ATEEZ RELEASE THEIR 11TH EP “GOLDEN HOUR : Part.2 | COMEBACK CORNER
BY BRENESSA ROACH | NOVEMBER 15, 2024
On November 15, 2024, global South Korean pop sensation ATEEZ released their eleventh EP, GOLDEN HOUR : Part.2. This EP follows GOLDEN HOUR : Part.1, which was released earlier in May. The new release highlights ATEEZ’s diverse musical styles, featuring a dynamic mix of tracks that push boundaries and take listeners on an emotional journey, showcasing the group’s ongoing artistic growth.
ATEEZ (에이티즈), short for ‘A TEEnager Z’, is an eight-member South Korean boy group under KQ Entertainment, a leading global entertainment company. The members—Seonghwa, Hongjoong, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, and Jongho—made their official debut on October 24, 2018, with their first mini album, TREASURE EP.1 : All to Zero. Initially representing “everything teenagers need from A to Z,” their name has since evolved to signify “everything you need from A to Z.”
Six years after their debut, ATEEZ has solidified their global dominance, particularly in 2024. This year, they performed at major festivals, including Coachella (USA), Summer Sonic (Japan), and headlined Mawazine (Morocco), and Grand Mint Festival (Korea). Their second studio album, THE WORLD EP.FIN : WILL, released in December 2023, marked a career milestone by debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for the week of December 11 and charting for six weeks.
GOLDEN HOUR : Part.2 is a six-track EP featuring the title track “Ice On My Teeth”, along with “DEEP DIVE”, “Scene 1: Value”, “Man on Fire”, “Selfish Waltz” and “Enough”. Members Hongjong and Mingi contributed in writing the lyrics for five of the six tracks, showcasing their artistic involvement and creativity. The EP “embodies the intense, raw energy that has made ATEEZ an international powerhouse in the K-pop industry” (Source: Platform PR), offering a unique blend of bold and dynamic sounds that set it apart.
“DEEP DIVE” is a cool, techno kind of inspired song that sets the mood for the rest of the EP. It’s essentially a song that reflects the deep emotions that the ATEEZ will dive into for the rest of the songs. It has a very catchy chorus.
“Scene 1: Value” intro is very spooky and cinematic which is super interesting and cool. It’s basically an interlude/intro song with not many lyrics, but the production is so amazing on this track.
“Ice On My Teeth” is the title track with an accompanying music video which has surpassed over 9.6 million views in less than 24 hours. It is our favourite song on the album. The track itself is very hip-hop, but then they added Violin which makes it sound cinematic again. This album definitely has a darker feel to it which we love.
“Man on Fire” has such a strong, energetic feel to it. The drum beat is very powerful, creating this song to have a mature and sexy feel to it. The lyrics also are about someone yearning for another person: “My feelings for you / Turn into a thirst, choking me / Need you so bad / Want you so bad” (Source: Genius – Man on Fire – English Translation). This song is probably our second favourite song on the EP.
“Selfish Waltz” is another fun, upbeat song and the electronic synthesizer production at the 1:12 minute mark is so insane. It has a jazzy feel to it mixed with electronic music. This song was written by Hongjoong in 2021, so we are super glad to hear it finally come into production.
“Enough” is the final track of the EP and has a fun, intro. This song has a very encouraging feel to it and kind of seems like its ATEEZ’s way of telling their fans, ATINY, to keep going. During the chorus, the members sing: “Hold on to your ground / Doesn’t matter how / They don’t even care / So then, why should you? / Don’t stop believing how you got here / Hold on to that feelin’ / Gonna make it far enough”.
Overall, this EP is such a strong release and a great way to end the year (assuming this is their last release of the year). Each song is so powerful and holds a deeper meaning, but the EP is so cohesive still. Additionally, this EP released after the announcement of their Europe [TOWARDS THE LIGHT : WILL TO POWER] world tour, after the conclusion of the North American leg of the tour earlier this year. ATEEZ will be heading to 12 cities from January to February in Europe.
2025 ATEEZ WORLD TOUR [TOWARDS THE LIGHT : WILL TO POWER] IN EUROPE Dates:
January 18 – Lyon-Décines – LDLC Arena
January 20 – Milan – Unipol Forum
January 23 – Zürich – Hallenstadion
January 27 – London – The O2
January 28 – London – The O2 second show
January 30 – Manchester – AO Arena
February 03 – Amsterdam – Ziggo Dome
February 07 – Barcelona – Palau Sant Jordi
February 11 – Cologne – Lanxess Arena
February 14 – Copenhagen – Royal Arena
February 18 – Berlin – Uber Arena
February 19 – Berlin – Uber Arena second show
February 22 – Paris – La Défense Arena
Special thanks to Platform PR for providing us with a press release and KQ Entertainment for the photographs.
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