For all the people who might be new to K-pop music, here I am to offer some help. I’m feeling new too while I’m talking about one of my favourite bands, but listen carefully, you will not regret it.
ATEEZ is a South Korean band that consists of eight members. I know, it might sound like a lot, but believe me when I tell you there are even some K-pop bands with thirteen members or more. Thankfully I am not that crazy to be part of their fandom, in fact sometimes I’m worried about my friends who are and constantly checking on them. Anyway…
Ateez emerged from a talent show titled after their name, Code Name Is Ateez, and debuted in October 2018 with the EP Treasure EP.1: All To Zero. A few months later, a second EP, Treasure EP.2: Zero To One, had been released and their first world tour announced. The success of both projects brought them to their third and fourth EP in conclusion of this first series.
Their second series of projects would be called ‘Fever’, and on Friday, December 1, 2023, the last part of their third series ‘The World’ was released. Yes, there’s something you need to know about K-pop groups: they do love trilogies and album series.
I fell in love with the sound of this particular K-pop band thanks to a particular song called “Wonderland”. I loved it since the first time I listened to it because, as a former pianist, I was attracted by the Symphony No.9 by Beethoven that was used as a reference in the melody – and that’s how I decided to give a chance to them.
After the success of their previous EP, which marked their successful comeback, and led to the success of their third world tour so much so that it was quite hard to find tickets to it, the new album from Ateez titled The World EP.Fin: Will arrived on Friday, and has already established new records.
The anticipated video for the new single “Crazy Form” left an indelible mark on all digital platforms, surpassing 15 millions views in just 12 hours, setting a new important proof of the global influence the group has. That global influence is also backed by how their new album is now number 1 in countless countries.
It might seem quite easy for newcomers to the band to think that these guys are just there for visuals, they are just dancing and don’t care much about singing, which is supposed to be their main job. Well, with this album, Ateez is proving everyone wrong by giving us songs, in which all of them is involved in first person, in the production, in the writing and also in performing.
We can also listen to unit songs (sung by two or three members), which is an absolutely brand new thing for the band and, I’m sure, their fans (their so dedicated Atiny) will appreciate a lot. The members specified, since the album official press conference, that this would be the marker for the group’s new direction.
I definitely cannot choose a favourite track on The World EP.Fin: Will, I swear, so I’ll try to start from the main single “Crazy Form”. It is described as a dancehall inspired song, which is quite surprising if you watch its music video. You can see the boys in something like a futuristic world in which they create chaos and inject curiosity about their rebellion in the narrative – something you might expect from a group whose nickname is ‘pirates’ I guess.
To be fair, you can feel this kind of atmosphere in all the other tracks on the album, starting from the opening one, “We Know”. The lyrics like “you better run, hide and seek, coming close on you then I got ya” put me in the same mood that “Crazy Form” did when I first listened to it. It made me think that the music video for “Crazy Form” is just a start of this new story.
“Arriba” follows “Crazy Form” on the album, maybe because they’re in total contrast: there’s loads of flutes and flourishing melodies on this track compared to “Crazy Form” and the opening track I mentioned before. “Arriba” is already the audience favourite, due to changes in rhythm and vocals experimentations by the members.
The mix of vocals and rap is essential in K-pop groups, and Ateez have people like Yeosang and Mingi to cover these roles perfectly, with “Emergency” also following the same path.
“MATZ” is already considered the strongest (even between people I know) and it has entertaining lyrics, such as “Some can say it can give you heart attack“, and that’s when a professional artist (or two, in this case, as this is a unit song) is at work. Following up, we have a solo called “Everything”, a simple maybe not that outstanding ballad, but necessary to complete the sound and whatever the guys are looking for in their new direction.
When you continue listening to the album, you might realize that nothing is perfect, and you can find it out on the tracks titled “It’s You” and “Youth”, two unit songs on the album, in which the greatest mistake is the use of autotune.
They don’t need any of that, their voices are strong enough to manage any note, but despite this, the lyrics on “It’s You” is an obvious connection with my favourite song of theirs that I mentioned earlier, “flying endlessly like Peter Pan” can only make you think about “Wonderland”, right?
Smuggled into the middle of the album are “Silver Light” and “Dreamy Day”, which feel like continuations of both of Ateez’s previous two eras. They are also the perfect songs to bookmark this album’s circle of moods that are opened with the opening track, right before the true ending with “Crescent Part 2” and Fin:Will”.
Their constant questions and the sound of waves and sea in the background are the perfect description of the group’s moving forward with their sound idea. Hopefully they will continue to shine in every step of their explorations without being afraid.
ATEEZ’s The World EP.Fin: Will album was released on December 1 via KQ Entertainment, RCA Records and Legacy Recordings. Listen to it below, and stream it everywhere else here.
Words by Barbara Aragona
