One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! First Love (from Love Me Right – 2015) Anchored by a plodding piano line, First Love is the sort of hesitant r&b track that often shows up on the second half of EXO albums. The melody and phrasing are interesting here, particularly … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Falling For You (from For Life – 2016) Unabashedly festive, Falling For You is the musical equivalent of a warm holiday party on a snowy day. Bolstered by jubilant brass and splashes of vocal harmony, the track has a lush, upbeat swing … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Fall (from Universe – 2017) Fall opens with a simple arrangement of acoustic guitar and percussion, but soon grows more grand with haunting, layered vocals and distorted synth. The chorus is among EXO’s most idiosyncratic, possessing a uniqueness of tone like nothing … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Exodus (from Exodus / Love Me Right – 2015) One of the few genuinely upbeat tracks on the initial version of EXO’s 2015 album, Exodus hearkens back to the r&b-laced dance pop of the early 2000’s. It pulses on a nimble electronic … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! The Eve (from The War / The Power Of Music – 2017) Opening EXO’s 2017 album with a dark blast of creeping pop, The Eve takes an almost militant approach to its verses before pulling back to a vocal-rich pre-chorus. The chorus … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! El Dorado (from Exodus / Love Me Right – 2015) A fan favorite, El Dorado is a perfect representation of EXO’s signature sounds. You’ve got the moody r&b of the verses, largely carried by the group’s smooth vocals. Then there’s the towering … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Don’t Go (from XOXO / Growl – 2013) EXO’s first full album is flush with these kind of lovelorn mid-tempos. The truth is, if it wasn’t for their vocals, any boy group of EXO’s era could have tackled a song like Don’t … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Diamond (from The War / The Power Of Music – 2017) Undoubtedly one of EXO’s more polarizing tracks, Diamond sees the group move past their signature style and into a swag-heavy blend of EDM and trap. After an exciting, melodic build up, … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! December, 2014 (The Winter’s Tale) (from Exology Chapter 1: The Lost Planet – 2014) Released as a special winter track on the group’s first concert album, December, 2014 is an easy EXO song to overlook. It’s a standard r&b ballad, driven by … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Damage (from Don’t Mess Up My Tempo / Love Shot – 2018) One of two LDN Noise tracks on the Don’t Mess Up My Tempo album, Damage is arguably the most hard-hitting Korean track EXO delivered in 2018. Its abrasive textures hearken … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Cloud 9 (from Ex’Act / Lotto – 2016) Opening with one of the most off-kilter introductions in EXO’s catalog, Cloud 9 successfully melds two diverging sounds together. The chorus employs an aloof, trap-infused instrumental that would normally stall momentum in a song … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Christmas Day (from Miracles In December – 2013) It pains me to listen to Christmas Day this early in October. By their very nature, holiday songs like this thrive on nostalgia and tradition. Since its 2013 release, EXO’s Miracles In December has … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Chill (from The War / The Power Of Music – 2017) Opening with a blast of icy synth, Chill soon moves into a skittering verse that combines an unusual rhythmic structure with bursts of funk brass. Overall, this is one of EXO’s … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Can’t Bring Me Down (from Lotto – 2016) Can’t Bring Me Down’s opening verse promises so much more than the song ends up delivering. The instrumental supplies an aggressive, militant beat underlined by psychedelic synth and a few left-field vocal flourishes. It’s … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Call Me Baby (from Exodus / Love Me Right – 2015) Enlisting new jack swing legend Teddy Riley as songwriter, Call Me Baby felt like the next evolution in EXO’s sound upon its 2015 release. The song has only grown more impressive … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Boomerang (from The War: The Power Of Music – 2017) After a brief dalliance with funk in 2015, EXO largely abandoned the genre in favor of other trends. Boomerang revisits this sound with an 80’s synth pop edge. Opening with a bright … Continue reading →

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Black Pearl (from XOXO / Growl – 2013) In 2013, dubstep was all the rage. Black Pearl incorporates just enough to make the song trendy, but relies more heavily on pulsing electronics and staccato hooks. Perched somewhere between mid-tempo and dance track, … Continue reading →