Reviewed by Esosa Zuwa, a writer.

As BTS’s youngest member, Jungkook is often dubbed the “Golden Maknae,” or “Golden Youngest.” It’s fitting, then, that Golden is his debut solo album, emphasizing his Midas touch.  

Golden is an entirely English album that encapsulates a mainstream pop sound, full of radio and chart-friendly hits. It has catchy hooks that resonate with longtime BTS and Jungkook stans and a mainstream audience. However, it spreads itself thin: through containing dance hits, hyper-pop and garage tracks, slow ballads, and funk-jazz rhythms, Golden feels like a pop album forcing itself to be sonically nuanced.

“I can’t kiss you through the phone or touch you through the universe,” Jungkook sings in the opening line of the second pre-release track, “3D.” Featuring rapper Jack Harlow, the song is a pop-funk track with ’90s hip-hop funk beats and a ’70s jazz bass. It’s straightforward in its deep tone, building up cheekily. It’s one of the more strong tracks on the album, and the most upbeat and enjoyable of the bunch. 

The album takes a turn with “Close to You,” making the deep, tropical house song somehow the most experimental in this straightforward album.  Jungkook’s vocal fry gives the song both urgency and longing. It builds up in volume, like desire, with lyrics like “Feeling like I’m floating / Something’s in the air tonight / We’re speaking with emotions / Won’t look away.” It’s a calm and hypnotizing kind of song, leading the listener to come on a subtle journey with Jungkook. 

The first pre-release, UK-garage track, “Seven,” features rapper Latto and was initially thought to be a love ballad to his fellow members. However, it is actually a sensual song that builds itself up like a conversation with an electric guitar in the background. At first, it feels like a hopeful, innocent serenade, but its evocative lyrics soon say otherwise. It’s a cheeky song that feels silly at first, but slowly endears itself to you—a standout track on the album. 

The lead single “Standing Next To You,” a disco-funk, pop song, feels nostalgic and grand. It uses mystical-sounding flutes in dance breaks in a grand band arrangement, with deep, cushioning bass lines. Jungkook’s dreamy voice floats on top of this magnetic track, but in the dance breaks, trumpets create an anthemic feel. It has a guns-blazing, us-against-the-world kind of love, and is by far the strongest of the tracks on the album. 

The album’s other songs often amalgamate, with their constant themes of love and basic pop arrangements. But “Hate You” stands out because of its deeply sad, hopeless lyrics, wanting to trade heartbreak for betrayal. “I wish you went behind my back/And told me lies and stuff like that/I wish you kissed someone I know,” Jungkook sings. Written by Shawn Mendes, “Hate You” sounds like tears placed against a sad, synth piano track. 

The album finishes with a rising ballad, soft in its tone: “Shot Glass of Tears.” It’s a bittersweet conclusion to the album, one that wallows in complex but negative emotions, trying to drown them.

Golden is an amalgamation of pop influences under a trench coat, cosplaying originality. It feels picked apart and dissected in a lab, bioengineered for perfect charting and radio play in Western spaces. Still, though it’s not ground-breaking, Golden is the perfect introduction for Jeon Jungkook. With powerful performances and choreography, it’s a solid album, and all in English. The album could have dug deeper, moving beyond inoffensive lyrics and vague spins on interesting emotions. But it is pleasant to listen to, full of budding artistry with exceptional tracks within it.