Carrying a four-year-old career full of breaking records such as becoming the first K-pop girl group to perform at Coachella and enormous numbers on YouTube, BLACKPINK has finally released their first full length album, “The Album.”

Cultivated with a mix of English and Korean tracks, BLACKPINK’s “The Album” experiments with different genres to deliver a refreshingly new take on the sounds that threw the group into stardom, but ends up falling short of any sincerity within its lyrics.

The album features American musicians such as Selena Gomez on “Ice Cream,” a bubblegum pop track for the summer, and Cardi B on “Bet You Wanna,” an R&B track that does neither Blackpink nor Cardi B any justice with its forced lyrics that feel as meaningless as the collaboration between them.

“The Album” begins with the single “How You Like That,” which broke records back in June when it became the fastest K-Pop music video to reach 550 million views on YouTube. The song begins with a grand orchestra ambience and drops into a trap beat in the chorus of a repetitive phrase, similar to the structure of other Blackpink songs such as “Kill This Love.” 

“Crazy Over You” (which for some reason is entirely in English) brilliantly combines traditional oriental sound with a retro hip-hop beat. “Love To Hate Me” is an R&B-influenced pop song that feels reminiscent of early 2000s R&B. 

But “Lovesick Girls” is the star of the show. Accompanied by a music video similar to a coming-of-age film, the strong pop melody is supported by country-style guitar. It is the type of song you’d scream in the car on a summer night after a breakup. 

The best part of the song is that two of the band’s members, Jennie Kim and Jisoo Kim, had a creative hand in the making of it, which is uncommon for K-pop artists signed to big entertainment companies. 

“Lovesick Girls” is cathartic and genuine, especially in comparison to tracks like “How You Like That” and “Pretty Savage,” which feel more like catchphrases that try and fail to describe who the girls behind the songs are. 

“The Album” is only 24 minutes long, consisting of eight songs. The up-tempo beats make you want to dance but the album itself ends without a clear message after jumping from breakup song to love song, back to breakup song and repeat.

While it’s diverse in sound and gives each member a chance to show off their talent, the lyrics lack artistry and feel disingenuous to who the girls that make up BLACKPINK are. Maybe if given more tracks, “The Album” would feel less like a pile of random songs that leave you wanting more from its impressive beats yet depthless lyrics.