Client: CLASH (2018)
Conceptually, ‘Epiphany’ and ‘I’m Fine’, the muscular drum ‘n’ bass counterpart to their 2016 trop-house single ‘Save Me’, sum up ‘LY: Answer’, where there’s no promise of a perfect future. For all BTS’ emergence into joy and light, there’s no straightforward solution either – “Maybe there really is no answer,” muses RM on ‘Answer: Love Myself’.
This doesn’t lessen BTS’ message and the strength listeners take from it. The portrayals of the fears, mistakes and thoughts we inflict on ourselves remain poignantly relatable, what the final album does is to remind us that each person must make their own path, and there’s no one size fits all answer to achieving self-acceptance. Their triumph over their own demons is worth revelling in, however.
Taylor Glasby 