Review: Chen – "Door"

On Door, Chen from Exo returns for his fifth album with a collection of songs that reify his place as the best male vocalist in K-pop and let him spread his wings as a performer with only a few missteps.

Over the years Chen has developed a conflicting reputation as a performer. On one hand, he is praised as a generational vocal talent, on the other, he has been criticized as lacking variety in his ballad-heavy catalogue. Since he is no longer with SM Entertainment and has signed with bandmates Baekhyun's INB100 label, my curiosity about what Door would bring was piqued. And while Door may not diffuse such criticism completely, it does enough to suggest possible musical growth from the 32-year-old.

The album's single, "Empty," is also its best track. It's a swooning, heartfelt ballad befitting classic Chen. He manages to perfectly capture the sense of grief of a missed loved one through circumstances beyond our control. While it plays down the middle in terms of being another ballad, it stands out as an exemplary addition to his oeuvre.

It's followed by "Dandelion," the Baekhyun co-penned effort that suitably compliments its predecessor. Thematically, the song harkens back to his auspicious 2019 debut April, and a Flower, and it provides a plumbline for longtime fans of Exo and Chen to his old catalogue while remaining an important cut in his current output.

The soft R'n'B grooves of "Playlist" are next and they over a welcome mood shift, however, the song fails to hold interest the longer it goes. Although it contains Chen doing some of his finest vocal work on the album, the song itself is stock-standard stuff, and at just three minutes and eleven seconds wears out its welcome too quickly. The features from Haon and Be'O provide little impact on the track then a distraction.

What "Playlist" does do is set the stage for the other R'n'B tune, "Fall in Love Again." This sweet and sexy is another highlight and shows what Chen can do outside the realm of the ballad. It also shows off his voice in another way and proves his vocal greatness isn't just his ability to belt out high notes, but to understand the subtleties of what each song requires of him.

"Starlight" returns us to Chen's home as a balladeer, however, the track underneath is at its best when Chen is not singing, and when he is singing it acts as forgettable background music for a standard OST. And we've heard Chen do that better.

The album closes on a high note with the guitar-centered ballad "Remember." A step away from the soaring ballads of previous songs, "Remember" starts with an almost country music strum that develops into a simple song where Chen's voice gets to do the work. It's a strong way to end the album with a simple tune that sits next to the other songs on the album comfortably while offering a different musical setting for his superior vocal delivery.

While Door may not be a giant leap from his previous works that one had hoped as a result of Chen's changes in life and label, it nonetheless acts as its titles suggest as a threshold from which he can pass into greater things.

Rating: 3/5