Day6 Shows Huge Potential With Debut Mini Album "The Day"

As soon as I heard their debut track "Congratulations" I knew I had to listen to their rest of Day6's first mini album "The Day". I felt like this was the band I had been searching for for so long without truly finding, a group I could fall in love with at first sight. This did however make me very nervous, because what if I found out that I actually didn't like the rest of the album? That would be the biggest let-down ever. Fortunately that wasn't the case with this debut mini.

The first song is called "Freely", and it kicks off the album on a very bright and uplifting note. Musically the song is dominated by keyboard, synth and past-paced drums, which gives the song a light and carefree vibe. This song is probably one of the more pop-oriented songs on the album, mainly because of the lack of electric guitars in the instrumental, but the arrangement and general sound does have some rock qualities to them as well. The lyrics of the song share the same easy-going and positive message, as they sing about letting go of all your worries and living freely and happily. And I must admit that the song does make you want to dance and shake off all my concerns for just one night, so they truly managed to get the joyful meaning across.

"Out Of My Mind" is the second track on the album, and this one gives me serious CNBlue vibes. Unlike the former it is more guitar-driven, but it's still kept relatively light and upbeat. In some ways I wish it was a bit heavier, mostly because of the chord progression and overall mood of the song. "Out Of My Mind" is about how they must be out of their minds going back to the same girl over and over despite being treated badly repeatedly, and those kind of feelings are well represented in both the instrumental and the members' vocals. Like I said before; I wish it had a bit more power to it and a bit more attitude, but it's still a great track.

The third song on the mini is the title track "Congratulations", which I've previously talked about in my MV review , but I literally have so much to say about this gorgeous piece of music. Easily the best song on the album, this track embodies everything I love about this genre. It's not exactly pure rock music, but there's enough of it not to be singled out entirely as a pop track. The instrumental is wonderful, and I love that it both includes acoustic guitar and keyboard for the verses then completely takes off in the chorus.

It has that power and heaviness to it that the other songs didn't make so much use of, and I love it. Although I think it's even better represented live, but most bands do sound better on stage when they get to play their instruments on full volume. Additionally the chord progression, here as well, is gorgeous and the chorus is one of the better ones I've heard so far this year. All in all this track is amazing, and the fact that they all had a hand in writing it makes it even better. I've discussed the lyrics more in the other post so I won't say too much about them here, but they too are great and the members' ability to sing with emotion is very impressive.

"Habits" is a track that is more similar to "Out Of My Mind" in terms of the instrumental as well arrangement, but it's more keyboard-based which does make a difference. I would say it makes the song overall seem a bit brighter and more easy-going, but the backing track as a whole is quite light, in fact maybe even slightly too sparse for my personal taste. The melody is good and and I like that leader and main vocalist Sungjin gets a chance to sing all the choruses because his voice is husky and wonderful. Again, it's a great pop-rock song that fuses both classic rock instruments with modern synths, but I wish it had a bit more rock in it.

The least classic rock-sounding song on the whole album though comes in the form of "Like The Sun", as the synths are more prominent here than any other track. However the way the synths mash with the heavily turned-up bass line and funky guitars makes quite a wonderful combination. This one too lacks that kind of sparse, thin instrumental sound but instead sounds more dense and compact. I think it makes for a much more interesting listening experience, and I especially like the falsetto part after the chorus, which for me is the song's main highlight. It's a nice song to jam out to, is what I'm trying to say, and it takes on a new musical style that isn't really shown on any other song on the album.


"The Day" ends with "Colors", which shares some elements with the previous songs. The synths are there and audible but apart from that the song is, together with the title, probably the most rock-sounding out of the bunch. This is what you would classify as a rock ballad, and its key is in minor which makes me happy because I love sad-sounding songs. Like with the title track I loved this song on first listen, as these type of sad, heavy rock ballads are really what makes the most emotionally involved.

The lyrics are heartbreaking and the vocals to accompany as equally so, and again Sungjin's performance is the one that moves me the most. However I do have a tiny issue with it, and it is the production of the instrumental. I can't really distinguish any of the instruments clearly, and I think that if I the final product had been a bit more clean-cut it would have been even more fantastic. Still I can't complain too much, because this is truly one of this album's strongest tracks.

After listening to "The Day" I can without hesitation say that these boys certainly have what it takes to become big one day. All the songs are way above average and despite finding tiny faults in them it doesn't hinder me from recognizing that they are great writers and composers. Still a bit unpolished, yes, but for being their debut album and knowing that they themselves are the creators of the material on it has me reassured that they'll only get better with time.

Some songs on the album are more pop-rock, other more pop and some a fusion of the two. They try out a few different genres with the album's six songs, but the flow isn't unnatural nor does any of the songs stick out for being too different in terms of musicality. Although I would have hoped for them to have a rockier side, me being the rock fan that I am, I like the sound they're going for here too. What makes this group stand out though, is that they're by far the most "idol-like" band on the market, compared to acts such as CNBlue and FT Island. I don't know whether that will benefit them or not in the long run, but as long as they keep on making great music I'm happy either way.

Highlights: "Congratulations", "Like The Sun", "Colors"
Score: 4,25/5