I have been doing Monsta X dirty so far this year! It’s been six months since their most recent all English album, Unfold, was released, and it’s already been two weeks since their latest Korean mini album, The Phase, was put into the world!
I will admit that I didn’t check out Unfold until now because I was nervous that the sound was going to be overall too slow for my liking. But, their US tour is fast approaching and I know some of these songs will be on the setlist, so I knew I needed to give this at least one dedicated listen. Firstly, I was impressed that it was a full-blown album with ten songs! You almost never get full length albums from K-Pop acts. “Baby Blue” was a song that was released many, many months before the album ever dropped, but it’s still so insanely good. Everyone sounds incredible on it, and I’m always impressed and surprised by how magnificant Joohoney and I.M’s vocals are. This song gives me chills from start to finish and I just love the pulsing 80s synths on it.
Other songs that really stood out to me on the record were “Main Attraction,” “Sorry to Myself,” and “This!” While “Main Attraction” boasts a bit of 90s swag and some fun, groovy sounds, “This!” offers more of an R&B vibe, but I love how different everyone’s vocals were on this track. “Sorry to Myself” reminded me a bit of GOT7 at the beginning, but I couldn’t get over how short this song was! Nor could I ignore how funny some of the lyrics were. For whatever reason, there was next to no rapping on this album, which means we got some One Direction-esque songs like “Growing Pains” and “On Our Way,” plus some just downright bombs for me, especially “Before You Met Me.” I appreciate the fact that this album mixes it up from what we get from them on a fairly normal basis, but it’s certainly far from my favorite album of theirs.
Thinking back to how much I loved The XX album from them last fall, I was really excited for their newest Korean mini album, The Phase. I wonder if these names are intentionally part of some series, but regardless of that, the sound could not have been more different! The lead single, “Magic” at first had me really confused during the verses, and I found myself being really bummed after the first listen. But then I found myself singing the chorus later in the day and knew that I had to give it another chance. Surprise – I love it! “Type X” following up that track on the album is insane, because that song is insanely amazing. Right off the first note it’s a banger, and I love how everyone is sort of rapping on this song, especially since I.M isn’t around for this album’s release.
“That’s My Girl” is giving more of a 90s vibe, but I found myself immediately grooving to it. The rest of the tracks are good but not knockouts for me. “Survivor” intrigued me by sounding at little bit like an ATEEZ track at the start, and even Joohoney’s flow felt like it was channeling a little bit of Changbin’s signature style. But this song quickly morphs into a rock rap sound, with some throwback lyrics like “thriller” and “killer” in the same line. “Electric Heart” really let Hyungwon shine on this strong R&B song, and of course Shownu aced the style, as well. Joohoney also has a bit of a talking part before the last chorus that is delivered in PEAK 90s R&B fashion that was almost comical, but I really liked it. “Sweet Night, Sweet Morning” is not my style at all, but their vocals gave me goosebumps.
I love Monsta X and checking out these two albums has me geeking to see them next month. Stay tuned!