Monsta X are BACK! This is the group that got me started on K-pop, so you know I was beyond excited to listen to The X.
This is their first album since the majority of the group completed their mandatory military service, and it’s also their first album with all six members again. The title is paying homag to the group, but also honoring their ten years together. I also read that there are six tracks representing the six members of the group. So much symbolism! For me, this is the first time the group has been active since I started listening at the beginning of 2024, so this just all feels really, really special.
And they’ve proven why they stood out to me first! This album is so, so good from start to finish. We were lucky enough to be given a single before the album’s official release with the opening track, “Do What I Want.” While there is still plenty of Monsta X for me to check out, right off the bat this sounded unlike anything they’ve released before. According to much of the internet, it’s a lot like Brazilian funk music – how cool! It felt like the title states, and it also just felt like they were all having a really good time with this one. According to my friend, who’s had K-Pop in her life way longer than me, Monsta X has always sort of operated in a way where they have an “IDGAF” style. That makes me happy to know that they are still just doing their own thing. The video for this song is peak 2000s nostalgia in the way its filmed – including the clip art graphics! They are all dressed as Korean demons and it works! Kihyun looked like he was having the time of his life.
The official single coiciding with the release happens to be the second track off the album, “N the Front.” I really love the bass in this song, it really makes the whole thing sound vrey groovy. The way I.M sounds starting the second verse was instantly so pleasing. I think I could listen to that part forever. But this song, along with all of the others on the album really, show how great they are at equal line distribution. It doesn’t hurt that they are all good at everything. There was also a video with this song, though not as iconic as the other video, the production value here is top notch. And Monsta X plus rain is always an equation that works! A song on the album that really should have rivaled a single release status is “Tuscon Leather.” The journey that this song goes on stylistically is so freaking good! There’s a play on several different 90s hip-hop beats, morphs into 2000s pop (think BSB), there’s a piano here and there, a bit of Latin thrown in at the end, and all of the rap parts are totally different! It’s so different the whole way through yet so smooth. I love it.
While the remaining tracks on the album aren’t quite as strong as those three, they are still really dang good. “Savior” has a bit of a sultry techno club beat that really works with Hyungwon’s vocals. Though for me, Shownu’s parts are a real standout. “Catch Me Now” mixes their signature falsettos with a really sick bass line. This song just proves again how versatile they all are in their vocal delivery – rappers included! The closing track, “Fire & Ice,” for whatever reason reminds me of older GOT7 material. It’s more of your classic pop, and possibly the closest you’re going to come to a ballad on this record, though that is still a pretty far throw away. It’s definitely the most different sounding off the record, but it’s still so great. And knowing that the guys had a hand in writing and producing all of the tracks just make this comeback that much sweeter.
Seeing Monsta X active again has me dying to actually see them live, so I really hope I get the chance in the US soon. Or heck, maybe when I’m over in Korea next month! Fingers crossed!