Leaving Like A Dream

Max Changmin “Airplane Mode”

“Airplane Mode” opens in medias res on a verse, the atmosphere around the gently rolling bass line already so thick that it feels like unexpectedly walking into a room full of dry ice fog and dramatic lighting. The particular guitar tones and the starkness of the arrangement remind me a lot of the xx, but with a more overtly pop density of composition – imagine if Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft ditched Jamie xx for Max Martin while still aiming for their familiar hyper-romantic vibe. Max Changmin, a veteran of the K-pop duo TVXQ, sings with light R&B inflections like Justin Timberlake at his most wistful and brings a perfectly calibrated level of cinematic romance to the song. It’s not so much to be overly syrupy, but just enough to feel like a more restrained and tasteful choice to fit into a moment in a rom-com depicting a pained yearning for something that might be lost forever.

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