Stray Kids Talks About The Concept And Meaning Of "Thunderous" And "NOEASY," Growth Through "Kingdom," And More

Ahead of the release of their second studio album, “NOEASY,” and the title track “Thunderous,” Stray Kids talked about their comeback in a Q&A session.

This is Stray Kids’ first comeback in eleven months. Bang Chan said, “Since our last album promotions, for the repackaged version (“In Life”) of our first studio album, we’ve experienced a lot of things. Thanks to those experiences, I think that we’re able to show how much Stray Kids has grown to STAY [fandom name].”

Earlier this year, Stray Kids took home the final win on Mnet’s competition show “Kingdom: Legendary War.” Changbin said, “After ‘Kingdom’ ended, we were able to feel even more strongly our pride in our team and the love that STAY has for us. We also became more certain of the music and performances that Stray Kids could do. We were able to work more confidently on this album with that certainty as our basis.”

Seungmin added, “We’re approaching our work with the sense of responsibility and confidence that the title of ‘Kingdom’ winner gives. We worked hard to have this album express the things that we’re always discussing and striving to improve.”

The Korean title of “Thunderous” is “sorikkun,” a term that refers generally to a singer, usually of traditional Korean music forms. Bang Chan explained, “The message of the song is that Stray Kids, as sorikkun, will face off against the jansorikkun [naggers] and confidently let loose our sound.”

Hyunjin added, “Through ‘Thunderous,’ we wanted to share our own unique kind of music.” I.N said, “I think that ‘Thunderous’ is an extension of the ‘mala [spicy]’ genre [that we did with ‘God’s Menu’ and ‘Back Door’]. This is my personal thought, and I hope that people will feel it directly through watching our performances.”

About the concept of “Thunderous,” Felix said, “You could say our concept this time is ‘dokkaebi‘ [goblins] and ‘black and red. We’re expressing Stray Kids’ unique sound and color in a way that we haven’t shown before.” Lee Know said, “The key point of our choreography is the hand gesture that expresses how we’ll confidently spit out everything we want to say. Overall, the choreography shows strength and energy as well as some unique dance lines and some fun moments.”

The album, “NOEASY,” is a spin on the word “NOISY.” Bang Chan said, “It means that we want to leave a loud impact on the world with our music.” Hyunjin added, “This album will show what kind of music and performances our team does. We wanted to share our diverse music with many people.” Seungmin said, “The meaning is something like, ‘Life isn’t easy because of the naggers who tell us to do this and that, but we’re Stray Kids and we’re not backing down.’ If you listen to the album’s b-side tracks, you’ll be able to hear our larger musical spectrum and diverse expressions.”

As for their favorite b-side tracks, Lee Know picked “Silent Cry” as “a song that’s comfortable to listen to.” Han picked “Gone Away” and said, “It’s a song that I have a lot of affection for. It’s the first ballad track I’ve made and it was the first time I’d worked together with Seungmin and I.N for a song. Because of those memories, I feel even more affectionate toward it.” Seungmin picked “Secret Secret” and said, “Every time I listen to it, I really relate to the lyrics.”

Check out the MV for “Thunderous” here!

Source (1)