This is not a new EP; it came out in 2022, but I still think it is one of the Best EPs in K-pop and think it deserves more recognition. And you never know, maybe someone will find a new favorite song, I also love writing music reviews sooo….

Tbh, when I first listened to this, I got angry. 😂

Angry that it didn’t do as well as his first mini. Angry that it wasn’t even on my radar until way too late. And most of all, angry at whoever thought that giving us just a mini album of this instead of a full album was a good idea. This should’ve been a full-length album with promotions, 7 music videos, an orchestra, a world tour, and maybe a Netflix documentary.

I would sacrifice Lee Soo Man to Hestia to have a full album of this. (That said… I would sacrifice LSM to Hestia for less.)

This is the sexiest 20 minutes that ever sexied in K-POP. Like, holy moly. 🥵 HOT. 🥵

The production on this EP? Absolute perfection. Changmin sounds the best he ever has. I cannot explain how much I love this project. This is a no-skip EP. And whoever skips a song from this must’ve been hit real hard by COVID because there’s just no taste left (jk do not kill me if you don’t like it).

Jokes aside, I trully, madly, deeply love this project and I would love for it to have more.

Apart from turning this into a full album, which should have happened, I wouldn’t change much. It is perfect. Maybe, I’d play around with the track order just to make the whole experience sound like sonic edging, but even as it is, it works incredibly well.

Here is my ranking of the Songs:

Number 6: Alien

I’m sorry, Alien, it’s not personal. But someone’s gotta be last. Life’s unfair like that.

I actually really like this song. This is the most playful track on the album. It’s cute and fun but in a grown-up, mature way. Not “bubblegum cute,” but more like “you and the person you are head over heels flirting at a beach bar at 11 AM” cute.

The guitar, and the whole production is very fun and rattly in the best way. It’s sexy, but flirty-sexy, as opposed to the rest of the album. Changmin wrote the lyrics for this one, and they are actually adorable.

In the moment in which I cross the darkness
You come to me without anyone knowing
You’re proud, as if you’re deciding between giving me the small universe or not
I’m holding my breath

The production leans into a kind of subtle Latin-inspired groove (this runs through other songs on this EP). Plus, the outro is great. He sings it in this very playful, almost staccato way, a little cheeky, like he’s winking at you through the mic. Also, the whoosh effects in the background totally work. Same with the angelic female backing vocals, like he’s literally hearing angels while sitting at the beach with her.

Idk why, but this song feels very Late Summer to me.

Number 5: Airplane Mode

If Alien is flirting, then Airplane Mode is aftercare. It’s the post-everything cuddles. The “wrapped up in each other, no rush, no worries” part of the night.

This song is smooth, fuzzy, but still hot. His voice literally melts over the instrumental. It’s breathy, soft, but steady, like he’s at complete peace. The kind of peace you only get when you’re tangled in someone’s arms, under a blanket, half-awake, playing with each other’s hair, drawing lazy circles on skin, whispering nonsense just to hear the other laugh.

On every suffocatingly busy day

I will become your relaxation, baby

Even if we don’t go far away

We turn off the world right now, in this moment

Where the rest of the album is fiery, this one is warm. Not boring, but comforting, and intimate.

Number 4: Maniac

Ok, Maniac is the first meet. It has a musical vibe to it. The way he describes meeting the girl is just like a scene where the protagonist gets hit on the head or something, looks up, sees her, and just 😳.

Someone call the police
I’m gonna be in big trouble (He’s in danger)
Without warning, she reappeared as a stranger (She’s a stranger)
You’re like a black widow, a black widow
An obsession that didn’t let go after it grew up
[…]
An awful thriller for love
Deeply pricked by your needle
Like a cursed voodoo doll (Oh-oh-oh)
Devil’s eye looking at me, I get chills
By the way
Do you know what’s even crazier?
I don’t really hate this more and more

The song treats the whole situation as a hostage one, because he’s so head over heels that it feels like there’s no way this is normal. She did something. She came out of nowhere, and now he feels like he’s losing control and threatened.

Honestly, it could easily be a 2VXQ song. It lives in the same universe as Something, Spellbound and Chance of Love, but it’s more quirky; it’s very obvious from the MV as well.

Something, and I don’t know what exactly, in the intro reminds me of late ’70s-’80s movies. For some reason, the first thing that came to mind was Highway to the Danger Zone. The guitars and melodies, as well as his delivery, are something between an ’80s movie soundtrack, a musical, and a Queen or Journey song.

Number 3: Devil

Now, it was so hard for me to decide between Devil and Dirty Dancing, but personally, I think I prefer Dirty Dancing a touch more. Still not sure though.

Ok, so not looking at the lyrics, I don’t think I would’ve ever guessed what they were. The song just sounds hot.

Max, my friend… I don’t know what you mean by the lyrics being about “having the will to move forward confidently without giving in to the devil’s whispers even in a difficult reality,” because this song sounds exactly like the devil trying to lure you in, and I am OK with it. I am convinced. No regrets either.

It does have a “church” quality in the way he delivers a lot of it, but all in all, the song is sooooo charismatic, and sounds like sex on legs. The guitar is exceptionally well used, it has both distorted and clean parts, and it’s accompanied by harmonies almost throughout, and it sounds delicious.

There’s a part on the “rain down on me” line, right before the tasty sexy riff, where there’s an almost dubstep-y scratch in the production, and it’s just 🤌🤌

His voice is so, so, sooooo freaking good on this one. The raspiness and the highs are to die for, yes, but honestly, his falsetto and the softer, breathier parts (like in the beginning and end) are so, so good. His ad-libs are crazy, and the last 40 seconds are just… this.

His lighter vocals sound so, so good, and almost boyish in a mischievous way.

The only thing I’ll pass on here is the KWANGYA line:

Under the name of fate (Ooh)
In the twisted KWANGYA
Walk towards the light

because the SM cinematic universe is not one I particularly enjoy, I’m sorry 🥲. All in all, this is R&B, and a tad Kaleo rock-inspired track, with soul vocals. It is so groovy, and the last 40 seconds are just… overwhelming in the best way possible.

Number 2: Dirty Dancing

If Alien is “you and the person you’re head over heels for flirting at a beach bar at 11 AM,” then Dirty Dancing is “you and that person being way more than flirting at the same beach bar, but now it’s 11 PM.”

It’s nighttime. You’ve had a couple of drinks, nothing crazy, but everything feels heady, sexy, and intense. You’ve been out in the heat all day at the beach, and now you’re dancing, tipsy on the vibe itself. Everything feels like you’re in this constant state of dizzy adrenaline.

Behind the extremely hot, Latin-inspired guitar, there’s this faint “wingg… woosh…” sound; it’s subtle, but it’s there, and it makes you feel like you’re slowly losing your mind. The drums also become more prominent and more electronic as the song progresses, like going from actual dancing to the devil’s dancing.

Gonna dance, dance, dance with you
Baby, let me hear you sing, yeah, hey!

His vocals have their intense moments again, of course, that is his bread and butter, but, and I will stand by this forever, the breathy, soft parts are the best thing about this song. That teasing, the agility, the whispery delivery is exactly what the song needs. That’s the secret Chemical X.

Number 1: Fever

I’m sorry, what the actual hell? Why is this song NOT number one in K-pop history? Why isn’t it everywhere? I am in love with this song. K-pop, music, life in general, it peaked here. Let’s all go home. (I’m kidding, but not really.)

I swear, English isn’t even my first language, but I genuinely don’t think I could explain how much I love this song even in Greek. And I have never been more grateful that this song is a proper four minutes long instead of whatever 2:30 nonsense is trendy lately.

The intro… oh my god, the intro. It opens with this sexy, tingly, jazzy piano, and then the guitar slides in so smooth, so light, tucked behind the piano, his voice, and a ticking clock. And THEN, if Devil had a light dubsteppy scratch, here there is a FULL Massive Attack dubstep slide before the sexiest, smoothest guitar riff, before it moves to the front.

And then it glides right back into that playful piano, with his voice sounding like butter, honey, sin, and mischief all in one. Sir? Sir! The heavy breathing, the growling between the belting, this is illegal.

The bass and percussion are super electronic, but there’s also a string orchestra layered behind it, placing it in a smoky bar in a noir film. Meanwhile, the guitar is just quietly shredding its heart out in the background, throwing out the most tasty, delicious little riffs and runs, and then suddenly, BAM, it’s distorted and right in your face again.

There’s this two-minute build-up that explodes into an almost melodeath, Kalmah-esque “Black Waltz” if it wandered into a jazz bar at 2 AM. Except… it’s K-pop. Do not ask, I cannot explain it differently. I am sorry. And then it’s back to the insanely delicious piano, the electronic slides, the orchestra, and him doing the best ad-libs of his life.

Honestly, the bridge just explains the feeling of this song:

Spread your arms
And welcome the rising wind
The dawn air swirling
Between the strands of your hair
Ascending to the sky
With the secrets two of us shared
Like that deep resonance
Make keep together always
Oh

I truly believe every human on Earth has to hear this song. And you know what? I want, no, I demand, a completely raw live version. No dancing. No flashy stage. Just get this man a microphone, a band (an orchestra ideally as well), and a suit, and let him sing. Please and thank you. 😌

Track Order

If it was in my hand, the order would be:

1. Maniac
2. Alien
3. Devil
4. Dirty Dancing
5. Fever
6. Airplane Mode

All in all, perfection. Truly. I am going to listen to it again now, bye 💃💃