Album Review: Dreamcatcher - Apocalypse: Save Us

In celebration of Dreamcatcher finally receiving their first music show win after years of build-up, I am reviewing their new LP, Apocalypse: Save Us. Driven by environmental themes, their album is a solid release. Dreamcatcher should have received wins previously for their fantastic Raid of Dream and Tree of Language releases, but here is to a win for one of Korea's best acts currently. Apocalypse: Save Us is far from their best release, but it showcases their transition to a poppier sound while maintaining at least the brief hints of their previous hits.

Intro: Save Us

With themes of natural and environmental damage, the album's intro, Save Us opens with some of the most atmospheric moments of the year. The dramatic, surging Church organ works fantastically with the burgeoning strings. Midway through, the track transforms into a b-boy-inspired breakdown, showcasing the musical themes of the album. I personally would have preferred in the track stuck true to the dramatic opening, but the introduction is fine nonetheless.

Locked Inside A Door

Building directly off the early 2000s street-ready sound of the introduction, Locked Inside A Door is a tad sub-par as an album's first track. it feels alien to Dreamcatcher's base sound, but they perform sufficiently. The rock-tinges in the chorus are certainly a highlight, along with the scat in the bridge. However, the song is a tad sub-par as the LP's first full song. The lyrics, describing the singer slowly growing out of a relationship is one of the track's few highlights.

Rating: 6.75/10

Maison

In a rare case for Dreamcatcher, the title track is perhaps the most focused song on the entire album. Maison is intense, opening at 11 and staying there throughout. Compared to other songs produced by the Edenary team, Maison is rather straightforward, building on a simple musical loop rather than acting as its own mini-opera. This is both a strength and a weakness. On one hand, it makes the song mostly static, with very few surprises. On the other hand,  it leads to a fantastic climax, one of Dreamcatcher's best in years.

Thankfully, the central AABA loop of the song is fantastic, and the song has some great raps and lines. Lyrically, I feel that Maison could have done a little bit more to describe the environmental issues at hand and their causes (such as with Everything Everything's Big Climb), but the apocalyptic climb is certain felt over the gliding rock beat. Maison is a strong choice as the album's single, and Dreamcatcher's best single since 2020's incredible Scream.

Rating: 8.75/10

Starlight

After the rock-inspired Maison, Starlight's synthwave is certainly a left-field choice for the group. Thankfully, Dreamcatcher have a solid vocal line that can easily handle this conceptual change. Starlight's lyrics on nostalgia barely tie into the album's overall theme (I guess the theme of there being a tomorrow does play into the overall concept somewhat), but function fantastically on their own. In the fandom, it has become a running joke that the fourth song of a Dreamcatcher album is always the most electronic-influenced, and often one of the strongest. This stands true in Save Us, as Starlight is one of the album's best songs with its speeding synth-pop chorus.

Rating: 8.5/10

Together

After the album's two best tracks, Together goes back to the 2000s pop roots shown early in the LP, this time with more of a house influence. Together's groove wins no points for originality, even if it gains some for nostalgia. Together does not really work with the album's theme at all, but at least the group's are vocally fantastic here.

Rating: 7.25/10

Always

Always is distinctly vague lyrically. A thank you to a lover? A thank you to fans? A thank you to the world? Either way, the promise provided in Always is assisted by a dreamy ballad feel. Any K-Drama fan would be able to name a large number of ballads in a similar style, but Always is quite solid, slowly building throughout its runtime. Time will tell how Always will age compared to its peers, but it is solid, if unspectacular for now.

Rating: 7.75/10

Skit: Seven Doors

A mid-album instrumental track, Seven Doors might just be the most conceptual track the album. Powering from some anthemic synths, it releases in a breakneck segment that recalls the best of video game soundtracks such as the Kirby franchise. If its task is to lead us to the solos with anticipation, it more than succeeds.

Cherry (JiU Solo)

Cherry opens the solo song segments with a burst of neo-city-pop. It is a surprising choice, but JiU's optimistic performance recalls the best of KARA. Cherry is pure fun until it reaches the brass-kissed chorus, hinting at something more potent than what came before. While the song never really reaches a point of pure euphoria, Cherry will likely improve with time.

Rating: 8/10

No Dot (SuA Solo)

SuA's voice has always been a favorite of mine within Dreamcatcher, with a sense of subtle aggression in her delivery. No Dot on the other hand takes what feels like a modern-day K-Pop boy band song. The drop chorus is tried and tired, but SuA's voice is a great asset, with her ad-libs and vocal moments giving the song life, which makes the vocally bereft chorus such a baffling choice. No Dot is surprisingly half-baked in its central refrain, but the speedy climax does provide at least one reason for return.

Rating: 6.75/10

Entrancing (Siyeon Solo)

The last time main vocalist Siyeon released a solo track on a Dreamcatcher album, it was Paradise, one of my favorite songs of 2020. Entrancing moves away from Paradise's synth-rock sound, instead opting for a dramatic, string-laced song that sounds like a C-Drama OST. This is fantastic, and Siyeon's voice perfectly fits this style. Lyrically, Entrancing's hint of global destruction is a move conceptually in the right direction, while also acting as one of the album's best songs.

Rating: 8.25/10

Winter (Handong Solo)

After Siyeon, Handong is the only Dreamcatcher member to release a solo single. Winter is not adventurous, and even a little safe, despite Handong's years of influence. In many ways, it is a fine coffee-shop song, though even Dreamcatcher have better releases in this style.

Rating: 6.5/10

Beauty Full (Dami Solo)

Keeping with the 2000s nostalgia seeking through the entire album, Beauty Full is pure teenage musical rock. A self-motivation song, Beauty Full is one of the album's most fun songs. The biggest issue with the track is Dami, whose voice has always been more suited to emotive and aggressive material. At least the surging melody is fun.

Rating: 7.25/10

Playground (Gahyeon Solo)

Closing the album is a jazz-inspired solo by rapper Gahyeon. Playground never really blooms into something special, but it is pleasant. The piano keys over the jazzy hooks in the chorus are probably the song's highlight. One element clearly missing here, however, is a strong coda.

Rating: 7.5/10

Cumulative Rating: 7.6/10

Overall Score: 6.75/10

The Cumulative Rating is the average score of tracks on this album. The Overall Score is my score of the album as a whole.

Unfortunately, Apocalypse: Save Us is one of Dreamcatcher's weaker albums in a lightning solid discography. Conceptually mish-mashed, Save Us has some of the best moments musically this year. The final few seconds of Maison are amazing, and Starlight's chorus is worth praise too.

Unfortunately, the album hops genres without much care. Sometimes it succeeds, such as with Entrancing's growing strings, but other times it fails miserable, such as in No Dot. The solo tracks also feel strangely misaligned, not fully integrating with each of the members' images and vocal textures.

Nonetheless, I am extremely excited by Dreamcatcher's increasing commercial success. Hopefully, they continue down this rock sound and inspire more and more rookies. Dreamcatcher are a classic of how a group can slowly build a discography, and Save Us has some strong tracks expanding their overall success.

Image Source: The Bias List