Song Review:: BTS: ARIRANG- SWIM

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  • Release date: 2026 March 20
  • Album tracklist: Body to Body, Hooligan, Aliens, FYA, 2.0, No. 29, SWIM, Merry Go Round, NORMAL, Like Animals, they don't know 'bout us, One More Night, Please, Into the Sun
  • Album runtime: 41 minutes

 Well, here we are, folks. A much awaited comeback. Let's just get to it. I did take note of the runtime and we're just shy of a three minute runtime average for the album, and the title track is less than three, which I'm not as pleased about, but that's par for the course with HYBE title tracks lately. At least it's over two-and-a-half minutes, so I'm not going to whine too much. Also, I took off the NU'EST nail polish of two of my nails and painted one of them purple in honor of this comeback. I'm very curious to see what they've got for us and I'll be taking a listen to the whole album to find the song I like best, which is likely to be a b-side given my track record.

Parts of this instrumental remind me a lot of a more 80s version of Seymour's Ambition from Final Fantasy X, and it took me a couple of minutes before my ears placed why it sounded familiar (probably the same chord progression, just in a different style), and as I've said before, that's my favorite video game so it's a good association for me. It also reminds me a lot of some of the late spring and early summer of 2025 releases, where it's technically a pretty mild instrumental without any big peaks or valleys in sound, but it's just relentless. It's also a very subtle build where you don't notice the layers being added until the instrumental just cuts to only a soft keyboard, which is a little jarring, but it takes enough time to soothe you and let you settle again before the end of the song. It's a level of care for the listener that I wasn't expecting, but am very pleased about. 

I love V's voice so much. It's so identifiable and if I could wrap myself up in it, I'd be such a happy Fangirl. Okay. Now that that's out of my system, I love that the song makes use of a stereo system for the "swim" repetition, because it takes something that could have stepped across the over-use line and makes it interesting, even though I think the pattern is the same each time, by interrupting the status quo your brain expects. There's also a lot more harmonizing than I expected, and I'm very much not mad about that. The exact opposite, actually, because if you've been around here a while, you'll know that I adore harmonies a lot and it's one of the three things I look for. I'm not hearing the other two things (belts/vocal runs and vibrato) which is a bit of a disappointment because I know that the vocalists have solid vibratos. I think I might hear just the hint of a vibrato by...I think it's Jungkook on the end of one of his lines, but it's not clear enough that I'm willing to count it as a checked thing for my little trio of wants.

We got over a minute extra of music video, which means we probably got an extra minute of storyline over whatever else is happening. It's pretty cool that BTS's new logo thing is on a flag at the ship's stern. That's a fantastic detail that I'm glad I caught. This music video has a very interesting vibe, and I'm not sure if it's because I just played Man of Medan and thus have ghost ships on the brain, but I'm reminded a lot of a combination of the Titanic and Pirates of the Caribbean. But it's weirdly sinister, and I kind of love that. V stalking around the ship is top tier, but at least everyone looks concerned that she's trapped there with them. Also, the visuals are visualling. There are eight very attractive people in this music video, and the styling is phenomenal. I'm very intrigued by the fact that we don't get any choreography though. What teases.

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