Stray Kids Warns You of Life’s “Side Effects” in Their New Music Video
Mere months after the release of “MIROH,” Stray Kids have released a new album and a new music video. “Side Effects” comes as a shock to many as the total opposite of the traditional summer release.
About the Song
The song is very busy, to say the least. The beginning has an eerie piano melody that leads to a heavy mix of beats and electronic sounds that sound fresh out of a thriller movie soundtrack. The chorus of the song is what drew a lot of people’s attention, the phrase “머리 아브다 (My head hurts)” is repeated over a club beat. If that wasn’t distracting enough, a robotic voice in the background lists various side effects, which is soon drowned out by a scream. Throughout the song, there are two screams that are heard: one that belongs to Stray Kids’ maknae Jeongin, the other belongs to the leader Bang Chan. The track’s verses are less intense when compared to the chorus, with its bouncy vocals over the piano melody. The song’s vibe is perfectly composed for the deep vibrato that comes from rappers Changbin and Felix. Overall, this song is one that could easily be mixed into any club’s dance mix, but I’m not sure if it would make the everyday playlist.
About the Music Video
First thing, this video should come with a seizure warning. Several times throughout the video, the lighting flashes so rapidly that it could be triggering to some viewers. The video begins with a familiar scene, a bus stop where all nine members are waiting for a bus to pick them up. That scene fades to black and shows a truck with Lee Know at the wheel, passing through a massive pasture. The pasture scene follows into one of the main dance locations, a street covered with fencing and traffic blocks. The part of the music video that shocked most viewers was that of Seungmin and Hyunjin arguing to the point it got physical, leading to the fight being broken up by Changbin. As the music video is winding to a close, two different versions of Stray Kids are pictured in a split screen, one version in the bus and the other in the truck. The truck that the members were riding in popped a tire and they had to continue their journey on foot, while the bus pulls to a stop. The ending scene of the music video features the members pulling Hyunjin from the middle of the field and continuing their journey on foot.
The song is very busy musically and the video continues Stray Kids’ narrative of outcasts finding their own paths. It is definitely a song that takes some warming up to. Check out “Side Effects” below!