Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, BTS gifted us with a clear contender for the song of the summer.
BTS, everyone’s favorite international seven-member force of nature, have generously dropped the song of the summer. “Butter” is the bop we’ve been waiting for and marks the group’s second full-length single in English since last year’s earth-shaking “Dynamite.” If “Dynamite” was a shimmering ‘70s-inspired explosion, “Butter” is the next decade’s answer — a synth-drenched, swaggering track sitting comfortably on an addictive bassline.
It’s a given that BTS understands the assignment, and often (as with today’s release) the Bangtan Boys end up tearing up the assignment completely and delivering something all their own. “Butter” feels like driving with the windows down on a sunny morning. It feels like Aperol Spritzes on a rooftop. It feels like a technicolor fever dream — but what, exactly, qualifies it as song of the summer?
Beyond the mind-boggling stats rolling in — Forbes reports that BTS broke their own record with an estimated 3.89 million viewers tuning into the live premiere of the music video — the song is, sonically, bright pop perfection. The chorus is an earworm, and Jungkook’s raspy “get it, let it roll” demands to be played time and time again. Jin slides up to his signature airy upper register before V brings us back down to earth in the second verse, where the harmonies double. Jimin characteristically floats through with ease, reminding us of his “superstar glow” — as if we could forget.
One of the most fun aspects of “Butter” is the inclusion of throwback-infused rap verses from RM and Suga and an outro from J-Hope (who, naturally, steals the dance break in the music video). Suga’s nonchalant “hate us, love us” says it all — it doesn’t matter what the masses say.
BTS is going to keep doing what they’ve been doing so well: obliterating records, delivering bops, and showing up the competition with a wink and a smile. Do we have a song of the summer? You butter believe it, baby.
