Shape of Love
Shape of Love is the eleventh extended play by the South Korean boy group Monsta X. It was released by Starship Entertainment and distributed by Kakao Entertainment on April 26, 2022.
Background and release
The extended play was first announced on March 24, when Monsta X posted a coming soon image of an easel with a colorful heart drawing illuminated in the dark on the group's official SNS. The release date was announced to be on April 11. However, starting from March 28, the group members tested positive for COVID-19, so their comeback was postponed to April 26.Shownu did not participate in the recording of the album due to his mandatory military enlistment, but songs "Love" and "사랑한다" were later re-released with Shownu included in the vocals for the compilation album Now Project.
Joohoney participated in writing and producing the songs "Love" and "사랑한다", and Hyungwon wrote and produced the song "Burning Up", and I.M wrote and produced "And". The three members also worked together for writing and producing of the song "Wildfire".
The physical EP was released in four standard versions; Love, Originality, Vibe, and Everything, with the addition of jewel cases version, KiT version, and a special version designed by Minhyuk and photos taken by Kihyun.
Composition
Shape of Love is an EP with the theme of love and attempts to capture the various forms of love that exist in the world."Love" combines a catchy R&B guitar sound with an old school feel and a crude, but groovy hip-hop bass. "Burning Up" is all about love and passion, which also compares the beginning and excitement of love to a fire, while "Wildfire" is a contrast to "Burning Up", expressing the pain of corrupted love. "Breathe" is a song that expresses the feeling of falling in love, while "사랑한다" is a song dedicated to their fan club, collectively referred to as "Monbebe". "And" is a song where the emotional consumption was enormous, since it was made in a slightly difficult condition.
Promotion
On April 15, Monsta X officially began their comeback promotion by releasing the schedule poster for Shape of Love through their official SNS. Starting April 17, the group presented four versions of concept photos: Love, Originality, Vibe, and Everything, released the music video teaser on April 24, the album preview on April 25, and released the EP on April 26. Monsta X also held a comeback showcase on Universe to introduce Shape of Love alongside its lead single on April 26. Ahead of their comeback, they appeared on the KBS2's The King of Jujeop alongside their fan club. Monsta X members and hosts of MBC Radio's Idol Radio 2 Hyungwon and Joohoney represented the group on the show. On the second week of the comeback, they subsequently appeared on several music programs starting with Mnet's M Countdown on May 5.Critical reception
Robin Murray, writing for Clash, said that the dynamic of "the group vs the individual, outside forces vs their own unique voice – is what drives Shape of Love, a project fuelled by a quiet sense of evolution". About the tracks, Murray said that the song "'Love' is buoyed by red-hot 90s hip-hop vibes, filtering boom-bap elements through an R&B lens", "Burning Up" is their collaboration with R3hab "that takes the project in a slightly more subtle, soulful, and explicitly emotional direction", while "'Wildfire' is all layered vocals and potent lyricism, with I.M having contributed extensively. 'Breathe' is a snappy, quickfire offering," and "'And' is led by stadium-level guitar lines, reminiscent of Coldplay but within a definitively K-pop context", seeming "to encapsulate Monsta X at this point in their career: each door closed has the potential for something new, and each ending contains a new beginning."Reviewing the EP for NME, Rhian Daly said that as an EP focused on the different types of love, the group's concept of "love appears to be full of burning passion; intense, hot and fully down bad for whoever they’re singing about, whether that’s a partner, an abstract idea like music, or their fanbase, known as Monbebe." The EP tries to "diversify its perspectives in its storytelling, but also offers up an eclectic mix of sounds along the way". About the lead single "Love", produced by Joohoney, Daly says it "is the most impressive effort on the record" as it is "moving from vintage R&B licks to hip-hop heat, spellbinding jazzy interludes to slow jam sax solos". About the other tracks, Daly says that "he old-school groove of 'Breathe' portrays the physical feelings of falling head over heels" and the song "'Wildfire' explores the moment where love roars into pain, the excitement of before engulfed in scorching agony". The song "And" finishes the EP "with shadowy pop-rock, melancholy guitar melodies casting a grey light over the track but failing to spark anything of much interest as they do so," while the "fan tribute '사랑한다', meanwhile is just as emotional but offers up lightly bubbling pop with flashes of sparkling synths deployed to evoke subtle euphoria." Daly also commended the group's "voracious appetite for pushing their sound forward and manages to stitch each sound together seamlessly and smoothly".
Listicles
Commercial performance
The EP debuted at number three on the monthly Gaon Album Chart and sold more than 415,000 copies in its first month of release in South Korea. Monsta X also received their second Hanteo Chart Silver Certification Plaque for achieving more than 320,000 copies in Initial Chodong sales in its first week of release in South Korea."Love" debuted at number 60 on the weekly Gaon Digital Chart, while at number 185 on the monthly Gaon Digital Chart, making it the group's second entry on the monthly chart for digitals. All the other songs on the EP, "Burning Up", "Breathe", "Wildfire", "사랑한다", and "And" did not appear on the main chart, but did appear on its component chart, the Gaon Download Chart, peaking at 32, 42, 38, 39, and 41, respectively. It won two music show awards on Show Champion and Music Bank, with a Hot Stage Award on Inkigayo.
Track listing
Notes- "Love" and "And" are stylized in all caps.
Charts