The Rose (더로즈) is a Korean indie-rock band consisting of members Woosung (우성), Dojoon (도준), Hajoon (하준) & Jaehyeong (재형). The band debuted in 2017 and has since released some incredible songs including ‘Red’, ‘Sour’, ‘Sorry’, and ‘The Definition of Ugly Is’, which incidentally are some of my favourite songs. For me, there’s something really special about this band – they’re rock stars for sure, with a great career ahead of them, but they also seem kind and grounded. I also really admire them for being part of an incredible series with the JED Foundation and Dive Studio’s Mindset to promote good mental health.
Let me introduce you to the band’s incredible new album: DUAL.
DUAL is The Rose’s second full-length album and sets the stage for a new era of music for the band. It builds on the band’s well-earned success and recognition attained from their previous album – the emotionally vulnerable masterpiece ‘HEAL’, which I truly consider to be one of the best albums I’ve ever had the blessing to stumble upon. Through this latest work, the band has created a window into their “liberating exploration of the personal concept of balance.”
I had my first exposure to this highly anticipated album back in July when the band supported BlackPink as part of BST Hyde Park (please see my Instagram reels and previous blog posts). They delighted everyone in attendance when they performed “Back to Me” that day and I’ve been waiting for DUAL’s release with bated breath. It’s beautiful. I’ll tell you why.
DUAL explores themes of duality and opposites, such as the realms of light and dark. It includes poetic lyrics such as “I am haunted by the things I find, and it creeps on me like a sunrise, and it swallows me into black skies and back to dusk.” & “I am haunted by the things I didn’t try and it creeps on me like a moonrise, and it swallows me into blue skies back to dawn.”
The listener is left with a sense that the band has really poured their heart and soul into creating this album. They’ve really stamped their personality into the music – although with less Korean, and in the case of ‘Nauseous’, slightly more swearing (which the song wouldn’t have been complete without). Each song on the album is unique. Some are slow(er) and dreamy songs like You’re Beautiful & Angel, which gives the sense of being ‘dawn music’ and others such as Alive & Back To Me are more fast paced rock songs.
I haven’t been excited about or enjoyed an album this much since I listened to HEAL – so congratulations to The Rose for outdoing themselves. I’m really excited to see what they do next and hope they come back to play in England soon!
Quick song reviews:
Dawn: Exciting, kinda dreamy and magical
You’re Beautiful: A good example of how it is impossible not to fall in love with listening to Woosung sing.
Nauseous: Feisty, strangely empowering and I love it.
Back To Me: An anthem for the band.
Lifeline: My second favourite song. Will have on repeat. The ending is a nice touch.
Dusk: A musical sunset
Angel: The lyrics in this song are beautiful. I’ll listen to this song when I need a moment of peace.
Eclipse: A poem put to song. This song is going to sound amazing live. Can’t wait!
Alive: This song has so many different elements that make it exciting. The change in tempo at around the 02:30 mark is awesome.
Cosmo: Makes me want to go to Ibiza and play this really loudly as the sun sets.
Wonder: The band’s best song to date. It reminds me of Les Mis “do you hear the people sing”. Can’t wait to hear it live!
My favourite song: You’re Beautiful