MUSE by BTS’ Jimin is a Deep Dive into the Intricacies of Love and What Lies Beyond

Who wouldn’t want to be the muse to the one and only Park Jimin? 

It feels a little strange meeting him like this once more—blond, beautiful, bright-eyed—when my most recent memory of him involves a buzzcut, a bag slung over his shoulder, and an air of uncertainty. Watching a Jimin of the past brings the sunshine back into our sad OT7-less lives in the “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” music video makes you want to turn back the clock. Watching the same Jimin lay his palm along the svelte waist of that lucky, lucky female dancer in “Who” makes you want to move time forward. While FACE was an exploration of the self, MUSE is an exploration of love and romance—and what would romance be without a stretch of longing to bridge the gap between Jimin’s enlistment to his return? 

Work on MUSE began roughly around the time he’d wrapped up everything that was necessary to share FACE with the world. In Mini & Moni Music, fellow BTS member RM expresses how much he enjoyed the opening track, going as far as to say he loves it more than the entirety of FACE—and I would have to agree. How “Rebirth (Intro)” came to be is, in summary, organic. An experimental ditty Jimin had been test running on the piano became the backbone of the song, and he’d sought help from the youngest member of his team in writing the lyrics, simply because he has long forgotten the feeling of having a crush. Heavily inspired by the Beatles’ eighth studio album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Jimin brought in rapper Loco to add some hip-hop flair to “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band”, a lively and dynamic big band type track that will have you grinning from ear to ear. And because Loco had gotten married around the time they were piecing this song together, Jimin asked him to share some wisdom about that stage of love through the lyrics as well. Marketed as the album’s first single, it sets the tone for the album in its entirety and showcases Jimin’s vision for this new body of work.

The second single, “Who”, is the highlight of MUSE. It’s a compelling, radio-friendly 2000s-inspired song that screams ‘chart topper’, tailor made to suit not just the artist’s vocal style, but the standards of music replay value as well. I couldn’t move on to the next track the first time I heard “Who”. Instead, I found myself itching to play it over and over again, savoring the surprising lushness of Jimin’s lower register in ways I don’t usually get to when listening to BTS’ group songs.

And oh, how Jimin has grown as a singer. The song—and the album itself as a whole, in fact—pushes him to his technical and emotional limits; there’s a difference in how he used to sing versus how he does now. His voice feels fuller and richer because of the marked departure from the techniques he used to employ to hit all those crazy high notes. Jimin is fully committed to working with material outside of his wheelhouse, and the contagious enthusiasm that has accompanied this learning process just makes me much happier about what he was able to experience creating MUSE. 

“You sing more comfortably now,” RM notes. 

“I can’t sing our old songs anymore,” Jimin says in all honesty. He’s working to find a new sweet spot; a middle ground wherein he can sing their old songs, albeit in a new way because he would like to keep expanding his vocal spectrum. “I don’t know how long it’ll take to become a version of myself that I’m totally satisfied with.”

MUSE is Jimin’s creative response to the feeling of lack he’d found himself experiencing during the lull in his life. Tracks one through five—“Rebirth (Intro)”, “Interlude : Showtime”, “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band”, “Slow Dance”, “Be Mine”—have him navigating through his emotions and expressing his feelings to a hypothetical crush. By the time the sixth track (“Who”) rolls around, Jimin realizes that all those feelings he’d expressed in the previous songs aren’t actually real. Rather than a change of heart, this is a marked step towards finding his true heart—albeit a restless one. 

He wonders, fervently, incessantly: “Who is my heart waiting for?” 

And so the search for his MUSE—whether it be in love or in music—continues. 

Banner photos via @bts.bighitofficial