Stray Kids
樂-STAR
Release: November 10, 2023
Review by Aaron Oppheim
Korean group Stray Kids has returned with their new EP 樂-STAR, romanised ROCK-STAR, a mere six months after topping the charts with 5-STAR. The jam-packed 8-track EP is grand and a testament to their "play hard, work harder" mindset. When asked about the concept, Hyunjin shares that "a rockstar is an important artist that represents the current era", and with members fanning across different art mediums – from words and paints to fabrics and movements – Stray Kids surely fit the bill.
All tracks are written and composed by at least one member of 3RACHA, the group's sub-unit comprised of Bang Chan, Changbin and Han, who are the main writers and producers of Stray Kids. Since forming in 2017, the producer trio have purposefully crafted the group's distinct sound, expanding across genres and playing with intensity and fearless experimentation.
Photo courtesy of JYP Entertainment
Megaverse has set the scene for this comeback prior to its release and, fittingly, opens the album. It sets a grand claim for what the album can be and is divisive in its grandness. With a break-neck intensity, it borrows and samples elements from each of the group's universes, highlighted by a skilful balancing act of arrangement and production. The sheer scale of the octet's ambition is what really pushes the song to its heights; their unapologetic artistry constantly expands across everything it touches.
"Ever since District 9 (the group's official 2018 debut track), things are getting more challenging. I guess it means we're breaking out of our boundaries, growing and getting stronger," says Lee Know. "We have to know where to exert our power."
The EP's title track, LALALALA, is a non-stop show of strength and harbours an aura that dominates the stage. "We've always had a catchy point, but with LALALALA, the performance itself is the point," explains Lee Know. "Would you get it if I said it feels like we're throwing a ball at you?" he grins.
To many listeners immense joy, the EP also features a rock version of LALALALA. No pop track with a little bit of drums here, a little bit of guitar there in sight: Stray Kids went all in (hehe). With soaring guitar riffs and atom-shaking basslines, it detonates in a way that has the metalhead/emo-to-kpop pipeline folks itching to whip out the moshpit.
The EP's title, 樂-STAR, is a play on the Hanja character for pleasure, pronounced "rak" in Korean, while the music video for LALALA features the Hanja characters for emotions joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure. "People experience a multitude of emotions throughout their lives: joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure... in the end, I hope the emotion we choose is pleasure," reflects Changbin. This introspection runs through all Stray Kids does. Sometimes out in the open for everyone to see, sometimes lingering just under the covers should you care to look closer.
On tracks like Blind Spot, it somewhat lies in wait behind an upbeat, pop-punk-inspired arrangement, but the message is loud and clear: "What you see isn't everything, hidden in the blind spot."
"Even if we look cool on stage, even if we don't show it, we're always competing, and to survive in the competition, we have to constantly evolve and improve. We're not asking for sympathy, but we want you to know what's going on," explains Lee Know. "This isn't just about us. We just happen to be standing in front of the camera, so many people are working hard out of the spotlight, and their efforts won't go unseen," Han adds.
Among booming productions and break-neck intensity, we find 가려줘 (Cover Me), written and produced by Hyunjin and Bang Chan, standing out from the album with its more grounded presence. Despite depicting struggling to get through the day, searching with tears in your eyes for someone to cover you, stay with you – it stands out as the most steady song on the album. In a touching show of support, each member brings their own experiences to the song, almost as if standing guard around Hyunjin – far enough to hold space, close enough to reach out, never letting the fear truly settle. "The song is created with everyone's voices," Hyunjin says.
The same show of unwavering love shines bright on the Korean version of Social Path (feat LiSA). With lyrics like "gave up my youth for my future", the song revisits the sacrifices of their their trainee and debut days in an equally heartbreaking and inspiring fashion. "I wanted to try writing my story," Bang Chan, who formed the group, shares. "We've been together since our trainee days, which means we've spent roughly a decade together. We spent every day together, cheering each other on, and all those emotions are melted into this song. Those memories will stay with me forever. I hope this song could be a song we could all sing together with a smile," adds Hyunjin.
"If our message sparks a change in you – even if just a little – if it can move people's hearts, that's good enough for me," Bang Chan concludes.
Photo courtesy of JYP Entertainment
The album, while impressive and distinctively Stray Kids, somewhat lacks coherence. Instead of focusing on a bigger piece of art, the kpop industry tends to favour more mixtape-eqsue short-form releases multiple times a year in pursuit of being something for everyone. Perhaps the way the industry sets up an immense buildup toward their releases makes it nearly impossible for the music to live up to what we expect after weeks of non-stop schedules of promises of the next groundbreaking thing, massive productions and lore.
As a listener, I'd love to hear a piece of art that is entirely sure of what it claims to be, and while this comeback's concept is embracing their unfiltered free spirits, I can't help but wish for a stronger sense of cohesion. Regardless, art is anything you want it to be – and maybe, just maybe, the point is to wander a little astray in the pursuit of it.
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