Drama

The record

Drama is aespa’s fourth mini album, released on 10 November 2023 with six tracks. The title track shares the record’s name. It came six months after the third mini album MY WORLD of that May, and the tracklist printed with IZM’s review carries the English single ‘Better Things’ of August as its closing track.

The album introduction on Bugs describes the title track as a hip-hop dance track built on drums and a synth bass. The same text says ‘Don’t Blink’, ‘Hot Air Balloon’ and ‘YOLO’ were performed at the group’s first solo concert before the record came out, and calls ‘You’ a song written for the fan club.

Reviews

Jang Jun-hwan of IZM read the record on from the one before it. Of how the title track moves, he wrote that “in the bold progression that goes forward stripped of unnecessary motion and with the fewest instruments, one feels the confidence of having found a direction”, and of the lyrics that “as if there were no longer any need to labour over the plot and the whereabouts of characters, ordinary words and a repeated hook sound take that empty place with assurance”. He called the retreat of the universe’s setting “an unofficial declaration of leaving Kwangya”, and wrote that “even through the large change, the individual timbres of the members and the best of their combination are heard intact, and that is plainly a positive”.

Clash, in the United Kingdom, ran a review by Abbie Aitken and gave the record 7 out of 10. She wrote that “now with their fourth mini album ‘Drama’ aespa projects themselves into a glaring dimension, replete with elements of pop, rock, and even a hint of hyper-pop”, and the review closes by calling the record “a welcomed expansion to the aespa universe”.

Among the tracks

Of the title track ‘Drama’, Aitken wrote that “‘Drama’ is electric; its energy is tantalising”, and of its opening that “an ominous synth hums as a dancing clank teases the hefty track”. She reads the song as differing from the group’s earlier title tracks: it still holds the same motto of female liberation, she wrote, but its presentation feels more captivating.

Of ‘Trick or Trick’ the same review says it is “a halloween-esque track, utilising heavy bass and playful lyrics”, and that “leaning into the world of hyperpop, ‘Trick or Trick’ makes for a frisky listen”. Aitken rendered ‘Don’t Blink’ as a track whose “more minimal production allows for a greater focus on the aespa’s collective vocals”, wrote that “‘Hot Air Balloon’ is like entering a video game”, and called the closing ‘You’ “a sentimental gentle track, led by an easy-going guitar”.

Around it

The music video went up on the official SMTOWN channel on the day of release. Idology’s column on new releases did not run between June 2023 and December 2025, so the month this record came out was never covered there.