JENNIE goes in an unexpected and exciting direction with Fallen Angel.

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SONGS RANKED

3. Less than a Lover

“Less than a Lover” was Fallen Angel’s highly successful lead single, and it’s very clear why. It’s a beautiful showcase of JENNIE’s underrated vocals, and the catchy melody paired with laid-back yet danceable instrumentals makes for a great summer song.

The lyrics are about wanting a fling rather than a full-blown romance over the summer. The subject takes priority over others, but it is not a full-blown romance. The song is playful but also vulnerable as JENNIE sings about needing to relearn how to trust. It’s a perfect formula for a song of the summer, even though it was released in late July.

2. HEAVEN

In “HEAVEN,” Jennie moves in an almost dream pop direction that genuinely surprised me as I listened, and there were even hints of soft rock. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I love Ruby and “Less than a Lover,” but neither would lead me to expect this from JENNIE. Her vocals are great here. I love it when pop artists move into dream pop, even if it’s on individual tracks, so this was an absolute delight. The production on “HEAVEN” was, well, heavenly. The song is about JENNIE being in a toxic relationship, but the chaos of it feels like heaven to her. The distorted guitars make the dreamy production have an edge to it, which echoes the lyrics. This was a super fun track to hear from JENNIE. More, please.

1. FALLEN ANGEL

Fallen Angel’s all-caps title track has a unique and dynamic sound that opened the EP in a very interesting place. The guitar part that opens the track is odd, with notes that I didn’t expect at all to open a pop EP. It then immediately goes into a more pop instrumental, but there’s eventually an electric guitar, and the bridge has odd-sounding synths that I loved. “FALLEN ANGEL” went in so many musical directions that were so exciting to hear on a JENNIE track. I loved her voice here as well.

The best way to describe listening to this song is “exciting.” There was nothing not to like. I want to hear more pop music like this; it goes in unexpected directions that all pay off and make a cohesive yet diverse song. This is my favorite solo song by a BLACKPINK member, which says a lot, because I’ve been a BLACKPINK fan for a long time and love their respective solo careers.

SONG BY SONG RATING

FALLEN ANGEL (5/5)

HEAVEN (4.5/5)

Less than a Lover (4/5)

RGM RATING

(A)

Yes. I love this. JENNIE is shaping up to have my favorite BLACKPINK solo career, which is saying something, because as a longtime BLINK, ROSÉ has been my favorite member since I became a fan. JENNIE’s voice has improved significantly, and it’s occasionally drowned out by the production here, but compositionally, I love these songs. I do think that the EP should have had more songs, because three is really not many, and this made me want more, but I am now eagerly anticipating anything that comes next from JENNIE (not that I wasn’t after Ruby, which I also love). To quote her hit song “like JENNIE” from Ruby, I wanna rock with JENNIE.

Emma Platt