Love Yourself: Tear
Love Yourself: Tear is the third Korean-language and sixth overall studio album by South Korean boy band BTS. The album was released on May 18, 2018, by Big Hit Entertainment. It is available in four versions and contains eleven tracks, with "Fake Love" as its lead single. The concept album explores themes relating to the pains and sorrows of separation. On May 27, 2018, the album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, earning 135,000 album-equivalent units and becoming BTS' highest-charting album in a Western market at the time, as well as the first Korean album to top the US albums chart and the highest-charting album by an Asian act.
Background and release
Love Yourself: Tear was first announced on April 16, 2018, following the release of a nine-minute short film entitled "Euphoria: Theme of Love Yourself 起 Wonder" on April 5. The video included a new song, also named "Euphoria", recorded as a solo by member Jungkook. The song was produced by DJ Swivel, Candace Nicole Sosa, Bang Si-hyuk, Supreme Boi, Melanie Fontana, Adora, and BTS' leader RM, and was complimented for its synth-pop style and tropical house elements. Tear was designed as a follow-up to BTS' 2017 EP Love Yourself: Her, with "Euphoria" serving to connect the two releases.On May 6, the trailer for the album, featuring a new song entitled "Singularity", was released. The neo-soul solo was performed by member V, and serves as the intro track for the album. "Singularity" was produced by British composer Charlie J. Perry, with lyrics also provided by RM. The trailer was described as having a sensual, dream-like atmosphere, and was praised for its use of symbolism and contrast. Blanca Méndez of Spin called V's performance in the video "rich" and "expressive", describing it as having a "quiet confidence". The song itself was described as having a haunting tune, and containing jazz elements and themes of desperation. Promotional concept photos presenting four different themes were released on May 8, for the "O" and "R" versions, and May 10 for the "Y" and "U" versions. The official track list of eleven songs was released on May 13, revealing a second collaboration with Steve Aoki, as well as a track titled "Airplane pt.2", said to be an extension of J-Hope's song "Airplane" from his mixtape Hope World. The song "Anpanman" is based on the Japanese manga superhero of the same name.
On May 14, the first video teaser for what was revealed to be the first single, "Fake Love", was released via Big Hit's official YouTube channel. The song has been described as "an emo, hip hop genre track with a grunge rock guitar sound & groovy trap beat that creates an odd gloominess", and lyrics that "clearly represent the theme of the album by realizing that a love that was thought to be fated was actually a lie". The Billboard Music Awards released a short, sneak peek clip from the music video on May 15, which showed part of the new choreography and teased a line from the song's chorus, "I'm so sick of this fake love". Big Hit released the second and final video teaser on May 16. On May 18, the album was released, along with the music video for "Fake Love".
Promotion
On May 18, 2018, two hours prior to the album's release, a "Comeback Preview Show" was broadcast live from Los Angeles on Naver's V Live broadcasting site featuring BTS discussing the new music. "Fake Love" made its worldwide television debut on May 20, when BTS performed it live at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards. This marked the first time that a Korean music act performed at the award show.As was previously done for Love Yourself: Her, a special "BTS Comeback Show", hosted by Mnet, was broadcast live worldwide on May 24, featuring performances of "Fake Love" and several B-side songs from the album. The group revealed behind the scenes images of comeback preparations and presented a special video specifically for their fans. The show was broadcast simultaneously online via Mnet Japan, YouTube, Facebook and Joox. BTS also performed "Fake Love" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on May 25, marking their second appearance on the program.
The group also held a press conference at the Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, on May 24, 2018, to promote the album. During the following two weeks, BTS performed the songs "Fake Love", "Airplane pt. 2", and "Anpanman" on various South Korean music shows, including Music Bank, Show! Music Core, Inkigayo, Show Champion, and M Countdown.
Composition
In an interview with Billboard some of the producers that helped with the album recalled their thought processes and aims for the album. For the intro "Singularity", Charlie J. Perry recalled that the song started out as a poem and it was built up from there. They wanted it to have a Daniel Caesar/D'Angelo type of vibe in the realm of neo-soul. For "The Truth Untold", Jake Torrey said they wanted to play with some cooler chords and at one point had the feel of a Sam Smith ballad. The person who helped write "Airplane pt. 2", Ali Tamposi who co-wrote the hit "Havana" by Camila Cabello, stated she wanted the song to have a similar feel to "Havana". In an interview with TV Report in Korea writer MNEK discussed the track "Paradise". It was originally supposed to be called "Mouth" and was about a breakup and having a broken heart. The lyrics changed a bit after sending it to BTS."Anpanman" is based on the Japanese hero Anpanman who is the world's weakest hero and made out of red bean bread. The character gives parts of his face to hungry people and in the lyrics BTS compare themselves to him stating they desire to give people hope through their music and performances. "Outro: Tear" begins with a fast rap, the lyrics describing the regretful possibility of the band's disbandment, and “134340” is named after the minor planet designation of the former planet Pluto. It talks about being turned away by a former lover and being seen as something insignificant. "Magic Shop" was created by Jungkook and is a song dedicated to their fans. It showcases catchy beats and electronic drops. "Love Maze" is meant to be an uplifting song that showcases a catchy rap.
Critical reception
Love Yourself: Tear received positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 74, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Neil Z. Yeung from AllMusic gave the album four stars out of five stating that "stylish and yearning, Love Yourself: Tear is BTS at a polished and focused peak, cohesive enough to feel like it was conceived in one particular period rather than cobbled together like some of their previous releases". Blanca Méndez of Spin stated that "whereas the first installment of the series seemed uneasy and disjointed in its span of styles, Love Yourself: Tear's genre-hopping sounds like the group is simply having a good time". Sheldon Pearce of Pitchfork wrote that the album "formula is a slick, loosely thematic album about love and loss, with a stronger focus on rapping than ever before" and that "Tear aims for cohesion and produces fun, prismatic songs in the process." Jess Lau of The 405 noted that "Love Yourself: Tear shows off each individual member's qualities fairly and acts as a well-structured introduction to a wider global audience that is all too eager to pick out negatives". Elias Leight from Rolling Stone stated that "BTS' Love Yourself: Tear is K-Pop with genre-hopping panache" and noted that "throughout it all, the members of BTS affect melodic sincerity, singing with intensity and melisma, rapping in tones that show their effort and strain, as if caring never went out of style". Caitlin Kelley from Billboard described the album as "one of their most thematically cohesive yet sonically varied albums, with maximalist production erupting against lyrics about emptiness".Crystal Tai of the South China Morning Post said, "On Love Yourself: Tear, the band also known as the Bangtan Boys, reveal that they are boys no longer, instead embracing a mature sound that is as dark as it is real". Jeff Benjamin from Fuse TV pointed out that "while the lead-up to the album release saw BTS shifting expectations for Korean-pop acts, the music itself positions them away from any dismissive boy band or pop star labels". Hong Dam-young of The Korea Herald revealed "BTS' focus has always been on connecting with listeners and using its members' own stories as leverage. And the group has not deviated from that in its new album Love Yourself: Tear" describing, "Musically, the fully packed 11-track album is admirable, as it seamlessly shifts between genres ranging from emo hip hop and Latin pop to pop ballads. Unlike the group’s previous socially conscious hip-hop works, Love Yourself: Tear is overtaken by dark tunes and complexed feelings of love" adding that, "The key factor behind the album's explosive success doesn't lie solely on its musical versatility and extravagance, but also in its overarching message: What truly matters is to deliver messages that can truly touch a listener's heart".
Alexis Petridis of The Guardian, however, gave the album a mixed review, writing that "on the plus side, they're very good at ballads, performing them with a breathy intensity that's genuinely affecting and powerful..." but "there is also stuff that you struggle to recall the second it finishes: in one ear and out the other it goes, leaving no recognisable trace. It's not that it's overly saccharine, which is the charge regularly levelled at K-pop; it's just commonplace". Petridis pointed out that "the phenomenon of BTS seems more interesting than the music at its centre, although Love Yourself: Tear is certainly good enough to keep the phenomenon moving smoothly". Crystal Bell of MTV stated 'with Love Yourself: Tear, BTS cemented themselves as one of most vital acts in pop music today", calling the album one of the best of 2018.
In December 2018, art director HuskyFox was nominated in the category Grammy Award for Best Recording Package for his work on Love Yourself: Tear. It is the second time someone of Korean descent received a Grammy nomination after Sumi Jo was nominated for Best Opera Recording in 1992.
Both "Fake Love" and "Singularity" were voted as one of the top 65 Best Songs of 2018 by The New York Times. "Paradise" was ranked the second best K-Pop B-track in 2018 by MTV, and “134340” came in as the 15th best K-pop song of the year on Billboard. Billboard ranked the album on their "Best Albums of 2018 " mid-year list.