Butter Reviewed
Michayla
The first thing that struck me about the MV was how sad I felt at the new BigHit Music introduction, I miss BigHit’s spheres and the soundbite we've all grown to love. After that, there wasn’t any sadness at all!
Of course I noticed the beat straight away which echoes ‘Another one bites the dust’ by Queen. I was watching the MV trying to process my thoughts and I’m not sure I can verbalise them because my head was in complete chaos as BTS took us from scene to scene. I do know there was a moment when I had a huge injection of happiness, felt deep down, which reminded me of how I feel when ‘So What’ is on. I also thought of ‘DNA’ when I saw the bright casual gym style of outfits which brought a really lovely familiarity with it. I also couldn't fail to smile and have my heart soar when the members spelt ARMY with their bodies… I adore them so much.
By the time lunchtime came around at work I'd managed to cram as many replays in as I could. Bizarrely I found that while listening to it I started feeling quite emotional which is something I hadn't experienced so far. No rhyme or reason, there were certain points that caused a tightness in my chest and I certainly couldn't explain it as I tapped my foot to the beat. I think that you hear something different in a song if you listen to it through earphones and I had my buds in so maybe that was it?
As soon as I got into my car I resumed my playlist but managed to get home without Butter playing which was disappointing but I do have a short journey. The MV went on once I was through my front door and the happiness once again kicked in, with the visuals playing a huge part in that. I absolutely love Hobi’s part towards the end, the song seems to change so many times throughout the 2 minutes 45 seconds but for whatever reason it is Hobi that really hits me in the feels with his:
'Smooth like (Butter), cool shade (Stunner)
And you know we don't stop
Hot like (Summer), ain't no (Bummer)
You be like oh my god'
By the time Friday was over, I didn't know whether I wanted to rave about the music or the MV visuals more. If we are talking about the MV then I feel that ARMY are at a complete disadvantage because the MV begins with Jungkook and Taehyung’s verse and if the visuals weren't enough, their vocals are outstanding.
'Smooth like butter
Like a criminal undercover
Gon' pop like trouble
Breakin' into your heart like that (Ooh)
Cool shade stunner
Yeah, I owe it all to my mother
Hot like summer
Yeah, I'm makin' you sweat like that
Break it down'
Also, the part in the lift where the members dance individually is fantastic: Jimin looks amazing in his grey suit and glasses, Namjoon has moves that I'm not sure we've seen before, Taehyung is sultry in orange, Jungkook busts his moves complete with ponytail, Hobi owns the lift space with enthusiasm, Yoongi treats us to some cool body movements and Jin really does get groovy! Seven individual stages which I could watch on repeat and it's definitely one of my favourite scenes already.
The song itself injects the biggest dose of joy and positivity into your world. Naturally, 'Butter' will be compared to 'Dynamite' because it's in English and has the same vibrancy. For me, personally, I cannot compare them because as a Michael Jackson fan, 'Dynamite' will always be special to me due to that link. What I do know is that I couldn't stop smiling when I heard 'Butter' and I couldn't keep still either. It is everything a summer song should be: celebratory, exciting, euphoric and catchy.
Charlie
My first impression of Butter was affected by my state of being awake at 5am, not hearing the usual premiere countdown music (you can practically hear it in the image below) which was replaced by the much more relaxing alternative of the BTS countdown, and the new BigHit Music intro which I am still not used to. So, when the song started, I was not ready to handle whatever BTS were about to destroy me with this time.
And after a day of streaming, I still cannot handle them.
The black and white shots of BTS just vibing, kissing their hands, flirting with the camera, coupled with the seductive subtitled lyrics like “Yeah, I’m making you sweat like that” had me more flustered than when Yoongi said “It’s so hot ARMY, because of you”. These boys know how to seduce with their music and words without even being try-hard about it. Like butter easily melting on a hot day, BTS’ suaveness in this video and song is absolutely effortless.
The thing that stood out to me on my first listen was the line “ARMYs right behind us when we say so”, when BTS spell out the word “ARMY” behind Namjoon. That part made me instantly chuckle fondly, a moment of “Wow, even in this flirty romantic Summer song that’s perfect for radioplay and showing off their performances, they’re still making sure to explicitly mention ARMY and put us in the centre of it… these guys”. And that chuckling instantly descended into me crying my way through the final chorus.
Yes, even BTS’ lighthearted music makes me cry. The power of Butter.
Forcing myself to watch different music videos and listen to different songs inbetween Butter was quite the chore, as it is such an addictive song. Despite the chorus being the main part of the song, the verses definitely stand out as the vocals sound so unique. I’m tone deaf so I can’t explain how or why, but their voices have a new attitude to them, a new colour.
And upon further listens, the song has not gotten old or any less fresh. Every time I go back to listen, I get excited all over again at the smoothness and confidence that the song exudes. It is mature and polished but fun at the same time. It is a Summer anthem that has the catchiness of Dynamite while still sounding completely new. And of course, it is so quintessentially BTS in its colourful yet cool attitude.
Onomey
Butter, when I heard that this is what the new single was called, my mind went on a mad journey trying to figure out what that could possibly mean. Are we melting the butter? Are we cooking something? Is it a metaphor for something else? Will it be an up-tempo song or a slow one? Who knows?
The funk is felt from the first note that JK sings with the electric bass supporting the piercing kick and snare drum that has you grooving to the punching impact that as he lets us know how he’s ‘smooth like butter’ and is ‘breakin’ into your heart like that’.
When it was finally released I was blown away by the different scenery especially the gym setting in the MV and the solo lift setting as it really highlighted them as individuals, plus we got to see a little solo dance from them all just vibing to the song which is never bad at all.
The funny thing about this song is that the song doesn’t even have the word butter in the chorus; it’s more in the verses where it’s used and J-Hope’s outro. Speaking of that outro, I hope that he didn’t really have to eat that piece of butter because that would be disgusting. I was left thinking, now that’s pure dedication to the MV.
The song in itself didn’t blow me away on the first listen as I was left wanting more by the end of the song. After a few more listens I was able to pick up on the individual hidden signs of brilliance in the vocals especially with a few tiny vocals runs that I was like WOW is there any need to be blessing our ears like that, boys.
I have to talk about Suga’s rap. At first, I didn’t even realise that it was done in English or that it was him rapping first, even though it's him looking great in green on the MV upfront. I found myself being like, do my eyes deceive me? I was like who is this person pretending to be Suga but sounds like he’s lived in the U.S his whole life. He sounded soooo good I was glad that they kept the same disco vibe to ‘Dynamite’ but were able to change it up a bit to make it a more tropical summer pop track.
The people that stood out to me in the MV were for sure V and Jin as they were especially feeling themselves throughout the song which I’m guessing we all appreciated. V also has my favourite line throughout the song which is ‘don’t need no Usher, to remind me you got it bad’ because that is one of my all-time favourite Usher songs. The riff that Jungkook does on this line is amazing; it is a vocal riff that Usher would truly be proud of. Alongside the harmonised backing vocals, the dropping of the music emphasises the impact of it that a bit more so no one has an excuse to miss out on the golden riff. U Got It Bad reminds me of my childhood as well as my family; as soon as we hear it, we are all belting it out loud. His 8701 album is one of my favourite albums ever. To hear BTS even reference that song had me in all kinds of feels because it was such a smooth line, almost like butter shall I say? It was two worlds colliding that I love.
My impression of everyone's overall performance is that it is great to see everyone in full confidence with an electro-funk styled song. My favourite section of all is the electro piano break sections because of how fun and different it is from the rest of the song. I don't think I've come across a BTS middle 8 section like this before and I enjoyed seeing them dancing in
that section in the MV.
Overall, it’s just fun to see BTS in another era where they can just mess around and enjoy themselves as I think we all need that in the world right now so the boys delivered at the right moment. I hope in time that they will be able to release a Korean sung song and it has the same effect in the western world but one can only hope in regard to that. The song is for sure a summer bop and is a massive earworm. As I said previously, it was when I listened to it a few more times, I fell in love with it and had it stuck in my head regardless of whether or not I wanted it in there. That to me shows the true impact of a great song. Everyone around the globe will be singing ‘side step, right, left to my beat’ whether they want to or not.
Cheryl
I cannot fully express how excited I was to hear Butter, especially after the final teaser with BTS looking sharp and dangerous and J-Hope’s hair - well let’s just say I thought this song was going to hit hard and take us back to early BTS.
So, unfortunately this was not the case - I was wrong - however, Butter still packs a punch and really has a Summer success written all over it, with the yellow backgrounds, black and gold outfits at the end, together with the catchy hooks and lyrics.
What I particularly liked was the black and white section with each member holding up their jail placards, BTS being naughty. I was surprised to see their names written on them because surely everyone knows who they are by now, but RM explained in an interview that this was not the case.
I also enjoyed the individual ad-lib dancing in the lift - such fun. This also reminded me of the clips where BTS fans are in a lift and the doors open and the catch a glimpse of BTS, the fans reactions are priceless and make me wonder how I would react in the same situation.
When I heard the song for the very first time, I thought it sounded over produced and rather too busy - at first I felt the music drowned out BTS’ voices. But after hearing the song just a few times more, I was hooked and love everything about it. I was also thrilled to learn that RM was involved with writing the lyrics.
I have a question though; does anyone else heave at the end of the video with J-Hope putting that much butter into his mouth?
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