BILLBOARD: BIG BANG APPEAR ANYTHING BUT ‘SOBER’ IN WILD NEW VIDEO

Also, listen to the band’s latest tear-jerker “If You.”

A new month is upon us which means it’s time for another pair of BIG BANG singles. The boys are back with “Sober,” which comes accompanied with another wild music video, along with a new ballad, “If You.”

“Sober” explores a more rock-driven side of BIG BANG, a genre rarely heard from the quintet who typically opt for electronic and hip-hop sounds. Their latest boasts lush guitars mixed with pounding percussion, instead of an snappy pop beat, making it rather reminiscent to “Crooked” — a single off BIG BANG leader G-Dragon’s Coup D’Etat, Pt. 2 EP — that incorporates the same spunky delivery and high-energy rock sound. Both “Crooked” and “Sober” were produced and written by G-Dragon and BIG BANG’s longtime producer Teddy with the band’s rapper T.O.P and producer Choice37 helping on the latter track.

The accompanying video for “Sober” more or less lines up with the tracks’ lyrics about wanting to be anything but after breaking up with a significant other. The guys appear to be going mad in a colorful world where G-Dragon laughs maniacally in a field littered with beds, Taeyang is stuck in a steam shower in the forest, and T.O.P flips cars with his mind as baby goats watch. Throughout it, they move from looking hilariously paranoid to deliriously happy with the visual’s trippy color scheme adding to the intoxicated feel. But amidst their crises, the guys come together at the end to wobble and stumble through a field to chase a golf car spewing green gas emissions.

In addition to “Sober,” BIG BANG also released a new ballad “If You.” Touted as the quintet’s most emotional piece yet, the cut is centered around sparse guitar strums, impassioned belts and haunting croons throughout the chorus. For how silly the guys are getting in “Sober,” this ballad quickly changes the mood for one of the band’s most instantly striking pieces in years.

For the pairs of singles dropped in May and June, BIG BANG has managed to secure the Top 2 of Billboard’s World Digital Songs chart each time. Should “Sober” and “If You” manage the feat as well, they’ll beat PSY’s record for K-pop acts, who currently only has owned the Top 2 spots twice while having three No. 1s on the tally.