Hello everybody, and welcome back to Emily’s kpop album reviews. For those unfamiliar with this genre, kpop, which stands for Korean pop, originated in South Korea and incorporates various other genres and styles, from pop to R&B to EDM, into unique sounds that, if you dig deep enough, you can find literally anything to suit your tastes. You may be familiar with some current popular groups such as BTS, Blackpink, and NCT, or maybe the previous groups that I’ve done reviews for: ATEEZ and Tomorrow X Together. Today’s review is for the album Oddinary by Stray Kids, which was released on March 18, 2022.

Stray Kids, abbreviated as SKZ, are an eight-member male idol group under JYP Entertainment, also the label of the groups TWICE and Day6. They were originally formed through a survival show of their same name where, rather than the best ones surviving and becoming a new group, the contestants were pre-selected to work together to debut as one team. The members are Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. They are a self-producing group, where the members partake in the making of their releases. In particular, Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han are the producing subunit of Stray Kids, named 3RACHA. They have various sounds and are known to frequently experiment in their music. Their main message is to be a refuge to other stray kids in the world and to let them know that they aren’t the only ones struggling with their life path. They released their pre-debut album Mixtape with the title track “Hellevator” on January 8, 2018, with all their songs from their survival show, and officially debuted on March 25, 2018, with the album I Am NOT and its title track “District 9”. Their fandom is called STAY, with their fans known as Stays, where the “r” is removed from the “Stray” in Stray Kids to represent the reason that Stray Kids make their music, which is their fans, seen in their slogan: “Stray kids everywhere all around the world, you make Stray Kids stay.”

Oddinary is the group’s 7th Korean EP, coming after their previous full album Noeasy in August 2021, and is their first EP since their album Clé: Levanter in December 2019. The album contains two songs by subunits of the group, where the members in each song partook in songwriting. In the album as a whole, 3RACHA were involved in all songwriting, composition, and production. Let’s dive into the music, shall we? (listen to the audio by clicking the titles)

(Note: In all lyric translations used in the article, bold=English.)

Track 1: “거미줄 (VENOM)”

거미줄, which means “spider web” and is romanized as “geo-mi-jul”, was the first track unveiled/teased prior to the album’s release, and its music video was released on March 22. The song portrays the boys as tangled in a spiderweb, yet they don’t want to leave because the poison is intoxicating, keeping them there. In the translation of the pre-chorus, they describe a “[s]preading poison, addicting potion,” and Changbin raps, “Knowing that I can’t escape, I got myself trapped on purpose / Caught in a sticky web / (Criminal) the fatal poison has already spread everywhere”. The melody is dark with rap and EDM elements alongside a very interesting sound reminiscent of a spider climbing a web (it’s hard to describe, you’ll just have to listen), and also has strong bass. In the music video, imagery of webs, chains, tangled strings, and handcuffs depict the boys caged within inescapable rooms, with blacks, grays, and reds dominating the video’s palette. As Seungmin finds himself ensnared in a room of red strings, he sings that he has “[n]o escape, my body went numb / Can’t feel my fingers / Trapped, you got me wrapped up / Around your fingers”.

Track 2: “MANIAC”

This is the title track of the album, and it’s all about how society loves hiding their true selves, and how Stray Kids are not going to be like that. In the translation, they sing, “Relax everyone, stop pretending to be normal / All of your smiles no fresh / When the locket is open, we’re all the same”. Everyone is a maniac in some way under their daily facades they’ve created to blend into society, but as Changbin raps, “This street I’m walking on is a minefield /  Like a dormant volcano, never know when it’ll all explode / … / Everyone lives hiding themselves like a sealed tornado”. The catchy track is composed of mainly electronic sounds and is an even blend of singing and rapping. The surreal music video depicts the group strolling the streets and being among normal society, but in flashy, starkly different clothes as they criticize society’s stereotypes to make them act “normal.” “Locked up while wrapped up in that pretty package / As time goes by, it’ll eventually be revealed / The inner self that was hidden”.

Track 3: “Charmer”

“Charmer” combines traditional and modern sounds into a track where the group boasts their effortless charms that draw people in to adore them, comparing themselves to snake charmers who use their flute to seemingly put snakes “under a spell”. A flute instrumental is also prominently used in the chorus. In the lyric translation, they say “You can’t resist it”, referring to their charms, “Even when you struggle / You’ll dance to my spell / You can’t stand it, I’m the charmer”. They talk about how their unstoppable rising popularity makes them stand out without even trying, and all eyes are on them. “Even pigeons on the street coo like they are following me / The street cat is mesmerized too like a meerkat / … / This feeling has got me excited right now / If you recognized me, you’re not silly”.

Track 4: “땡 (FREEZE)”

땡 romanizes to “ttaeng”, and was the third track unveiled before the album’s release with its music video being released on March 27, and is all about breaking out of society’s mold and barrelling down one’s own path. “Step out, the way I want,” they say in the lyric translation, “Move out, everyone’s movin’ the way they feel / There’s no time to wait / A huge iceberg obstruct in front of me / There’s no time to melt it, break it down”. Society’s norms are like block of ice freezing everyone in place, and Stray Kids wish to unfreeze themselves to become their own people. “Free me, free me from the things that kept me in captive / … / It’s like a prison break, unlock it all, freeze! / … / I ran out and took off my handcuffs / Freeze! Hit my frozen body / … / Like this, I’ll be the champion with victory in one hand”. The song contains primarily hip-hop and EDM sounds and is heavily rap-focused with a vocal break in the bridge and prechorus.

Track 5: “Lonely St.”

This was the second track unveiled before the album’s release, and its music video was released on March 26. The melancholy rock-based song depicts the boys astray on an unknown, desolate path, and though the path is difficult to go down, they still wish to do it because they chose to. “As I walk down the street, falling down, I’m falling down”, they sing in the translation of the chorus, “The street is desolated / I blackout again at every free time spaced out / The street is isolated / Still astray / … / Just stuff it all ’cause I’ma go on my way”. At first, they thought that the path they decided to take was the best one, but as they travel on without any end, the lights fade away and it’s nothing but a dark, pointless road that they’re now lost in. “I feel like I’ll faint from exhaustion / I don’t think I can go further / Although I have a lot taken away from me, ayy / This is my last time walking this way / Don’t come to comfort me now / I’m still on my way”.

Track 6: “피어난다 (Waiting For Us)”

피어난다, pronounced “pi-eo-nan-da”, means “blooming”, and is one of two subunit songs on the albums. The members in this song are Bang Chan, Lee Know, Seungmin, and I.N, who primarily sing in Stray Kids’s music. In this rock ballad, the boys are apart from their lover, but are waiting for the cold days without them until warmth returns and they’re reunited again. They sing in the translation, “‘Cause I’m right here, waiting for us / At times, I was afraid / I didn’t think you’d ever come again / So I’ll tightly hold your hands / No matter what moment comes / I won’t let you go”. Even when they aren’t with each other, their love is still strong, and though they terribly miss being together, they will never let go of each other. “For the day in which we’d smile facing each other / … / As much as you’ve waited / I’ll hug you with my whole body”. Fun fact: Seungmin’s line “I’m here always” is a reference to his solo song “Here Always” for the Netflix series 갯마을 차차차 (Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha), which is about how the main couple of the series will always love each other no matter the circumstances.

Track 7: “Muddy Water”

The final track on this album is the second subunit song with members Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, and Felix, who primarily rap in Stray Kids’s music. Each member raps about how they’ll go down their path no matter how dirty they get or how much people say that they’ve chosen the wrong path, comparing them both to muddy water. In the lyric translation, Felix raps in his all-English verse, “I suffer from the words you throw at me, but makes me tougher / Energetic youngster like me loves playing in muddy water / Looking back at what you said behind my back / Doesn’t matter ’cause I’m a winner”. The boys want to get rid of those who only spread negativity about their chosen path and wish for these kinds of people to stop killing the mood. “Rotten water people are as rotten as they’ll ever be / The main culprits of this quite murky water pollution / … / Look at you, raising your head so high / I dig them all up, grab a shovel and close the lid in small groups / I’m in charge of keeping the streets clean today”. The song has a chill melody that blends hints of piano, drums, and hip hop.