Reviewed by Esosa Zuwa, a writer.

Kim Taehyung, better known as V, released his debut EP Layover on September 8, 2023, marking the latest installment of BTS solo music.  A swinging, simplistic album about love, heartbreak, and longing, it’s inspired by ’50s doo-wop melodies and ’70s jazz. One could say V has an old soul—yet one nevertheless immersed in the present. Curated and created by producers such as Frankie Scoca, Freekind, Jinsu Park, Absent Chronicles and Monro, Layover comes with some layers.

Many of the performances are laid back, and take on the tone of crooner music popular in the ’50s and ’60s. Listening to the tunes, you don’t dance, but rather stand still to feel the music enveloping you. “Rainy Days,” a slow jazz piano piece opening the album, perfectly exemplifies this mood. Backed by a light indie beat, the song is short and the composition is fairly simple, mirroring the slow, mundane days discussed in the song. There’s a vintage charm to the piece that makes it feel like someone is crooning the words in a 1920s jazz bar.“Rainy Days” doesn’t take itself too seriously, but still has a gray, reminiscing melancholy.

“Blue” is much like “Rainy Days,” representing the never-ending cycle of feeling blue. The song utilizes a modern R&B drum beat with a slow, vintage, city-pop-inspired guitar rhythm. The song is about searching for ways to overcome sadness and loneliness, encouraging listeners to find hope inside of themselves and move forward. 

“Love Me Again” is like a melancholy monologue laid against the backdrop of a fairly static song that doesn’t change too much in its structure, representing the never-ending longing of heartbreak. There’s a modern lo-fi spin on the doo-wop melodies, making it more upbeat, almost as if to hide away the heartache of the message. The song feels like recording voicemails, practicing conversations for words unsaid to a past lover. “I wish you would love me again / No, I don’t want nobody else / I wish you could love me again, again,” he sings.

“Slow Dancing,” the next song in the album, is like making eye contact with your lover across the room, drawing closer and closer. It feels like being wrapped in the arms of someone you fully see, hear, and know. It combines disco with a neo-soul imaging of a live R&B piece, and V’s voice spills like honey against the rising track. The lyrics “Maybe we / Could be / Slow dancing / Until the morning / We could be romancing / The night away” make it the more sensual track on the album, one that teases you but isn’t trying to be cheeky. 

“For Us,” the final track, is an emotional confrontation, a whirlwind of feeling.  Although it feels like a climax to a thrilling film, it remains intimate and real. “You went from my home to / It was nice to know you / And it breaks my heart,” V emphasizes at one point, before a slow admission that he’s still not over the relationship: “That we gave it our best shot / Now I’m in California / I’m still waitin’ for ya.” The song’s airy bounce sounds almost angelic; it then slows down before a swirling key change makes it a slow R&B track. “For Us” is the hopeful refrain of rekindling a lost relationship.

The sonically cohesive album feels sophisticated and classy (in no small part due to V’s honey-smooth low register), but fluffy too—a winning combination. Although the themes of heartbreak and longing could have been explored with more depth, ultimately, Layover is simple jazz meant to evoke something calm but melancholy in listeners, something intimate and real—and in this, the album succeeds.