ATEEZ Gets to “WORK” in Latest EP
2024 has already been quite the year for ATEEZ. From breaking records on the charts to being the first K-Pop boy group to perform at Coachella, it’s hard to deny that the group is at the peak of their career, at least for the moment. Despite being busy since their last album release in December and with a world tour on the horizon, they’re already back with their newest mini-album GOLDEN HOUR : Part.1 and six brand-new songs. It was going to be hard to top the masterpiece that was THE WORLD EP.FIN : WILL, but the new mini-album has a brand new era and a fresh concept to kick it off.
The Title: “WORK”
Upon hearing the first teaser of the melody of this song, I have to admit I was completely taken aback. The instrumental by itself is somewhat jarring, with an incredibly prominent clarinet taking center stage in the melodic line. However, this is ATEEZ we’re talking about, so there was no doubt that whatever they’d cook up to go along with this peculiar sound would be a banger, and that was right. By the time they dropped the teaser for “WORK,” the chorus of the track had already solidified in my brain for at least a week before the song dropped. While the last title, “미친 폼 Crazy Form,” was a hard-hitting loud track, “WORK” has more of a chill vibe to it. The hip-hop beat that drives the song is incredibly addicting, and it brings a different brand of vocal flavor to match along with the melody. The song opens up with the chorus, which is more like a rap, though it’s hard to really classify it as such when it’s more just like a spoken word verse. While Hongjoong opens the song, vocalists Yunho and Seonghwa join Hongjoong and Mingi in performing the addicting chorus.
What made this song feel different from their previous releases is that, for the most part, all of the vocalists stay within the same lower tenor range for their verses, which even includes Jongho at one point. He, of course, still does his high notes and harmonizations that are part of his signature vocal talents, but I do like seeing a switch-up in the overall sound. While many times it seems like each vocalist gets a verse to shine in their individuality, “WORK” feels more like a song they adapt to in order to create a more unified sound. What makes ATEEZ so interesting as artists is their ability to switch up their sound and to do it exceptionally well. I would be remiss not to mention the addition of Spanish in the lyrics to give us a trilingual song, which we always love to see. “WORK” is groovy and addicting despite not being their usual intense, high-energy sound.
As much as I love the song, I love the video even more. In some sense, it sometimes feels like K-Pop has lost its fun, whimsical, and unserious tone, but the “WORK” music video brings back some of that fun. Mingi is dressed as Willy Wonka, Seonghwa is riding on an ostrich, Jongho is buried in the ground and playing a flute (which I have to assume is a comedic take given everyone knows the instrument focused in the melody is a clarinet; he’s also holding the flute incorrectly but that’s a personal grievance), Yeosang appears to be raising chickens that produce golden eggs, there’s even a Grand Theft Auto reference. Pretty much every set is over-exaggerated, with insane CG giant chickens, money raining down all over the place, and Hongjoong and Mingi as giants in a city fighting a giant money monster. Something about the state of the world makes me really feel like we needed a dumb, unserious music video just for some giggles. It’s a nice change too, since a lot of their lore and videos tend to be rather deep and serious in concept. Sometimes, we just need a little whimsy.
The Album
GOLDEN HOUR : Part.1 opens with the intro “Golden Hour,” a particularly sentimental introduction to the album that was emotional. It’s short and sweet, and feels different from previous intros in other eras. Rather than focusing on a storyline, it feels like it’s sending a relatable message for the listener to consider.
“Blind” was a song that caught my attention in the album spoiler immediately. The Latin flair of the song speaks to my Mexican heritage, and I really like how ATEEZ performs this type of song. It’s pretty authentic sound-wise to the obvious influences, though a little bit of EDM is added. While most of the song composition is fantastic and exactly what I pictured in the album spoiler, the harmonica instrumental after the chorus is a bit underwhelming when there’s such a buildup in the rest of the track. It just feels like it’s missing a little bit of something.
“Empty Box” shifts the energy to something far more somber, presenting a soft R&B ballad that is particularly bittersweet—and yes, I did cry. Such an emotional song on an album that, otherwise, has been mostly playful is definitely unexpected, but it is delivered beautifully. The more solemn tone of the track is very different from the rest of the album.
“Shaboom” presents us with a sound we’ve never heard from ATEEZ before. The song is a full-on reggae track mixed with a bit of trance EDM to create a fusion track. I can’t say I saw this one coming at all, but there’s no doubt that it’s interesting. I do think the fusion of the two genres is done particularly well, as on the surface, it doesn’t seem like they could necessarily mesh well.
The final track, “Siren,” ended up being a favorite. I am admittedly somewhat terrified any time there is a song with the title “Siren” on an album since, most of the time, that means the song is going to be extremely noisy and not in a good way. But this “Siren” manages to be a catchy, hard-hitting EDM track that has the energy we’ve come to expect from ATEEZ releases. The use of accidentals in Yeosang and Jongho’s verses particularly made this stand out so much. This one definitely could have been a title more on track with their usual powerful releases.
Overall it seems like the main focus of this EP was to create a cohesive album that has Latin influences, which vary in degrees based on the song. ATEEZ and their producers really do an amazing job at putting together songs with a lot of genre diversity while still sounding good and not overly forced, and I think that’s showcased beautifully in GOLDEN HOUR : Part.1. This is a new era, which is clearly reflected in the mini-album, but it’s a great collection of tracks and just more proof that ATEEZ has the musical prowess to be at the top of the pack. They never fail to impress me with their releases, even after six years.