ATEEZ Put “UP” in the Middle and “Hollow Victory” at the End
The hook is easy to shout. The verse asks who ATEEZ are trying to beat. A listening guide to the title track of GOLDEN HOUR : Part.6.
The chorus of “UP” takes one syllable and gives it to everyone. A few lines later, the rapper looking for a rival finds himself. That change of scale is the pleasure of the ATEEZ single: you can join in on the first pass and still have something to puzzle over on the second.
Released November 13, GOLDEN HOUR : Part.6 puts its title track third out of five. Stop there and the record sounds like a climb. Play through to “Hollow Victory” and the question becomes what the view from the top is worth.
A word you can land on
KQ’s album notes single out the brass and bass. Try a pass through the first chorus following just the ends of the vocal phrases. The lines about vibration and heat have plenty of syllables to fit in; each lands on the same little word. On the repeated “up,” you no longer have to keep pace with a sentence. Tap once for each repetition. The title has become a rhythm you can play with one hand.
Keep that pulse going into the next verse. Now there’s an eight-year stretch of time to account for, a shift in weight class, and a look back from the group’s TREASURE records to GOLDEN HOUR. The rival turns out to be the speaker himself. By the time the refrain comes around again, the same invitation to shout carries a rather private dare.
Let the next two tracks play
“Drip,” immediately before “UP,” stakes out the group’s achievements over a trap rhythm. Immediately after it, “FAITH” takes up a march. Listen for the difference between a beat that makes you want to chant a word and one that makes you want to fall into step. Then let “Hollow Victory” finish the sequence. The closer questions the kind of success won by chasing more for its own sake. It’s a particularly good reason to return to that line about a rival: beating your past self and accumulating trophies are two quite different ambitions.
The title-track credits name EDEN, Maddox, Peperoni and Oliv for both composition and arrangement. All four also share the lyric credit with Kim Hongjoong and Song Mingi. For the running order and the label’s descriptions of the five songs, see KQ Entertainment’s album notes on Melon.