Life Listens: New music from BTS, Bob Dylan, Eric Chou, Wu Ching-feng and Cactus Cactus

In this weekly column, The Straits Times curates the most buzz-worthy music you need to know about now.

Stream This Song: BTS – Take Two

K-pop supergroup BTS, which marked their anniversary on June 13, have released a song for their 10-year milestone.

Titled Take Two, the acoustic pop tune accompanied by the guitar is an ode to the septet’s fans, collectively known as Army. The sentimental lyrics recount the journey the boy band have been on over the past decade and thank their supporters for being by their side.

The song, which was released on June 9 without a music video, is a simple number that keeps the spotlight squarely on the members’ vocals and harmonisation. Since their 2022 album Proof, BTS have taken a step back from group activities.

Members Jin

and

J-Hope

have also begun their mandatory military service.

Take Two is one of only two tracks they have released in 2023, the other being The Planet, the theme song of South Korean animated series Bastions (2023). The group will also hold a festival in Seoul on June 17 to celebrate their anniversary. – Jan Lee

Ace Album: Bob Dylan – Shadow Kingdom

Bob Dylan might be acclaimed as the United States’ poet laureate of rock, but his gruff and grainy voice in recent recordings and live appearances is an acquired taste.

His performance on Shadow Kingdom, his latest and 40th album, proves the man can still carry a tune.

The soundtrack album accompanies Shadow Kingdom: The Early Songs Of Bob Dylan, a 2021 concert film by Israeli-American film-maker Alma Har’el. The 13 songs were taken from the first half of Dylan’s long career, and are new takes on gems ranging from Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues, first released in 1965; and When I Paint My Masterpiece, originally released in 1971.

Perhaps it is the excitement of revisiting his early discography that has the 82-year-old all fired up.

Recorded live and backed by accordions, acoustic guitars and bass, the Nobel Prize-winning singer sounds like he relishes every line.

His sprightly take on tracks such as Tombstone Blues, originally from his acclaimed 1965 album, Highway 61 Revisited, offers a fresh perspective on old classics.

There is a new song too. Shadow Kingdom closes with Sierra’s Theme, which sounds like an alternate instrumental take on another Dylan standard, All Along The Watchtower (1968). - Eddino Abdul Hadi

Singapore Scene: Cactus Cactus – Life Is Short

Life Is Short is the sophomore EP from Cactus Cactus, one of the burgeoning names in the home-grown underground music scene.

Lively, loud and vivacious, the six-track release captures both the vibrancy and vagaries of young adulthood in Singapore.

The songs traverse the wide expanse of alternative rock. Hammer and Cloud City sprint at breakneck punk speed, Angel is a funk-rock ballad driven by a solid interplay between the bass and guitars, and Life Is Short, Be Kind To Yourself (Na Na Na Song) is a psychedelic-punk banger.

The most interesting track has to be Puritans/MHC Freestyle, in which Cactus Cactus frontman King Aloe’s passion for the Singapore music scene comes to the fore. A love letter to home-grown hip-hop trio Mediocre Haircut Crew (MHC), the singer trades verses with Danikiddo – one of the members of the rap group – in a free-flowing extended jam. – Eddino Abdul Hadi

Chart Champ: Eric Chou – Best Friend

Crushing the Mandopop charts in Asia is Taiwanese singer Eric Chou’s cover of Best Friend, a tender love song originally sung by Taiwanese diva A-Lin in 2022.

Released on May 17, the latest version has shot up the KKBox Top Mandarin Weekly New Singles Chart, and has held its top spot for two weeks, most recently in the week ending June 8.

The number has garnered more than 2.4 million plays on Spotify.

While the original’s music video explores the relationship between a celebrity and her fans, the cover delves instead into the friendship between two people.

It tugs at the heartstrings with its simpler, stripped-down arrangement, while retaining the sense of tortured anguish at having a close relationship with someone who does not feel the same way romantically. – Benson Ang

Must-see MV: Wu Ching-feng – We All Own The Ocean

Dedicated to students who have graduated or are about to graduate, the music video for Taiwanese singer Wu Ching-feng’s song We All Own The Ocean has a nostalgic vibe.

Taking an imaginative stream-of-consciousness approach, the MV focuses mostly on a stick figure’s journey from being drawn on a page to escaping it.

This epic voyage is told through a variety of animation styles – from cut-outs to stop-motion – and evokes memories of one’s school days with visuals of test papers, stationery and a paper aeroplane.

In one clever move, mathematical drawing instruments such as a protractor and set square are playfully positioned to depict a boat’s hull and sail respectively.

Presenting a boundless world full of possibilities, the MV encourages viewers to accept that there are no model answers in life and to seek their own path – an inspiring message with which to send graduating cohorts out to sea. – Benson Ang