of guided relaxation is not for me.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7 |
Grade: C-
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Pretty solid study/work music. Fits right at home on one of those hourlong “Aesthetic/Chill Korean Cafe Vibes” YouTube playlist videos… and does not stand out on its own.
LikeLike
This sounds like it came from a lofi jazz reading playlist on Spotify. Its fine, I guess. I’ll probably never think of this song again. Maybe I’ll play it when I’m reading or something. Its inoffensive. I can’t imagine anyone actively disliking this. I just don’t think I’ll put it on myself or really think about it on my own ever again.
LikeLike
it’s so unbelievably boring
LikeLike
Better than Love Me Again. But at this point I was even hoping for Yeontan’s bark to have something ‘happen’ in the track. V lying around sleepy in the mv resembles the mood this track gives me. After 2 such tracks, Ive stopped anticipating his album.
LikeLike
Can we get my guy some lyrics that don’t sound right out of the first ChatGPT prompt attempt, too
LikeLike
Trust me, the fans will not care about the music. They will mass stream, buy the sh*t out of it. Because nowadays the music won’t matter, only the charts and numbers do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry, wrong reply 😀
LikeLike
I love the vibe
Artistic,just beautiful!
LikeLike
well better than “love me again”but still it will never grow on me i don’t what V think his fans are mostly his fans are minors who are attracted towards his looks his followers are 90% for looks and 10% for his music doez he really think his fans will like this kind of music in today’s era honestly he needed guidance before his debut what fans actually want from u i think it was must for him to be in a big collaboration for his solo debut he can ever ever reach what jimin and jungkook reach in their solo career’s plus this rush of releasing two pre track have taken all happiness from fans if all five music vedio would have released on same day as it was sheduled on September 8 may be this much disappointness would not take place but all ruined for V fans may be album sales would have been reached millions but by releasing two pre excitement already faded away because everyone knows what other tracks would be i think hardly his album sales would reach 2 to 3 lack sales In twitter in instagram no excitement nothing at all well if others reject his songs we will say OK solo stans did that but the fact most his fans are rejecting his that is a big disappointment
LikeLike
I don’t think he cares tbh. He is finding his sound and he will do what he wants. He doesn’t need the fame nor the money atp.
Personally, I find both songs boring but also delivering what I expect from him, which is relaxing vocals basically.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I almost died reading this comment.
Also, Tae is the one who cares the least about “fans” have you ever seen his lives? He’s so blunt and he doesn’t take any shit.
I didn’t love the songs themselves, but I love his vocal style, I am glad he can sing notes he’s comfortable with and suit his baritone voice.
LikeLiked by 3 people
May I suggest some punctuation.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Trust me, the fans will not care about the music. They will mass stream, buy the sh*t out of it. Because nowadays the music won’t matter, only the charts and numbers do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
V is making the music V wants to make because he is rich and successful enough to be able to do this. Not sure why you think all his fans are minors and only attracted to his looks as I find that statement incorrect based upon my personal contacts with other army online. I am in my 50. He is definitely beautiful but I’m way past fangirling over the looks of someone half my age.
His style of music is fine. It suits him and it’s what he’s always enjoyed and shared with us. I want him to show more range but that’s MY opinion and it does not matter. Only HIS opinion truly matters. If he’s happy with the album, no review or critique is that important.
And solos suck.
LikeLike
Some punctuation would be good. Hard to make sense of your review. Time will tell, I guess. It’s a shame any of these artists have armies of people streaming to achieve number 1s etc. I’m just enjoying the music tbh. His style is very different from the BTS catalogue. I grew up on jazz and R’nB so I like the style. I had no idea what V looked like when I first heard Christmas Tree and the song from Itaewon and loved them or that he was in BTS. Successful bands have all had followings of screaming teenies – think Beatles etc. That’s never going to change. Good luck to him, I say. Just let him sing and do his thing. Why does everyone have to be so negative?
LikeLike
Also JHope and Suga’s solo impact has been seen
LikeLike
I absolutely love both the songs beacuse it has strong meaning, these are heart wrenching masterpieces, not those noisy f words type songs and moreover as a fan, a true fan, need to understand what Taehyung actually wants to deliver and the feelings of the two songs are not so casual. He consider ARMYs as his friends, so he wanted to show his innerself, what’s going inside to us. So that’s matter to us, to the true ARMYs, to the true V biased. And trust me, he really don’t care about sh***y choices and comments. He loves classy things, and he’ll go accordingly. And who where have reached, that’s not his and our look out, where he’ll reach eventually that’s matter to him and us. So called fans will compare and can get bore anytime no matter what. And about streaming, yes, I or we really care about the lyrics and music, so I’m simply streaming both the beautiful songs on loop. Btw, it charted on #1 in US and Worldwide itunes. Different people different choices.
LikeLike
glad you think that way for you I am so happy you are the 1% of those who doesn’t like V but the 90% of us love him for who he is not looks honey As an Artis and one of the best tune your ears better.
LikeLike
Not my type of music but he looks gorgeous in the MV and his tone is also gorgeous
LikeLike
Not my type of music at all. Both songs are bland. I don’t really know any of his other music and these songs don’t encourage me to listen to anything more of his. Shame cause I know his fandom were looking forward to him going solo.
LikeLike
that is what I am saying I was never his fan but yes I am bts fan I saw how his fans supports defends him everywhere doing all kind of things for him i kinda feel bad for his fans they must be so disappointed all those years they wait for this
LikeLike
Please use punctuation in your posts — things like periods, commas, capital letters on the first word of a sentence. They serve an important purpose in written communication. Your posts are just one very long sentence which makes it difficult to understand what you are trying to say and what you mean. It will also give a better impression of you and what you say.
LikeLike
Getting tired of the heavy autotune that’s in BTS songs. I’m fine with autotune in songs but in BTS, its just extremely noticable.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just when I thought the lazy intonation over trap era was over, here it is again. With lo fi chill beats sample.
LikeLiked by 1 person
For me, the quintessential V tune is Singularity ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8npDG2ulKQ ). I really thought that was the style and direction he would go in, with his languid voice and rich tones over contemporary production and post D’Angelo r&b. And when I heard NewJeans’ producer was involved, it seemed so promising, and I was hopeful. Anyway, I’m with Nick, this isn’t for me. Based on the streaming numbers all the BTS members are putting up this year, I guess these tunes will be huge too, no matter what I think of them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m even more convinced that V stands for Vibes only. Out of all the BTS members he (and maybe Jin) has struck me as the least musically ambitious. And that’s okay. He clearly operates on atmosphere and aesthetics (Min Hee Jin is perfect for that). It would be more surprising if he made a song that *didn’t* sound like this. So far BTS is 7 for 7 in making solo music that fits them exactly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is basically what I commented on the review for Love Me Again. I, too, don’t think he’s musically ambitious (you phrased it so much more tactfully than I did!). I kind of wonder if he didn’t feel pressured to make the effort because it was expected by army. Oh, well…the result is soothing and mellow and will work well, literally, on those rainy days.
LikeLike
It was so cute how Yeontan was in the video. Hope they paid him a million dollars for acting so well.
As for the song itself, it’s fine. I was hoping he’d go the route of singularity or stigma, but this is fine too. As long as Tae is happy with the music.
I don’t like either of the songs so far, but sometimes I do like these types of relaxing songs. We’ll see when he releases another song.
LikeLiked by 1 person
V clarified that it wasnt Yeontan in the mv. But another dog that looks similar
LikeLike
Oh really? Oops!
LikeLike
Yes, the video was filmed in Spain and he couldn’t have Yeontan travel internationally. The still photos in the package are most likely shot in Korea and will be Yeontan. It was cute how he is “gifting” the copy he received to Yeontan.
LikeLike
It sounds almost like the lofi remix of a full song, not an actual complete piece on it’s own. There’s just not much going on with either this or Love Me Again, and I wish V, who has spoken many times about his anxiety around his solo work, would give us more instead of pulling back and being so safe as to be entirely unremarkable. It’s a real surprise, given how dynamic he can be and how much better his previous solos were. Both songs are great showcases for his voice, but really disappoint in terms of shape and musicality otherwise.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Actually,the snippets he has shared here and there of songs he discarded sounded so much better than both of these tracks? Not sure what got lost. I think it may truly be what you say, he pulling back out of insecurity. His snippets were chill and simple too, but they came off as having more personality to me.
LikeLike
I think there is much influence here from the producers and BigHit on what to release (they want to make their profit). I agree that the snippets he released of songs he wrote himself are appealing and I hope he will release them in full some day. He has the voice, the emotion, and the songwriting talent but I think he is being restrained due to a number of factors.
LikeLike
Is it just me, or these V songs just sounds like a male version of New Jeans? Boring, elevator music, nothing special.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So far no one mentioned John Newman’s love me again. Uh. I’d like to have a chat with V. Kind of, rude to rip a concept when you are so talented yourself. Especially from a production standpoint and the theme of the song. Rainy days also has a tune I absolutely recognize but my senile mind cannot place. Someone run it through a music library please. I need to know what the original is. It’s not that I don’t like these songs, but it’s no Morcheeba. I really wish it was. 90s trip hop was legendary
LikeLike
I’ve been wanting a good take on triphop in kpop for ages. 90s triphop was often slower and moody but it wasn’t low energy, which is what seems to be the case here again. The singers really sang with emotion and flair, you can see it in their live shows especially. Baekhyun could probably pull off a triphop song pretty well
LikeLike
Yay for Yeontan’s acting debut!
As with the first pre-release, this song and MV is V being V. I’m glad he’s doing his thing his way.
LikeLike
I read all the comments and I was left shocked.
It’s sad that some people don’t understand music and different tastes. Music comes in so many different colours and have different vibes you can like and listen to any music depending on your mood and how you’re feeling. As for Taehyung he couldn’ve done whatever you guys are saying just to gain your liking but again that’s what music is about it comes in different styles and colours so for now V choose to show us this I Don’t understand what’s the fuess is all about for real.
As for me I loved both songs.
Bot s
ongs are amazing and soothing the vocals are so pure and soulful it’s a part of V he can do any kind of music and will just fit him well . We need to support this one to get more sides of V … got it !
LikeLike
Personally, I find both his style but a bit lackluster? The snippets he has shared here and there seemed more personal to me, and his voice sounded better. Maybe it’s Hybe’s vocal processing stripping his voice of rawness. I don’t know. I will wait for the full album and the live performances. There’s nothing wrong with any of the songs. Both are ok. Very nice to listen to. Pleasant. Just not much more.
LikeLike
Exactly… I completely agreed with you. The thing is Taehyung is not easy to understand for everyone, so a true sensible fan can understand him. The songs are heart wrenching masterpieces.
LikeLike
All I’m going to say is V sounds like News Jeans. Min Hee Jin worked with Frankie Scoca yet again and released a Double take pt.2 for both acts ( Scoca wrote that as well). If V wants to kick start his solo career sounding like someone else… Then sure, but I’m not excited about it.
LikeLike
I totally understand people’s own personal choices, so your opinion and choices definitely matter to you, just like Taehyung love calm jazzy R&B old music.
As an ARMY and music lover, I love both the songs beacause it has strong deep meaning and the music is very soothing. It’s perfectly set on his baritone voice. Sometimes this type of music helps to heal the soul.
It simply different people and different choices.
LikeLike
Just so everyone’s clear, that’s not actually Yeontan in the MV. That’s a lookalike dog Taehyung included in the video because he couldn’t take Yeontan to the music video shoot.
LikeLike
My sister and I had a double brain aneurysm trying to read that.
LikeLike
I agree… It’s predictably V… And that is both good and bad… I’m glad he’s sticking to his own thing and I’m still very much looking forward to the other songs on the album, but not because of these 2 songs, rather the songs he was humming on BTS in The Soop on the lake a few years ago, his OST songs released so far and ‘Blue & Grey’ on the BE album which is truly beautiful no matter how many times I listen to it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This guy always sounds like he has something stuck in his throat.
LikeLike