RM – 'Indigo' review: BTS leader makes emphatic bid for timelessness with remarkable solo debut - NME

Described as “the last archive” of the rapper’s twenties, ‘Indigo’ incisively and imaginatively captures the uncertainties and unpredictability of life.

It’s a fitting guide, not just because of how quickly ‘Indigo’ will weave itself into the fabric of listeners’ everyday, but also because of how much this album feels like a reflection of life itself.

Described by its creator as “the last archive of my twenties”, it holds a mirror up to a period that’s often seen as one of exploration and finding your path.

It, like life, is a record that is thrillingly in flux.

The rapper looks to the artist the song is named for, Korean painter Yun Hyong-keun, to lead him on “the path to finding out”.

Musically, the album takes life’s capricious nature to heart and wanders a zig-zagging path through a variety of genres, from the soft folk of ‘Forg_tful’ to the exuberant hip-hop of ‘All Day’.

RM has likened ‘Indigo’ to an exhibition, the musician playing curator not just with the stories he feeds into the songs but with the guests he’s assembled throughout the record.

In the “magazine film” that accompanied the release of ‘Indigo’, its creator described the album as feeling like, for the first time, he had “made something that’s mine”.

‘Indigo’ is an album that feels unperturbed by current trends and sounds most likely to score a hit, instead focusing on building its own inimitable world.

It’s too early to tell if the record will help the BTS leader achieve his goal of creating something truly timeless but, in this moment, ‘Indigo’ feels like a masterpiece with the potential to be remembered as a classic