TXT’s music has changed so much since their debut in 2019. Artistic growth should be expected and applauded, but sometimes I cast my mind back to their Crown days and remember how incredibly excited I was about the group and their quirky synthpop style. Since then, they’ve explored almost every genre you can imagine and their title tracks have somehow grown shorter and shorter in length until we end up with the brief fling of Beautiful Strangers‘ two minutes and eighteen seconds.
Overly truncated song lengths is a subject for another post, but lack of development is certainly something that can be touched upon in a song review. Like TXT’s past few singles, Beautiful Strangers has some nice ideas that could have been fleshed out into something more satisfying. It’s the latest song to delve into the angstier side of TXT’s sound — a mopey approach that has never worked all that well for me (apart from the incredible 0X1=LOVESONG).
Another approach that almost never works for me is rock + trap music. It’s so overdone at this point and I just hate the sound of big, atmospheric guitars being supported by tinny, skeletal beats. The contrast feels so chintzy. The thick synth breakdowns that forge Beautiful Strangers‘ post-chorus are more successful in illustrating the drama the track tries to portray. I also enjoy the haunting keys that backdrop much of the track. They’re very Bigbang Monster in style. Remember Monster? THAT is the quality tracks like Beautiful Strangers should be striving for. Instead, the song wastes much of its very limited time on forgettable verses that do little to advance its musical storyline. And without any sort of climax, the track isn’t given a chance to resolve its tension. It’s a shame, because there’s a great song buried somewhere in here. It’s simply in need of much more nurturing, texture and ambition.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
