The Boyz Successfully Escape with Your Heart in “The Stealer”
The Boyz are back with their first official comeback since their much-deserved win on Road to Kingdom! It was a strenuous journey for them to reach the top on Road to Kingdom, and as they’ve mentioned recently, an even longer journey preparing for this album. To meet the new expectations that have been placed on them as a group, they said they put a lot of preparation into this album; although they’ve never been a group to take things lightly, it definitely shows that they are still in it to win it with their unique concepts.
Music Video Aesthetics
As the title implies, they went with the thief/spy theme for their concept, and it’s evident—in the set styling and costume design you see—that The Boyz love to give attention to the little things. As we get into the video that’ll become a bit more noticeable. Before going into detail, let’s get this out of the way: Visuals? Insane. Concept? Amazing. Choreography? Complicated.
Now to start off simple, the transitions between member to member are on point and seamless, and the coloring for the set and the lighting techniques used are exceptional—props to the editing team and film crew. The styling and outfit design were amazing, which is where the little details come into play to help guide the concept along. Jacob’s first shot is very interesting because the overlaying edit is a gun target, and on his outfit where his heart is located, there’s a red sequined blotch sewn into the material of his shirt, which gives off the impression that he’s been shot. Another detail to point out: On Hyunjae’s shirt there are multiple lipstick stains that obviously give the impression that they were left by the girl they talk about in the song, whose heart they’re trying to steal. There’s definitely no shortage of glamour shots in this music video and they’re all stunning.
The choreography is complicated but comparable to their Road to Kingdom stages in terms of storyline and theatrics. After the first snippet of the chorus, the choreography gets intense and more acting is put into play, but it is no surprise that main dancer Q would be up front for most of the choreography highlights, which give backstory for the track itself.
The set and its little details aided the storyline and the actions the members took in the video. For example, the huge pink heart that makes multiple appearances is clearly the treasure they’re trying to steal through the video. Also, in Haknyeon’s scene where he’s on top of a cargo box, on the box is The Boyz’s logo. In one of the dance scenes, the set flooring is a giant target; this ties back into the lyrics and the other target edits in the video as a way to emphasize that they are the targets of the muse, who is trying to stop them from stealing the heart.
These cool details aid the members’ actions in the video for the purpose of the concept. Right before the bridge of the song, Hyunjae has a scene where he’s being targeted with lasers—clearly guns—and as they sing “pull the trigger,” he falls to the floor as if he’s been shot. Younghoon and New have shots after this where they’re behind bars; it prompts us to question whether they’re in jail simply because they got caught or if it’s a metaphor for them being trapped by the song’s muse. At the very end they show the room with the heart still inside and then quickly flash to the same room with the heart missing, giving us the final impression that they were successful in stealing what they wanted.
Let’s Talk About the Music!
Tracklist:
“Shine Shine”
“The Stealer” ♔
“Insanity”
“Whiplash”
“Make or Break”
“CHECKMATE (Stage Ver.)”
“The Stealer”
Right off the bat “The Stealer” is a complex track; the first 20 seconds are used to create a certain ambience, a setting if you will. You hear the classic piano come in, but along with that you hear the alarm sounding, a door squeaking open, and what sounds like footsteps, right before The Boyz take you into a brief snippet of the hard-hitting chorus. The song then breaks into the bassline featuring an audio effect that sounds somewhat like a beacon or signal, which fits into the overarching spy/thief theme. The harmonies that accompany the silky vocals and rough rap that come in blend perfectly and add depth to the already detailed track. When the pre-chorus hits, it first brings the ad libs that accompany the vocal lines; these nicely round out the track before going right back into the chorus. This track is something unexpected, and it will probably take a minute to grow on listeners, but it’s an amazingly produced title track, and we wouldn’t expect anything less from The Boyz.
B-Sides
At first listen, “Shine Shine” was surprising. I didn’t think they’d start off the album with something this strong, but I should have known. As soon as the beat dropped, I couldn’t help but pause and restart the song completely; it went that hard. When the vocals came in they were a bit rough, and then they gradually eased up and became more smooth and light to create a whole new sound that complemented the brief break from the heavy bass in the track. By far, the best part is around the two-minute mark where we get a beautiful bridge with the smoothest vocals featuring trumpets for a few seconds toward the end. The Boyz have some of the sweetest vocals in the industry, and the way they’re able to use them to their advantage to create something that is so intricate and sophisticated should be mentioned and appreciated more.
“Insanity” starts out with sultry vocals and a hard crunchy bass line that was clearly very meticulously created for this track. It creates an edgy, almost noisy backtrack right up until the vocals come into the mix and soften it up a little bit. Something to love in this track is the pre-chorus, where along with the main vocals, background vocals consisting of just “ah” are used to push the melody forward to that chorus, which was beautifully done. If you don’t particularly care for this song because of the beginning, once you hear the chorus it may just start to grow on you.
“Whiplash” starts off with funk guitar riffs that will immediately have you bobbing your head to the beat. Q begins the song with smooth vocals that transition right into a rap verse that gives off a completely different feeling from the vocals. This song is a cornucopia of different samples; it’s a breath of fresh air to hear something so light-hearted and free. The Boyz seem to always include a song with this sort of happy-go-lucky sound on each of their albums and it’s always nice to hear which song it’ll be. “Whiplash” is a song for all seasons, but it really gives off spring vibes. It’ll definitely be on repeat when that time comes.
“Make or Break” is a synth-heavy pop track that gives listeners a peppy and happy feeling as they listen to it, easily putting a smile on their faces. It’s not that complex in terms of musicality, but it does have some interesting elements laid throughout it, such as the guitars and keyboard (could be an organ) that’s sporadically thrown in to create a sound reminiscent of old school ‘90s music. In fact, the whole song gives off a ‘90s feeling with the way it’s structured and the way the vocals are overlaid. The vocals in this track are very harmony and adlib dependent, so when the drums come in during the chorus it makes for an exciting complement to the ears.
“CHECKMATE (Stage Ver.)” is the most dramatic song on this album, but we’ve seen Road to Kingdom, haven’t we? This performance was their finale song and ultimately the song that solidified their win on the show, so of course it’s going to be dramatic and complex. The piano and heartbeat sounds in the background during the intro give off a mysterious aura until the vocals come into the track. They’re strong, sensual, and teasing, but they draw you in and keep you listening as the song continues. The chorus by far is the best part, the violin and strings adding to the piano accenting the strong vocals that take over the song. This song has been a favorite of mine since they released it and the enhanced stage version just made me love it even more because you can hear all of the little nuances, hidden instruments, tinkering effects, and vocals even clearer. “CHECKMATE” was geniously produced and The Boyz really pulled it off, so I’m glad they included this version on the album.