{"id":504885,"date":"2026-02-28T08:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T08:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/504885\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T08:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T08:34:08","slug":"k-pop-group-blackpinks-deadline-is-a-fantastic-if-too-short-return-to-form","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/504885\/","title":{"rendered":"K-pop group Blackpink’s ‘Deadline’ is a fantastic, if too short, return to form"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those who love the K-pop girl group: Has a more thrilling phrase than \u201cBlackpink in your area!\u201d ever been uttered by an artist? <\/p>\n

Blinks, the moniker for fans of Blackpink, have<\/a> been waiting for a proper group comeback from the foursome for more than three years. Jisoo, Jennie, Ros\u00e9<\/a> and Lisa have been busy<\/a> with solo projects,<\/a> but they only had to say \u201cJump\u201d last summer for fans to gobble up the hardstyle, Eurodance extravaganza of a single.<\/p>\n

Eight months later, they\u2019ve released a third EP, \u201cDeadline.\u201d At five tracks (four solid hits, \u201cJump\u201d included) it is not nothing, but for Blinks it is like giving steak once every few years to a starving lion.<\/p>\n

Compared with other K-pop bands, Blackpink, debuting in 2016, has had relatively fewer comebacks (in K-pop industry lingo, a \u201ccomeback\u201d is each time an artist releases a new single or album). However, Blackpink\u2019s catchy songs, energetic choreography and undeniable charisma have propelled the group to a level of incredible stardom.<\/p>\n

With \u201cDeadline,\u201d they serve, serve, serve, serve and swerve. As a group known for quick tempo tracks, Blackpink should know by now to avoid the sob section. The sole ballad, titled \u201cFxxxboy,\u201d features emotional lyrics and beautiful voices, but doesn\u2019t quite land musically with its simple guitar line.<\/p>\n

In a surprising twist of events, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin<\/a> is credited on \u201cGo\u201d \u2014 a song with an industrial sound underscored by bone-vibrating bass \u2014 for both lyrics and music. His contributions become clear at the bridge, when the track morphs into the most Coldplay sound ever, led by Jennie\u2019s voice. <\/p>\n

\u201cMe and My\u201d is a classic slow R&B jam featuring a very subtle Latin jazz trumpet. It is co-produced and written by controversial hitmaker Dr. Luke<\/a>, as is \u201cChampion,\u201d a puzzling yet hypnotizing anthemic rock single that cycles through \u201970s strings, \u201990s smooth rock and a bit of pop-punk.<\/p>\n

As a globally famous K-pop band, Blackpink has begun experimenting more with singing entirely in English with Korean lyrics peppered in. The culmination of that approach is \u201cDeadline,\u201d where the only song to feature some Korean-language lyrics is \u201cJump.\u201d It\u2019s a practical choice for international music markets, but purists might grumble that the \u201cK\u201d is slowly disappearing from the \u201cpop.\u201d <\/p>\n

Overall, the mini-album is a satisfying chapter in the band\u2019s discography. The lyrics to \u201cChampion\u201d say it best: \u201cAnd if I take a \u2018L\u2019 I still fight,\u201d a neologism for \u201closs,\u201d signifying defeat. The spirit of resiliency is there \u2014 but this record is full of wins.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

\u201cDeadline\u201d by Blackpink<\/p>\n

Four stars out of five.<\/p>\n

On repeat: \u201cGo\u201d<\/p>\n

Skip it: \u201cFxxxboy\u201d<\/p>\n

For fans of: Unexpected tempo changes, the club, Coldplay<\/p>\n

Cristina Jaleru, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For those who love the K-pop girl group: Has a more thrilling phrase than \u201cBlackpink in your area!\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-504885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}