ROSÉ, “roșie.”

K-Pop superstars BLACKPINK may have stunned fans when the quartet opted against their individual contracts with music giant YG Entertainment to pursue solo careers, but those endeavors seem to be working out so far. Roseanne Park, better known as Rosé, is the first member of the group to release a full-fledged solo LP with rosie.

The album is a change of pace from K-pop, and Rosé had a lot to do with that. She co-wrote and executive-produced the entire project. How does it sound?

Rosie is a decidedly mature album, bringing together a singer-songwriter aesthetic with a sleek retro-loving pop vibe along the likes of what Sabrina Carpenter has been making as of late. For most of the album, she opts for restraint and introspection. That leads to moments of vulnerability that maybe didn’t lend themselves prior.

“Tell me I’m that new thing/ Tell me that I’m relevant/ Tell me that I got a big heart/ Then back it up with evidence,” she sings on opening track “number one girl.”

Rosé adapted the principles of pop to her own style and sound. Acoustic mid-tempo ballad “3am” could easily double as an early Avril Lavigne track. It’s simple yet memorable with a natural infectiousness. Then on “two years,” another mid-tempo number, she picks up the pieces of a broken relationship long after its end.

“Two years since you’ve been in my bed/ Even had a funeral for you in my head,” she sings.

It’s not all introspection, however. On bop “toxic till the end,” the dynamics of the song really kick in with heavy synth hits leading into the final chorus. The laidback but beat-heavy “drinks or coffee” offers another change of pace. There’s little to add about funky Bruno Mars collab “APT,” which is all over the charts at the moment. The pop-funk artist and hit songwriter is a perfect vocal sparring partner and brings his personality to the song. For a pop song, you can’t ask for much more and it remains a highlight of the record.

“Gameboy” is plucked right out of the ’90s—so there are some parallels with where K-pop has been heading in recent years—with a soulful pop sound and heavy rhythm. Again, the vocal delivery is impressively subtle and earnest and the entire record takes on a raw and organic tone. Rosé flexes the vocal muscle even more on piano-laden balled “stay a little longer,” with a little bit of a bluesy swagger to it.

“Make me wanna hate you, so I don’t have to miss you/ Oh, make a mistake, so someone’s to blame,” she sings during the bridge.

The intimate “not the same” offers another surprise in its intricacy. The song strips away all the layers to a few acoustic stringed instruments providing the accompaniment, again straying quite far down the path from the stadium-sized bangers for which she’s been known. The mood continues on piano ballad “call it the end,” which stretches her vocals, a slight strain helping to convey the pained emotion of the track.

The album continues along this path and closes on a relaxed note, with the slower-paced “too bad for us” and laidback jam “dance all night.” Rosie offers an interesting test to see how fans take to this direction. The songwriting is generally solid, the vocal chops are definitely there and the album offers an interesting first step, if it’s indeed a new direction for the BLACKPINK star.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at mikedewald.bsky.social.