I.M is back with a new album and he is under a new label! Sony! He debuted with Starship but this is his first comeback with Sony, so it kind of feels like a debut. I have to say, it is going well.

He isn’t doing the music shows promotion but he has been on a lot of variety shows and that. It’s so interesting seeing him attend them on his own.

Anyway, let’s immerse ourselves in the album.

Overdrive

This is the title track and omd the mv is a movie! A whole movie! I thought that the moment I saw the teaser and then when I watched the mv I was like, “Wow, I was right.”

Don’t ask me to analysis it though, I suck at that. Semiotics was my weakest subject in Journalism school. They had me analysing images and yet I was still stuck on the fact that advertisers are so crafty.

Anyway, slight tangent that basically says I have no theory on what the mv means but I think it looked really cool. I loved the trippy transitions, I never knew where it was going to go next. The parkour gang was fun.

And the mofo tank!!

Did it have wings at the beginning?

Anyhow, it was so cool. He looked cool but also wasn’t afraid to look beat up (initiation into the parkour gang?).

The song talks about how he’s going to make his own path. It’s the beginning of him craving out his own lane. So it’s fitting that they used a tank and you can literally see him breaking free at one point.

I wonder what it was like to be tied to a tank.

Also, when people were saying tank I had a very different image.

My favourite lines in the song:

‘My mind’s hungry for a new stimulus’

‘I cannot contain what’s in my brain’

Also there’s a line about turning blue and then the license plate says turning blue I think… so that’s why his hair is blue? *starts to wonder what he means by turning blue and what the significance of blue is*

Blame

Hello, let me introduce myself. I am Professor Gift and today I shall be talking through my theory for the storyline for the album. I know I said I’m not good at theories but that’s for visual things. If it’s written down I’m much better.

I.M did say we could draw our own interpretations from the lyrics so this is mine.

Blame, we come into this story hot! We do not start at the beginning, no, we start when the problems in the relationship are starting to manifest.

Oh disclaimer, I’m not saying this is I.M’s real life. Genuinely, I’m looking at this as a narrative piece.

So yeah, we meet a couple in a relationship and things are bad. I.M, the main character and who’s point of view we’re following, is blaming their lover for the pain he is feeling. I.M is also asking them not to leave, begging you could say, because he does not want to part from them. He has an intense need for the person and feels lost without them.

However, on the flip side the love interest is actually doing fine. Like, “Wow, I’m good, but stay safe y’all” *grabs purse and walks out*.

That would irritate me, like that line from the Got 7 song, If You.

Dumb

At first when I was reading the lyrics (by the way the translation is already there on the official audio on YT) I was thinking he was calling the lover dumb. I thought he was doing that because they cannot see how he’s in love and wants them.

However, as the song progresses it’s more like it’s him who’s the dumb one. He’s like, perhaps I misunderstood the situation. He is the one who is sprung and trying to keep their attention.

He wants them to be honest like, don’t lead me on but at the same time don’t leave. You can use me however you want.

There’s a lot of repetition of lines in this song, same with Blame, and for me that represents how he’s stuck in a spiral. They’re both stuck and they just keep going round and round in this toxic loop.

Habit

Saxophone by Kim Soo Hwan

Speaking of loops, this song for me is about the loop of a dead relationship. They’re just going through the motions at this point, going through them day in and day out.

However, even though he is aware he’s stuck in a loop, he doesn’t want to escape. It’s almost like he’s content with the staleness.

Also, they’re not treating I.M well in the song! But, he’s like it’s ok.

Thus the lyric:

‘I cannot love myself cuz you’re my habit to me’ fits so well.

It may be mundane but it’s comfortable.

This is my favourite song on the album. I love his singing in this and the melody is really soothing. I find that funny after having seen the lyrics.

It was my favourite on the first listen too.

I love how he sings the chorus in falsetto at the end. Ooh it’s so sweet.

More

*smirks at camera*

Heh

We couldn’t have an I.M album without mattress music. Thank you sir, for your service.

He actually called it mattress music in his Insta live recently.

So, the song is about sex but the song still fits in the narrative of the relationship that I’ve been building, so it’s a little toxic.

It’s a lot toxic.

They’re still in a relationship, but things have gotten worse since Habit. However, they are still physically connecting.

As soon as man steps through the door, they jump his bones, and vice versa. They’re both overcome with lust, but underneath the haze the problems are still there.

It’s a way for them to connect, the sex, a way for them to ignore the problems in a moment of passion. However, it seems it’s the only connection they have left.

Do not do this kids, it doesn’t work. That is something easier said than done though. Even if you’re not a person who likes or has sex, sometimes when a relationship is failing you hold on to the single tether that remains when really it would be better if you just let go, or cut it.

It is sexy though, the lyrics, if we look past the failing relationship.

My favourite line:

‘Down you your smallest birthmark, all of you I gotta know.’

I don’t know about you but that’s romantic.

Yes, I can feel you staring, despite what I’ve said before about the toxic relationship the line is still romantic!

Imagine someone saying that to you! *swoon*.

It’s only the lyrics that are sexy though, the melody is a little melancholy and doesn’t give me sexy vibes. However, sexiness is subjective so perhaps just not my kind of sexy.

INot Sorry

We can rejoice, he left them!

He’s free!

Dobby is free!

Someone gave him a sock and he’s free.

We see the conclusion of the relationship with Not Sorry. He’s done, finally, he’s got nothing left to say or give. So after he finishes his drink it’s over.

He’s sorry but not sorry.

I also get the feeling that now that he’s done the love interest is like, “Now wait a minute”.

I hate when that happens.

This is my second favourite song on the album. I love the jazzy feel of it. I love the vocals. It’s smooth and a nice way to end the album.

Wow, what a journey we went on with I.M!

Again, disclaimer, I’m not saying this is about a real life relationship he’s had. I’m just making a story from the lyrics. I guess because I’m an author the way I interpret things tends to be in story form.

I enjoyed it. It’s a great album to wallow in your angst with. However, he does offer you a way out of the angst, so it’s healing in a way.

It’s also smooth and sexy.

He doesn’t rap once, which makes me wonder, is he over rapping? This is just something I wonder in general and not just in relation to this album. With Joohoney and I.M, I wonder do they prefer singing over rapping or is it just that they’ve rapped for years and it’s nice to switch it up.

Overdrive doesn’t really fit in the narrative, like the song Overdrive is doing it’s own thing in its own lane.

My only con is that the songs were short. The longest is Habit and the shortest is Not Sorry. However, if they needed to be short then that’s fine too. It’s not a big con to be honest.

I love that I.M got to express himself, that he’s satisfied with the album and that he got to challenge himself. I hope more and more people get to enjoy his art.