Xdinary Heroes, a South Korean rock band released their seventh album “Beautiful Mind” on March 24. The 23-minute album includes a total of seven tracks.
Based in Seoul, South Korea Xdinary Heroes has been taking the world by storm since their debut on Dec. 6, 2021, with the song “Happy Death Day.” The band consists of six members, Goo Gun-il who is the Leader as well as the group’s drummer, Vocalist Kim Jung-su who plays the keyboard, Kwak Ji-Seok or Gaon who is a rapper as well as the Rhythm Guitarist, on the synthesizer is rapper Oh Seung-Min or O.de, Han Hyeong-jun or Junhan is the groups lead guitarist, and Lee Joo-Yeon as the group’s main vocalist and bassist.
The seven-song album kicks off with the track “FIGHT ME”, a mix of both Korean and English, one of my favorite things about this band is their instrumental, never do I hear a similar sound from this group, each track has its unique and different personality and you can definitely hear it in this track.
The song starts with a calmer introduction, vocalist Jungsu starts it off with his strong vocals and a quiet instrumental in the background, in only a few moments you are hit with a powerful guitar and drum combo. The track is extremely energetic and loud, making it a perfect song you could include in a gym playlist.
Next on the album is “Beautiful Life,” which is easily my favorite on this album and a top contender for being one of my favorite songs from this group. The four-minute song has a similar start to the previous track with little to no instrumental at the beginning.
Joo-yeon starts off with English lyrics “No one’s here to find you.” The song then introduces some hard and heavy hitting instrumentals. This track definitely has a similar vibe to songs like “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen and “Welcome to the Black Parade” By My Chemical Romance with the sudden change of sound throughout the song.
This song is also a mix between Korean and English, my favorite section of the song is when Joo-yeon comes in again with some beautiful vocals and lyrics as well “No way to break away, you’re lost in nights that never end…” and continues with “Why don’t you wave your flag, oh, is it white?” The song then later ends with a spin on the lyrics that started the song “No one’s here to love you.”
Next up on the album is “more than i like,” which is heavy with English lyrics, with some Korean lyrics coming up throughout the song. It has a very electric sound with many points in the song having members’ vocals altered to sound glitchy which was a cool touch.
Some lyrics that are included are “Only you- its only you- The brightest light” and “You just stay, hold me tight, the brightest light.”
A reoccurring mention is “The brightest light.” I think they’re speaking about someone they love and considering them “The brightest light,” I interpreted that as their lover being their guide through life, when they ask them to hold them tight there asking them to stay and continue leading them through whatever they might be going through. The song is personally not a favorite of mine but I still like it.
The song “Diamond” is the next track and is completely in English, on every album, if not all, they always include a song in the English language. The track is super fast-paced and energetic, it keeps that vibe throughout the entire song and the instrumental is again perfect.
Some lyrics that I absolutely loved were things like “Every breath, no air, became a do or die. A million miles to surface. Emerging out of all the lies. To step into the light.” This sounds like a struggle with anxiety and later overcoming it.
The feeling of having no air and feeling so far away from yourself is something that many deal with throughout life, I love that the members were able to use their pain to make something beautiful.
Some more lyrics that I love include “Hey. Got the whole world burning. Can somebody save me? Fire in my mind,” this is another mention of anxiety, the feeling of your mind being on fire and trying to reach for help, but you can’t find it. “You got me baring my facets just for you, I’ll cut through anything. Cause you didn’t know that I’m a diamond, I got proof in my eyes. Oh, you didn’t know until this moment. I know what I am.”
These lyrics are repeated through the song, and really stuck to me. The idea of knowing who you are and knowing your strength is powerful, whoever doubts them does not know their strength unless they take the time to see it.
“Supernatural” is the fifth installment in the album and is one of my favorites on the album. It’s a calmer and slower song, giving the listener a break from the heavy and loud previous tracks.
Although this song is almost entirely in Korean, it still has the emotional effect which I love. The thought of being able to pull at someone’s emotions with pure feeling and sound is a great achievement and is a reason why this group has such a way of reaching so many fans from different backgrounds.
“Let me see you, let me hear you, supernatural” is a reoccurring lyric throughout the track “Now I see you, now I hear you deep inside my heart” and “When we meet eyes, we’ll be supernatural,” the word supernatural means something that is beyond scientific understanding, its unexplainable and clashes with the laws of nature.
I think when they say “We’ll be supernatural” they mean they will be challenging the societal stigma of being “normal.” They are learning to be themselves and embracing their uniqueness, or at least that is the way I interpreted it.
As we get closer to the end of the album we are hit with another heavy-hitting song “George the Lobster,” the instrumental almost reminds me of an anime opening with the sudden crazy and loud sound that kind of kicks off the song.
Member Gaon really shined in this song for me, his vocal tone was a perfect fit and although lead guitarist Jun-han isn’t heard vocally, you can hear his sharp satisfying guitar solo at the end of the track which really puts the song together, the leader and drummer Gun-il also gave the song a perfect ending with a heavy and hard-hitting drum solo that hits the listener ears so satisfyingly.
Each member had a point in the song that really gave them time to have their own spotlight which is something you do not see much of these days.
“The more it breaks, the stronger it becomes,” that lyric specifically is my favorite from this track, the more you go through and the more challenges you are faced with, the stronger you will be when you come out of it.
It is something everyone should consider when going through situations in life, you are building that experience and learning new things about yourself, so you will be stronger whenever you are hit with a new challenge.
The group is embracing hardships and wanting to face them head-on, asking for the challenge and being prepared to battle with life and in the end, come out on top.
“BBB” or “Bitter But Better” is the final song on this album and is a perfect track to wrap everything up, I find it a bit like a song from their album ‘Trouble Shooting’ titled “UNDEFINED,” both have a lullaby or nursery rhyme sound which I personally love since that song is a favorite of mine.
“I-I-I’m a Maverick, Ah-, Ah-, this is really me, Bitter but better, Bitter but better,” Maverick is an “Unorthodox or independent minded person,” basically someone who is their own person, they don’t stick to what everyone else does they tend to break away from the crowd and do their own thing.
I don’t really hear much from fans about this song but I think it’s one of the best tracks on the album, don’t get me wrong though because I love every song on this album. I’d definitely recommend this to a new listener that wants to hear what this group has to offer.
Xdinary Heroes has always been vocal about being your unapologetic beautiful self and this album is an example of what they believe in and feel, each track has its own identity and sound leading to a favorite album of this year for me.
I’ve always enjoyed every album they’ve produced and with this recent release, they continue to show that they are not a group to mess with.
The group recently announced a world tour and is making two stops in California with one show being in the Bay Area at the San Jose Civic on Aug. 16 of this year. They are also taking stops in three other states including New York, Georgia, Texas and Washington D.C.
If you want to hear some beautiful live vocals from each of the members and nice live music, I would recommend buying a ticket and showing them some love since they really deserve recognition.
