'change is not easy'

Stray Kids is the most musically divisive group of the few that are leading the 4th generation. Some people love them, some people hate them. In the end, there are only a few times where the two extremes meet in the middle and agree on when they have done a good job.

2021 has been a rough year for this group, but they’ve come back with a full album and with all their members. I personally have been keeping an eye on them since the success of “God’s Menu” and the follow up song, “Back Door”. This album "NOEASY", demonstrates that Stray Kids are aware they are being watched. It is easily their cleanest production thus far. However, I was left feeling unsure and empty after it ended, and it took me some time to gather my thoughts.

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Firstly, this album is not bad. In fact, it’s very solid musically. NOEASY is the culmination of everything Stray Kids have worked towards, but it's not as remarkable and interesting as I'd hoped.

It is crucial to understand the sound of Stray Kids in order to grasp the direction of this review. Their signatures consist of:

1) Intense and hard hitting rap

2) Heavy EDM and bass

3) Stylistic auto tune

Most k-pop enjoyers don’t like this combination but it can be great when done right. I have been waiting for Stray Kids’ to really perfect this trifecta. You could say, I had an expectation of them to improve and develop, but I was excited to see where they would go with it. This is also why I think Stray Kids are the 4th generation group with the best artistic understanding of themselves. It’s just a matter of bringing in the right elements whilst staying creatively on brand. “DOMINO” and “CHEESE” are the best examples of this in NOEASY.

With this premise in the back of our heads, NOEASY can be dissected. The verdict is that there is something deeply lacking in this album. You may not notice it if you don’t listen to Stray Kids often or if you don’t have an understanding of their discography, but there is a hole.

Stray Kids are extremely confident in this album and one can hear improvements in rap and vocals. The vocal line sounded secure in “Gone Away”, and the rappers were like a fish in water in “DOMINO” and “WOLFGANG”. However, there is a roughness in the music that is missing and this is felt throughout.

The first five tracks are their strongest display. The production is extremely clean, but still very much on brand with the Stray Kids most are used to. However, not nearly as risky.

The middle of the album presents itself as a restful break from the intensity of the first half before it returns in the second half. The four-track run from “Sorry, I Love You” to “Star Lost” is reminiscent of the vocal leaning tracks of early Stray Kids, with half the soul and creativity.

The latter section of unit and full group songs NOEASY is an awkward mixture of conflicting music. The listener feels just as confused as its structure. To make matters worse, the little experimentation they do show in this section, either feels distant to Stray Kids sound or is just plain odd. While “Red Lights” [unit song] is objectively good and aligns with its member participants well, it is difficult to place it in the realm of the Stray Kids empire. In contrast, “WOLFGANG” is a strange track with its wolf noises, but it fits like a puzzle in their discography.

Final comments

Stray Kids is undergoing a metamorphosis. It’s not entirely noticeable, but there is a tiny shift. However, this shift may be for mass appeal. Hence why most will like this album if they are tolerant to the Stray Kids sound. My only wish is that they remember their foundations a little more as they evolve. I may be clinging to the raw and rough composition of their early music as that was the appeal that I saw in Stray Kids. They were scruffy, but full of heart. They are still the same now, but their heart is a little less visible over the production. At the very least, it is more of a “cleaning up” change as opposed to a total abandonment of their identity [eg. ITZY’s GUESS WHO?]. Stray Kids should look back to their previous album, “IN LIFE”, as a biblical guide to navigating structure, appeal and their sound.

Favourite songs: CHEESE, Red Lights

Rate: 6.8/10