Few K-pop groups have stayed as committed to a fantastical debut concept as ATEEZ. KQ Entertainment’s performance-based octet debuted in 2018 with the strange, bombastic song “Pirate King”, and have continued to explore the many broad interpretations of their dystopian pirate concept across dozens of swashbuckling EDM-trap K-pop tracks. THE WORLD EP.FIN : WILL is the group’s second full-length record (not counting Japanese releases) and the conclusion to their THE WORLD trilogy, which follows a cinematic storyline involving doppelgängers and inter-dimensional travel. Across 12 tracks, members Seonghwa, Hongjoong, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung and Jongho expand on piratical themes of nonconformity, self-expression and found family in a K-pop context. THE WORLD EP.FIN : WILL’s lead single “Crazy Form” picks up where the group’s 2023 hit “BOUNCY” left off, with a dancehall siren call that builds into an Afrobeat-infused hype track espousing the virtues of being ATEEZ: “Have you visited all five continents?/On the rise, my stock price is red light/I keep putting commas in my checks.” A commitment to their crew is at the heart of the song, album and the group’s larger discography: “Rain pouring down/Ambition in my veins/ATEEZ, go/Raise a glass for us.”
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