I love a good paranormal album, and Memorabilia does not disappoint. Memorabilia by ENHYPEN (also written as Memorabilia Dark Moon or Dark Moon Special Album <Memorabilia>) is a special album made especially for the band’s own webtoon series Dark Moon, and it is themed and crafted to perfection!
ENHYPEN, a 7-member band, was formed in 2020 from the survival show I-Land. I admit, I am new to ENHYPEN’s music, but I have been happily surprised by how succinct and theme-centric Memorabilia is. This album, although crafted for a webtoon, is filled with courageous music experimentation and fun vampiric elements melted into the tracks.
So what’s it about? Vampires, and unabashedly so. I kinda love it! I am a sucker for a theme and this album is no exception. The imagery of thirst, fate, and eternity wind together to create a very compelling product. There are pounding beats, seductive lyrics, and small moments right on the edge of a key change that give the songs a paranormal energy. There are also slightly unnerving sonic elements like the haunting tick of a clock or unearthly whispered screams that really add excitement and draw you into the world ENHYPEN has created.
After some digging, I discovered that two songs featured on this album were previously released for the webtoon, one of which I have a particular affinity for. “Criminal Love” is a simmering depiction of the forbidden, seductive love you know a vampire would crave. The bass is deep and comes in triplets; images of someone banging on the door to life grow with each pounding of the drum; the desperation of the singers coming through. Throughout the song, there is also a magnificent layered scream that shouts “Criminal Love”. This isn’t your average Olivia Rodrigo scream; it’s wonderfully complex and is layered in such a way that it catches your attention, electrifying the atmosphere like a whispered shriek.
One of the four new songs on this album that caught my ears was “Teeth”. Sung by four members of the group (Jungwon, Heeseung, Sunoo, and Ni-ki), this song has fun with its pacing and surprised me with its tonal shift. It was amazing. The vampire theming is on point and the lyrics play with a lot of elements you wouldn’t directly attribute to vampirism, like getting bored and the fun of a chase. This song also switches up the sound of the album by introducing an electronic keyboard, and it goes hard. My favorite moment in the whole song is when all elements slow down out of nowhere, getting slower.. slower, mirroring the lyrics that speak of feeling numb and needing something new. It is fantastical, compelling, and really stood out as a high point in the album.
Another song that deserves a mention is “Lucifer”. The creepy ticking element in the beginning sets the stage for a very deep and painful song that ends in lyrics of fiery destruction and revenge after a relationship fails. A subtle trap beat at the end of sentences also adds a sensualness to the composition.
Although this album was primarily made to support their webtoon, I found a lot of diverse sonic elements were used, and I still enjoyed the album. One critique I found myself thinking throughout the album was that there were a lot of songs with “Ooh oohs” and “La las” heavily featured. I understand that this is a sort of compilation album of different releases for the webtoon, but as someone listening to the songs for the first time and in order, it got a bit repetitive. I also didn’t completely love “One in a Billion.” (Though I do appreciate that it is a more up-to-date term considering today’s population!) The track was just a little generic to my ears, but again, for a webtoon album, I think it accomplishes its goal of starting off the album with hyped energy.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Memorabilia. It took a lot of research to find its relation to the webtoon as a new listener, but I enjoyed the music and am excited to read Dark Moon! I was really impressed by the dynamic compositions and appreciated both the paranormal theme and wordplay. I’m just starting on my ENHYPEN journey but am ready to sink my teeth into their next album!
