A tale of winter ballads: EXO Edition
EXO is one of those third generation groups which was synonymous with a special winter album. Up until 2017, EXO was consistently churning out one winter ballad EP after another. The songs in these special winter albums were focused on the themes of love, romance and heartbreak. As the years went by, EXO’s take on these ideas matured.
It started with Miracles in December in 2013, and then continued with Sing For You in 2015, For Life in 2016 and finally, Universe in 2017. In just four EPs, EXO was able to carve an identity for themselves as a group beyond the traditional idea of K-pop and comeback schedules. With each year, EXO released a new seasonal EP or a full-length album that never failed to capture the audience’s attention. What makes the winter special albums special is that the group puts more focus on the emotional side of things with a structural approach to creating ballads that require very minimal score to keep the momentum going.
If I were to pick a favorite of these four EPs, I would say Sing For You is closest to my heart. Two reasons - one, it was my first time witnessing EXO create a special winter album and two, I am somewhat partial to whales, space, and EXO’s maknae Sehun. What makes this titular song further special is that anyone and everyone can interpret it in their way. Some might think of a long lost romance, a friend, a family member or even someone who was in your life ever so briefly but left a lasting mark.
In addition to this soulful titular rendition, this EP also has a fun title track to its credit. Titled “Unfair,” this song is a fun number through and through. The song speaks about a boy’s playful feelings about his crush. EXO’s performance for the track is a visual treat in itself. The members dressed up differently for each live performance and presented a joyful performance that left the fans cheering and blushing.
Even the concept photos for this EP were interesting. The concept of spacemen was incorporated in the album covers and each member was seen wearing a spaceman’s helmet. In another version, each member was dressed in full-sleeved turtle neck sweaters with some snow on their heads and shoulders. The overall mellow and mulling feeling in the songs was aptly interpreted in both album covers.
In many countries around the world, people are eagerly waiting for fall which would then make way for autumn. In times like these, when the world is turning to embracing longer nights and colder winds, one needs ballads and RnB tracks, like those in EXO’s special winter albums. Even if EXO has hit pause on creating new winter albums, these four EPs hold power to provide a warm embrace each time.