Song Review: BTS RM’s ‘Wild Flower’ Sheds All Pretentions, Blossoms With Artistic Vulnerability

On 2nd December 2022, BTS leader RM, in his quintessentially self-aware and palpably reflective fashion, released his first official solo album, titled “Indigo”, a follow-up to his previous oeuvre, including his wistfully comforting playlist “Mono” (2018) and the angst-fueled, self-titled debut mixtape- ‘RM’ (2015). The release of “Indigo” succeeds the string of solo endeavours undertaken by the BTS members after they announced a temporary break from group activities in June this year, followed by J-Hope’s noir-tinted album titled “Jack in the Box”, RM’s sultry, trippy Sexy Nukim (with Balming Tiger), Jin’s bittersweet debut solo single, ‘The Astronaut’ and JungKook’s peppy pop offering, ‘Left and Right’ (with Charlie Puth) and the exuberant FIFA World Cup 2022 official soundtrack, ‘Dreamers’.

 

RM’S “Indigo”: An Ode to the Cadence of His Youth and an Exploration of His Artistic Sensibilities

Conceptualized as a bookend to the decade of his twenties and an archive of the trajectory of his youth, RM’s genre-spanning “Indigo” features several collaborations with artists such as the Grammy-winning R&B singer Erykah Badu, Epik High’s frontman and much-coveted producer and lyricist Tablo, the Grammy-winning American rapper Anderson. Paak and more. The cover design of “Indigo” transcends the black and white binaries of “Mono” and, with the streaks of a profound shade of blue; it pays homage to the reflective pieces of the South Korean artist, Yun HyongKeun, whose introspective symbolism RM reveres. Yun HyongKeun associated the colour blue with heaven and the hue of burnt-umber to allude to the earth through his artworks, which crafted a union of Western abstract paintings and the intricacies of East Asian calligraphy; “Indigo”’s cover is reminiscent of Yun’s aesthetic stylisations as it showcases a pile of jeans stacked on top of a stool, juxtaposed with the brown-tainted floor of the set.

The visual palette of “Indigo” possesses a placid air of intellectuality and despite the presence of city-pop, hard-hitting rap verses, funk elements, folk sounds, and alternative tunes, all the variations of musicality seem to blend seamlessly into each other. The album endows the listener with the privilege to pause and indulge in soul-searching as it delves into RM’s experiences with fame, the formulation, deconstruction and reconfiguration of his public persona, questions about his identity, and bouts of yearning for a muse that seems to waver and in and out of his reach.

 

RM’s ‘Wild Flower’ (with Youjeen) Showcases His Firmly Grounded and Resilient Demeanour

Exhibiting a commitment to his knack for wordplay, the chorus of ‘Wild Flower’ deliberates on RM’s aspiration to be as tranquil and persistent as a “flowerwork”: to live on as a hard-wearing totem of humility, as a modest flower in a meadow, rather than shimmering as an evanescent firework only in the naivety of ephemeral fame. The wise, farseeing ‘Wild Flower’ seems to hint at RM’s desire for rootedness and an incessant urge for reinvention: the antidote to the artistic stagnation and conceited mindset that could have otherwise conveniently slithered in, given the unprecedented chart-dominating, record-smashing globe-wide pop dominance that he has attained with his BTS bandmates Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and JungKook; “I am barely anything,” he declares in the song.

The valiant voice of with Youjeen (the lead singer of the alternative rock band Cherry Filter) thunders through the song; her emotive high notes soar, eloquently encapsulating all the qualms, melancholies and wishes which are bleeding through the tune.

‘Wild Flower’ is brimming with the inklings of a new beginning and is fervent with RM’s hankering for a departure from the “idling repeats, memories turning vicious”. In Tokyo, a track from his 2018 playlist “Mono”, RM talks about feeling like a “torso” with a disassociated, puppet-like sense of powerlessness that is absent from ‘Wild Flower’: here he is actively pursuing a pathway that resonates with his current perception of happiness, longevity and most ardently, his self.

The music video also features the Joseon-era ritual of Nakhwa Nori wherein bags filled with charcoal powder are set ablaze as the revelers witness the flames scatter into the surface of water bodies, embodying the magnificent emblems of beauty and resilience embedded within the song.

RM had paid a befitting ode to his twenties through the sharp-edged witticisms, tangible imagery and his mature, clear-eyed worldview in “Indigo”: an album that would accompany and provide solace to the ARMY fandom through their own voyages just as Mono has been known to do. “Indigo”, in its unpretentious and raw visual and sonic textures, is RM at his individualistic best.

 

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