Review: TXT – The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION

Some Brief Housekeeping

Omg I’ve been away from the blog much longer than expected 🙈. I have had some major life changes over the last like two months. Really, 2024 has been a mess. Lots of growth, but like a house renovation, it’s gonna look awful for a while before it starts looking good.

And I’m currently in that phase. I’m the house with the Waste Management dumpster sitting outside with contractor trucks parked all in the road and workers constantly going in and out. Walls being torn down, old furniture waiting for disposal, all of that.

But the good news is that I’m back to having more time to blog regularly. So I’m incredibly happy to be back in creation mode where my work is appreciated ✨ ✨. I’ve been spending the last week trying to get caught up on “new” music over the last couple of months. I have DKZ’s REBOOT, and then I’m on to May releases. I’m slowly but surely getting caught up.

Content wise, I’ve had time to think about what I want to do next. My plan is to complete this TXT series, which will have two more articles after this one (Blue Hour and Other Fave TXT Songs, which will cover Fight or Escape and Thursday’s Child). Then we’ll have a bunch of Fave Songs articles with some Quick Thoughts sprinkled in.

Okay, on to Tubatu ⛵️

Real Introduction

Because I ended up working on this article months later than I expected, it’s given me even more time to marinate my thoughts on TEMPTATION and TOMORROW (minisode3). Which is great for both albums, really. TEMPTATION era is one of my favorite eras for aesthetics and music for TXT.

When I think about my favorite TXT album, The Dream Chapter: ETERNITY (I think I’ll add a bit more to my current article I have on the album), naturally, my second and third fave TXT albums are going to come to mind. And after some back and forth, I have definitively decided (as of Minisode 3: TOMORROW being the most recent album) that TEMPTATION is my second favorite TXT album.

For a moment there, I thought TEMPTATION surpassed ETERNITY for me. The track run alone is out of this world. Easily my favorite out of all of their discography as of writing. I never listen to “Eternally” from ETERNITY. And I like “Wishlist”, but it’s usually a skip for me. I can listen to TEMPTATION all the way through, and I did when it first released, for weeks. I still listen to “Sugar Rush Ride” and “Tinnitus” regularly.

Back in March, I bought all three physical versions of TEMPTATION as a treat for myself. And I was so ecstatic to finally have them all. Each concept is beautifully executed, and I still can’t really decide on my favorite one. It’s a tie between Farewell (the shipwreck one) and Nightmare (the glittery, Blumarine one). You can check out all the concept photos here.

I’m a Beomgyu girl, but I swerved into Yeonjun’s lane so fast this era 😅. This has been my one of my lock screen options off and on for over a year now.

I think I save this from Twitter user katehafortaeguk, they’re the best. Anyway, let’s get into the music!

Devil by the Window

Ahhh yes, a special performance video, my favorite. I love this Studio Choom-esque vibe. TXT was just in Paris for Dior’s men’s summer 2025 collection. And I wish they put them in shorts like the ones in this performance video instead of the ones they wore to the airport. I just need them freed from this Dior contract, they DO NOT know what to do with them, lol.

The styling in “Devil by the Window” is a banger, though. Completely suits the song and choreography. And what a choice for an album opener. Setting the scene perfectly for what’s to come.

Slow Rabbit, probably one of the most well known Big Hit writers and producers, worked on this and “Happy Fools”, but his work is so expansive. And if you’re ARMY, you know him whether you realize it or not.

We also have Blvsh, another Big Hit alum (and recently worked on Nayeon’s Na, can’t wait to talk about that one), and Chris James.

I always forget “Devil by the Window” is an all English song. This was kind of the start of them releasing more music in English/working with English-speaking musicians. It’s very eerie, but the bass in this track makes it impossible not to nod your head and vibe to. It reminds me very much of “Can’t You See Me”. I love the spooky yet dancey vibes of it. TXT always understands and exceeds the requirements for the assignment.

I constantly bring up track order and the importance of it on albums. Song order can make or break an album. And as music because more… idk commodified isn’t the word. Music has become what fast fashion is to ready to wear and haute couture.

There’s such a fast turn around and things don’t have time to grow or simmer like it used to. It’s definitely about streams and big fan bases over quality and longevity. And I supposed the lack of monoculture like we had before the internet has changed things in a way too.

There still is a monoculture online, we still have moments where we can all connect to something going viral more or less around the same time. But events like Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction and the Superbowl are few and fair between now. Events where EVERYONE, online or not, knows about something, and you hear people talking about it in like a Walmart or at work? That’s how you can really gauge someone’s popularity/relevance.

It’s the reason why in America, at least, they still play a ton of hit songs from like 15 years ago or older along with new music. I’d say new music maybe takes up 30% of airplay, it’s mostly old stuff.

I’m not one of those, “it’s TikToks fault music is bad now” people. Music critics and fans have complained about the music industry and the direction music has been headed for decades. Like oversaturated trash pop or whatever.

But in an era where people consume music and eras so quickly, people don’t have to listen to an album all the way through anymore. I remember a few weeks ago, people were talking about “crazy album runs”. People posted their favorite three to four songs in a row on albums, and album trilogies they love. And I loved seeing what people had to say. Whether I agreed or not.

People still care about good music, it’s just you gotta put in a little work into finding it, whereas 15, 20 years ago, we all pretty much just ate up whatever was shown to us on MTV and called it a day. There was an underground scene then too, of course, but the general public wasn’t super privy to that.

Anyway, I say all that because “Devil by the Window” sets up “Sugar Rush Ride” so incredibly well. It’s maddening. You can listen to “Sugar Rush Ride” without listening to “Devil by the Window”, but man it hits differently when you listen to it in the order it’s placed on the album. Chef’s kiss for real.

Sugar Rush Ride

Wait Beomgyu thumbnail? Love that for us. Song of the year right here. When I say this song still gives me chills and hype, I’m not joking. “Sugar Rush Ride” somehow gets better every listen, but still sounds just as amazing as I remember it.

Dance Pop TXT, unfortunately, is my favorite TXT. I’m a basic and simple lass, if you give me a TXT Dance Pop track, it’s probably going to be God tier for me. It’s why I love “Blue Hour” so much. And I will talk more about this when I cover Fight or Escape, but I have wanted another upbeat dance track from TXT like “Sugar Rush Ride” for so so soooo long, and to finally receive it, it felt like my prayers were finally answered by the universe.

A lot of creative geniuses worked on this track. Slow Rabbit, Sofia Kay, Supreme Boi (another Big Hit alum y’all probably know), Moa “Cazzi Opeia”Carlebecker (icon), Hitman Bang, Salem Ilese (I still haven’t listened to “PS5” 😅), Krysta Youngs, Myah Marie Langston, and Ollipop.

“Sugar Rush Ride” along with being a fantastic song, it also has an engaging music video to go with it. I love when music videos are short films. And we’re quickly dropped into this world along with the boys, and the adventure it takes it is wild. Another small detail that I adore is that we see glimpses of each concept, farewell, nightmare, and daydream, in the music video. We got different looks in the video for the members, but the scenery and makeup was all connected.

I hate when you get a teaser trailer, or images, but you don’t see any of it in the video itself. It’s like a bait and switch. Not here. It’s also a video where you can rewatch it multiple times and catch something new each watch as well. This is easily one of my favorite music videos of all time. So much detail, care, hard work, and creativity was put into it. And it totally paid off.

Happy Fools feat Coi Leray

My fourth favorite Western collaboration in Kpop. My favorite English rap on a Kpop track. Miss Coi Leray did the damn thing. This is such a fun, happy song. Idk how you could hate it. And all the members participated in writing it.

I was nervous when it was first announced there would be a Western collab. I don’t listen to Coi Leray’s music, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I ended up enjoying it much more than I expected I would. The dance Yeonjun came up with, for it was cute and easy for anyone to do.

I knew when I saw them on Act: Sweet Mirage, I couldn’t wait to see this one live just for how upbeat it is.

A lot of the same faces again on this song: Slow Rabbit and Revin (another Big Hit alum). And as I mentioned eariler, all of TXT, and we have Coi Leray and one of her producers Akil “Worldwidefresh” King.

Tinnitus (Wanna Be a Rock)

I can’t talk about “Tinnitus” without mentioning the demo, also a banger. Or their Lolla performance. I can’t decide which is my favorite song from TEMPTATION, “Tinnitus” or “Sugar Rush Ride”. They’re both so addicting. I cannot thank Ebby enough for this song. And Taehyun and Yeonjun having song credits? Very sexy of them.

A lot of SM Entertainment people on this track and that cracks me up. I swear the same like six people make my favorite songs in Kpop. Dystinkt Beats, Smash David, David Cabral, Jeon Ji-eun, Lee Seu-ran, Stella Jang, Jo Yoon-kyung, Danke, and January 8th.

Another song I couldn’t wait to see performed live. I miss Act: Sweet Mirage so much that was such a phenomial concert. I hate I couldn’t see them during Act: Promise 😭.

Farewell, Neverland

One of the main performances I remember so vividly from Act: Sweet Mirage is TXT sitting on the boat on stage and performing “Farewell, Neverland”. The set was so beautiful, lots of beige and white. Soobin’s part in the first like, 20-30 seconds of the song is my favorite. I’ve always loved his delivery of his lines.

But when I saw them perform it live, I didn’t realize it was his part, so I spent the remainder of the song stunned and in awe. And officially having to accept that Soobin is in fact, my second favorite member. But now I know and when it came to parts in FREEFALL, I was ready, lol.

So now I just associate this song with Soobin stealing my heart and the gorgeous set design at my show. I love these midtempo ballads from TXT so much. This is another track with numerous people credited on it. Including Yeonjun, how ironic. That man is all over this damn album, omg.

Anyway we have Carson Thatcher, Hitman Bang, Joseph Kurbanov, Revin, James Sullivan, Jake Torrey, Peter Thomas, El Capitxn (I thought he’d pop up somewhere), Yeonjun, Moa “Cazzi Opeia” Carlebecker, Ellen Berg, Jeon Jinwoo, Jang, and Danke. Slay.

I have so much love for this album and era. I think I’ve talked about how TEMPTATION really brought me back into TXT and MOAland. I have been permantely seated since then and I’m having a blast.

I’m curious if y’all have a definitive favorite song from TEMPTATION. And if this is also one of your favorite TXT albums. Let me know everything in the comments. Blue Hour is next.

Take care,

Ash💫