Following the successful US Meet & Live tour concluding in July, Golden Child has made a comeback with their 6th mini album, AURA. With ten months and two Japanese single releases between AURA and the previous repackage album, DDARA, Golden Child is back to show a new AURA. Keeping the pace going after the tour that appeared to be an extension of the band’s South Korean concert, PLAY, Woollim Entertainment took this energy and put it on “Replay.”

AURA is the group’s first domestic release without their leader, Daeyeol, who enlisted for mandatory military service in March 2022. However, their member TAG, who went on a temporary break back in May due to a liver condition, made his comeback with this release and with a self-written song on the album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa9PSlGkY_s
The title track “Replay” shows a new side of Golden Child that has yet to be ventured and contrasts with the previous release that was “DDARA,” a laid-back song that showcased a more elegant and mature side of the group. Where “Replay” differs from the remaining discography of title tracks is the hard-hitting, vibrant instrumentals that can sound faster than their previous releases to date. Continuing the dystopian vibe of the releases “Burn It” and “Ra Pam Pam,” the music video is set in industrial-like scenes with choreography-heavy moments that prove Golden Child as a strong performance group.

“Purpose,” the second to last track on the album, is a sentimental song written, composed, and produced by TAG with lyrics from Jangjun that share the message of carrying on during times of hardship. In the lyrics “It hurts but we keep going on, keep going on,” a listener can feel the uplifting spirit in the hopes that everything will be alright in the end. One can theorize that the song was written during TAG’s own struggles, as he had mentioned on Pocketdols (a K-Pop idol messaging/forum app) that the song was one of his first self-written songs from two years prior.

In those two years before, Golden Child had gained a new look between their release “Genie” and “WANNABE,” a song that had solidified Golden Child’s popularity within the industry. After “WANNABE” and “Without You,” Golden Child had starred on the MNET survival show, Road to Kingdom, where they faced being the first group eliminated from the show. “Purpose” shows the strength of Golden Child during this time in the lyric “Even if no one understands me, I’m being me” as they continue to develop their own unique color that has stuck with them to this day.

Check out AURA on all streaming platforms and read the lyrics and translations for Golden Child discography here on Genius.

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Photo Credits: Woollim Entertainment

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