The boys from Stray Kids are back with their second full-length album ‘NOEASY’. I have very high expectations, so let’s dive straight in!
NOEASY
We start off with ‘CHEESE’. What a fantastic start. We’re going straight, rage against the haters and it hits hard. Check the translated lyrics here. I’m loving these vibes. The repetition of the ‘yeah’s’ with the very electronic sound was dope.
Next up is the title track ‘Thunderous’. First of all, the video is next level! I am absolutely in love with all the transitions and the added animations. The amount of layers in this track is insane. The chorus is all over the place and has a whole bunch of changes in pitch and tempo. I dig it so much!
After that we get ‘DOMINO’. There’s a sick tempo change in there that was utterly bonkers. It is a super dynamic track that will get you hyped up in no time.
‘SSICK’ is more laidback and I think that was a very smart decision. With the lower tempo we can take a breath from the previous very intense tracks. Don’t mistake me though, it’s still an absolute banger that goes hard. However the intensity is turned down a notch.
Next up is ‘The View’. We’re going EDM summer vibes with this one. It’s another track with a different pace. It’s catchy and feels quite light in comparison to the others.
‘Sorry, I Love You’ comes after and was written solely by Changbin. The song is about struggling with your feelings towards a friend. You can read the lyrics here. It’s a rather heartbreaking track. The hip-hop ballad is really well done. It has some great rapping and fantastic vocals.
We follow that up with ‘Silent Cry’. We’re going modern rock with this one. It’s awesome. There’s some really fun things happening in the instrumentation. It all feels very snappy and we get a great buildup in the pre-chorus.
Next up
Han wrote the single ‘Secret Secret’. As I was expecting when I was looking at the credits, we’re getting a more ballady track. The lyrics tug at your heartstrings. The song still has a hopeful and comforting energy, which is lovely. The vocal line did a fantastic job.
Next up is ‘Star lost’. The song falls under the dance genre. According to the album description it is about performing in front of STAYS and feeling the energy. It’s lovely. The chanting in the bridge sold it for me.
The first sub-unit track is ‘Red Lights’. This unit consists of Bang Chan and Hyunjin. Okay, but that intro gave me chills. Bang Chan’s vocals in the beginning are insane. This track is sexy R&B and it is BRILLIANT. Bang Chan’s and Hyunjin’s voices mesh so well together. The strings in the back together with that dirty electric guitar is a 10/10. Damn, this is good!
‘Surfin” follows that with the members Lee Know, Changmin and Felix. We get another summer bop with a synth that reminds me of a pan drum. It’s fun and easy-going and meant to ease our worries away. Also I think there’s a ‘sheesh’ at the very end which had me laugh out loud.
The ballad ‘Gone Away’ is the last sub-unit track. The members Han, Seungmin and I.N are blessing us with their vocals. The piano adds to the emotive aspect of the track. Their vocals take the spotlight though. I can’t wait to hear a live version of this.
The last two tracks on the album are ‘WOLFGANG’ from their stint on the show ‘Kingdom‘ and ‘Mixtape: OH’ which was pre-released last month.
Overall
‘NOEASY’ by Stray Kids is another solid, solid release. We’re getting a really good balance between hard-hitting tracks like ‘CHEESE’ and ‘Thunderous’ and the ballads like ‘Sorry, I Love You’ and ‘Secret Secret’. All of the members have writing credits on the album.
You can listen to ‘NOEASY’ by Stray Kids on Spotify here. If you’d like to check out our review for their previous comeback, you can click here.
