We’ve been itching to do another episode where we can take you through the music in its full-length glory, and so today we’re bringing you a listening experience like no other: we’re taking you on a journey with Kai’s 2nd mini album: Peaches. 

Why Peaches, you ask? Well, when Peaches came out we had full revelations and epiphanies while listening to it on repeat, and although Kai’s self-titled 1st mini album is also amazing, there’s just something about Peaches that hits like no other. I was so mind-blown by the way this album spoke to me that I originally did an Instagram story review. So this is a glow-up of sorts because the album still has me in a chokehold, almost a year and a half later.

Now, two things to keep in mind for today’s episode: the first is that Kathy did this episode alone as Laura’s work and life schedule did not allow her time to record. Aside from the scheduling issue, we’ve actually discussed the possibility of doing this (solo episodes) every now and then with specific topics, so we’re entering our solo project era. We hope you guys are cool with us experimenting a bit!  

The second thing is that today’s episode is going to involve A LOT of innuendo based on the vibes of the album, so this episode more than ever is for grown fans only. 

FYI – due to copyright restrictions with music, our streaming episodes are available exclusively on Spotify.

Listen here:

Before we jump head first into the listening experience, let’s do a short overview on Kai:

• Kai is Kathy’s bias in EXO. 
• Kai, or Kim Jongin, is a beautiful specimen and part of 1994 line 
• He’s the second to youngest member of SM entertainment’s group EXO, which debuted in 2012
• Kai has a limited range as a vocalist and he’s not a true rapper either, but what he lacks in vocal range he over delivers in dance and performance prowess. 
• His facial expressions alone should be immortalized at the Louvre. 
• Kai’s personality was kept hidden by SM until 1 blessed appearance on Knowing Bros.
• His contract states that he must ALWAYS perform unless there’s something physically wrong with his legs. Rain or shine, when EXO takes the stage, so does Kai.

So, what’s so special about Peaches and why are we talking about it today?

When Peaches came out, we had super high expectations because Kai’s first mini-album had some BANGERS, and living up to Mhmmm was no easy task. 

I was in the shower listening to Peaches front to back a couple of days after it had come out and after a few listens, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. THIS is why Adele made Spotify remove the default shuffle function for albums. Artists work very hard on their albums to tell a story, and when you listen to it on shuffle, the story gets distorted. 

The majority of the time this doesn’t really make a huge difference, but that specific day during that specific shower, I listened to that album and without fully understanding the lyrics, it just made sense. 

I sent Laura a text as soon as I got out of the shower to share my epiphany because I couldn’t be the only one enjoying the album in this way, to its fullest potential. I’ll be adding my texts to Laura below each song to share how the storytelling played out in my head. Disclaimer for any delulus who might take offense to my texts: those texts are based on opinions of scenarios that came from the vibe of the songs. I’m not claiming any of this is drawn from Kai’s real-life experiences.

I wrote a blog last year that I didn’t publish until last week where I share my top 10 albums I can’t live without, and although every single album there has a perfect all-kill score of me liking every song, for me, Peaches is the winner of storytelling from beginning to end.

Without further ado, let’s jump right into listening to the 6 tracks on Peaches 

1. Peaches

During the promotions for this album, Kai shared that the lyrics “talk about how one wants to be in paradise with a lover.” He said he came up with “Peaches” for his title track and album name because the word led him to widen his imagination.

“Peaches” is a dreamy pop track that describes the fresh peachy taste your love is. His message to his lover? They are desirable, rare and a sweet person.

About the music video:

• He wakes up in a forest of peach trees, which he picks.
• He dances under a Xie Shan roof (歇山顶) – a two-sided curved roof, known to be used mainly in temples, gardens, and official buildings.
• The choreography involves the motion of picking fruit from trees and adding them to a basket – all imaginary.
• There’s juxtaposition between old and modern. It’s set in traditional spaces wearing traditional hanboks at first, but there are also segments with more modern clothing and sets included.
• He hits every beat. It’s amazing.
• Watching him dance to this song next to one of SM’s top choreographers, Bada Lee, is a religious experience. Their chemistry on stage is off the charts.

Now here’s the text I sent Laura about my thoughts on Peaches (the track) and how I felt it was the beginning of a story:

“This is fuckboy music. He’s at a club, spots a cute girl that he wants to ‘conquer.’ He goes over to her and starts hitting on her, sweetly flirting to get into her pants. He’s saying all the right things.”

***

2. Vanilla

Kai said: “Vanilla is one of my favorite pieces. Although people around me said it sounded a bit knotty, I still decided to include it in my EP because I was really fond of its inexplicable sounds and moods.”

– The Korea Times

Although Vanilla unfortunately didn’t get a music video, it is the centerpiece of the Peaches Prologue Film, where we get to see stunning cinematography of Kai in water and later dancing in a cave. Shots of his powerful shadow and silhouette battle each other out as he moves with a force and grace only he can command so effortlessly. The dance break fed my soul.

There’s also a behind the scenes video of this shoot, so even though I’ll forever be heartbroken that this storyboard didn’t get the justice it deserved with a full music video, I find comfort in having at least some content to enjoy it all visually.

Vanilla as a song was and still is super intriguing to me. If the song had no lyrics, the melody would be amazing for a meditation, especially as it plays with sounds of nature, which was new within Kai’s solo discography. His low register in a sort of praying voice and his signature talk singing is present in stark contrast with really high falsettos. There’s something tribal or almost native about the composition in itself.

And to close with my take via text to Laura, the vibe it gave me was romantic one-night-stand:

“He was successful in taking the girl from the club home with him that night. They are passionately intimate yet it’s giving slow and missionary vibes. Very – ehm – vanilla.”

***

3. Domino

Domino is a track that might seem out of place in this mini album – it definitely did to us when we first listened. But my epiphany shower helped me see it in a different light: Domino is a celebration anthem after conquering a feat. There’s a cocky satisfaction to it that perfectly fits in my mental narrative of succeeding in hitting on a girl, bringing her home, and hooking up. That post-coital shower with this song playing in the background ✨JUST✨MAKES✨SENSE✨. Outside of this narrative, though, the song can feel oddly placed between the romance of Vanilla and Come In (track 4).

When looking at Peaches vs. Kai’s self-titled mini album, the song Reason from the latter sounds like a fitting predecessor to Domino. Reason is much more naturally his style, but Domino allowed him to experiment with a heavier hip-hop vibe that doesn’t necessarily fit him organically (he’s a sexy R&B artist all the way), but he makes it work. Both Peaches and Kai have a lot of similarities in how he went about choosing the flow of each mini-album, and could easily be combined into one, but they do make way more sense separately.

Lyrically, Domino stands out and plays up Kai’s cocky side. It’s filled with righteous arrogance and even though it took me a bit to warm up to it, I do understand its purpose and why it was the second and final song of his promotion for this album. The choreo is laid-back, falling in line with the notion that he doesn’t have to try hard because he IS the moment.

Here’s my text to Laura about it:

“You know how you said it doesn’t fit in the album? It does. This is the post sex anthem for the guy, feeling like the man because he scored big and even though the sex was vanilla it was bomb for the both of them. This is his big man NBA championship ring celebration anthem in the locker room.“

***

4. Come In

Come In was the one song I misinterpreted in the midst of my epiphany. To me, it sounded like an invitation for round two, but upon further inspection of the lyrics, I realized that the intentions are much more innocent. The request is not for a physical connection, but an emotional one. It’s an invitation to vulnerability and making that decision to take a romantic risk. Things may have started out as a hookup, but there’s a realization that there’s more than physical chemistry in the air. And the prospect of taking a leap of faith and transitioning from the cool stand-offish carlessness of a friends-with-benefits or no-strings-attached situation to one of caring… whew. Scarier than a haunted house for some, but Kai makes it appealing with his invitation to Come In to his heart.

Here is my original text to Laura plus the correction once I looked into the lyrics:

• First take: “They’re both considering going again, but they have early plans the next day so there’s a hard-to-get dynamic for a moment. They both know it’s not a good idea… but yolo. He’s really good at convincing her. Round 2 is on.“

• Take two: “Scratch that. This is vulnerability central. You get past the physical attraction of the beginning and realize you actually like the person and decide to be bold and actually give it a real shot.” 

***

5. To Be Honest

This song drove me to so many different places in my head, it’s crazy to think it’s a B-side. First, when you start a sentence with ‘to be honest’ it’s usually because you haven’t been able to or didn’t felt safe doing it, or you feel like it’s time to come clean about something. It’s giving communication issues because it’s hard to transition through relationship stages and there’s a lot of holding back going on.  

Musically, this song is rife with a layer of hip hop that to me personally is unexpected for what it’s about. The base layer beat can easily be used for a dance like Teach Me How to Dougie, but once you add the melody and lyrics, it’s a whole different story. It’s upbeat but also cautionary? It’s hard for me to explain all it’s giving me, because it’s a rich text. That bridge? It could be Neyo singing some early 00s Top 40 track. I find this song quite unique and while most people wouldn’t focus on it too much outside of the promotion and title tracks, I think it really stands out and is solid on its own, which is notable (at least to me) considering it also happens to be the shortest song in the album, clocking in at 2:53.  

My text to Laura about it said:

“This is that morning after conversation. The “what are we-s?” and “where do we go from here-s?” are flying left and right. Kai is like ‘listen to be honest I feel like we’re in different stages now, let’s play it by ear.’ And it all leads to miscommunication and feeling like they’re not on the same page due to fear of giving away too much too soon, but deep down they feel the same. Classic rom-com conflict.“

***

6. Blue

A song named Blue that starts with a sad melancholic melody and the lyrics ‘I don’t even know’? That escalated quickly. And yet it fits perfectly with my mental storyboard of the hookup that had potential but imploded before things could really take off. This track fits the vibe of Ariana Grande’s thank u, next album, which had me in a chokehold and I think that’s partly why this song felt familiar to me, in a way. The combination of instruments is interesting because the piano, snares, and drums are all telling different stories. There’s a sad undertone but it’s also giving ‘I’m not crumbling/falling down’ simultaneously. Like you’re sad things didn’t go well but you also knew this is where you’d end up all along so you’re not caught off-guard.
Aside from the lyrics and meaning, this song feels like it has more of Kai singing with his chest voice, which is where he typically finds challenges for his range, but him and his team at SM just know how to stretch him vocally *just* enough. Nothing that can’t be fixed in post with a little engineering and mastering.

My final text to Laura in this rollercoaster: “Yeah, it didn’t work out. Surprise, surprise. He’s feeling the loss, but he got his notch on his belt so really, not bad. He’s thinking of what his next move is and then all of a sudden… Mhmmm starts playing and his next adventure begins.”

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And with that, we’ve come to the end of our streaming party episode and detailed review of Peaches. What did you think of the album? Did you see the storytelling play out along with me? Leave any and all comments about it because I don’t think Peaches will ever not have me in a chokehold and I want to keep re-discovering sides to the music forever and ever.