EXO has seen many of its members go solo and I’m beginning to spot a musical pattern between their output. Kai aside, I can’t think of any other major boy group whose solos have hung on more tightly to adult contemporary sounds. The guys seems to love tasteful rock and R&B that draws upon the past rather than attempting to harness a trendier approach. I mean, the members are all in their thirties now but that doesn’t mean you need to automatically resort to dad rock!
Chen’s Arcadia is another pleasant entry into this field that works as a stately piece but fails to capture me beyond that. He started his solo career as a balladeer, so it’s nice to hear a title track with a (slightly) higher tempo behind it. However, Arcadia still pulls its punches. Take its chorus, for example. Rather than hit us with undeniable force, the arrangement opts for a more subdued guitar strum. Chen’s voice remains as captivating as ever, but for Arcadia to work the song needs to turn everything up to “11” in the way WOODZ’s I’ll Never Love Again did at points last week. Otherwise, this becomes a bit dull.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
