Happiness isn’t far away: time to unfold BLISS by D.O. (Doh Kyung-soo)

‘Nobody Knows It’ opens the first studio album BLISS. Over a bossa nova rhythm, it’s about the feeling of stepping away from other people’s eyes for a while and giving time to yourself. In this first song you can pick up the album’s direction of finding happiness in a private day rather than in great success. Set off at a loose pace while waiting for the changes in genre that unfold afterward.

‘Do you remember?’, whose Korean title means ‘Playground’, recalls the innocent fun of childhood with a lively pop sound. If the album’s first song made time for resting alone, the second takes a step into a place in memory. It’s worth listening to while thinking of times that were fun even without anything special happening. It’s a track that shows the happiness BLISS speaks of doesn’t stay only in romance.

‘Fit’ carries the feeling of meeting someone you’re drawn to at first sight into R&B. PENOMECO and DAMIAN share the lyric credits, and D.O.’s voice rests on an easygoing rhythm. Listen for a sensual texture distinct from the energy of ‘Do you remember?’ before it. If you liked the latest song ‘Guitarist’, it’s also fun to trace back to this one and find where the collaboration and the musical mood meet.

‘SING ALONG!’, the title track of the first studio album, holds the joy of singing in a tropical rhythm. ZICO and D.O. took part in the lyrics, and ZICO and No Identity worked together on the composition and arrangement. Listen for the moment a song sung alone leads into one shared with someone. It’s the song where the bright energy running through the whole album shows most directly, so it’s also a good way to get a first impression of BLISS.

‘5 minutes’, whose Korean title means a gap or a brief pause, looks at a moment of rest in the middle of a breathless daily routine. The short interval in the title feels less like a grand change than a bit of room you can make right now. On days when it’s hard to go far in search of a big happiness, this song has its place. After the energy of ‘SING ALONG!’ and before moving on to the next song, listen to it as a small comma set within the album.

‘I’ll Be There’, with a Korean title meaning ‘Tomorrow, to You’, conveys the wish to stay by someone’s side. If ‘5 minutes’ just before it is closer to today’s rest, this song reaches a hand toward the time ahead. It’s worth hearing with its center on a promise to be with someone even without certainty about the future. Rather than lumping them together as similar songs of comfort, think about the direction of lyrics that connect now and tomorrow, and the two tracks come apart.

‘Draw my path’, whose Korean title means ‘Like Myself’, touches the heart that encourages itself and finds its own direction. Past the middle of BLISS, it’s the point where the gaze that had turned toward a loved one comes back to the self. If you’re worn out from keeping pace with someone else, start by recalling the attitude the title proposes. Where ‘Do you remember?’ on the same album called up past joys, this song makes you think about which path to walk from here.

‘Where You Were’, its Korean title meaning ‘The Warmth of Memory’, is a track with the warm atmosphere of folk pop. Between the tracks that run along cheerfully, it makes time to look back on memories. Happiness can be widened beyond present excitement to include the feelings left by moments gone by. Reaching the album’s latter half, it’s a good place to listen while noticing the temperature of the voice and the space in the music.

‘IN ANOTHER LIFE’, whose Korean title is ‘Us’, holds feelings toward the precious ones beside you. Where the earlier songs offered time for resting alone and finding your own way, here the happiness felt within relationships returns to center stage. The weight of the listening may change depending on who comes to mind at the ‘us’ of the Korean title. Just before the album’s end, widen love from one person’s feeling into a heart shared together.

‘Love to Love U’, whose Korean title means ‘What Loving Is’, confesses love in a jazz mood and closes the first studio album. An album that began with the bossa nova of its first song passes through many expressions of pop and R&B to arrive here. It’s worth hearing as a song that condenses a final greeting into about 2 minutes 27 seconds. Listening to it on its own is fine, but if you’ve come through from the beginning, you can feel the thread of a voice that holds even as the genre changes.