#i risk putting myself on thin ice but i actually really like all about luv and think its a very cohesive album

[sanstropfremir]

So I got my wisdom teeth removed which means I’ve been sitting in bed binging kpop content as one does when they have a mouth full of gauze and I may or may not have listened to Gambler by Monsta X for like the past two hours on loop so I’m curious what your opinions on it were. I think I saw somewhere that you had plans to put out a post on it but I’m assuming you got busy with other stuff unless I missed it then it that case ignore me.

I’m very glad that I.M continues to be horny on main. For the longest time, I thought his line was “Hard as F” instead of “Hot as F” and I did not question it. Monsta X are really the only group that are allowed to have absolutely random and incomprehensible English lyrics (and also maybe Lucas). Like “I’m a handsome sum of money”, “my suit is black, my suit is fresh”, “Zero, Zero Lucky Bang”. I don’t know what that means but they say it so well that I don’t care. The intro to the song was interesting with the monotonous singing and I was a bit worried until that electric guitar started and IM and Kihyun’s parts and then I was absolutely sold. That bridge with the “she’s gone” part and the final chorus absolutely kills me like this song just continuously gets better and better and builds and builds and it’s so satisfying. It’s 4 minutes long and it feels it but in the best way? Like it toys the line between being too long but having enough interesting, different things in there. I’m of the opinion that this is Monsta X at their finest. Like they are such a consistent group and they know exactly what is expected of them and they delivery every time.

i hope you are recovering from your wisdom teeth surgery!! i got mine out when i was 17 and it was awful. i couldn't eat real food for two weeks and now i can't drink protein shakes without getting war flashbacks

you are correct i am going to talk about gambler! however i did kind of re-jig what i wanted to talk about about it, which is a very weird sentence to type out and read back in my head. i originally wanted to talk about the steadicam work in the music show stages, because it was one of the first comebacks that i've seen that in this year, but then over the last month or so there's been a whole bunch of steadicam stuff so i was compiling it all to make into one bigger post talking about several different songs/groups. but then also someone sent me an ask about want and then i got a bit off the rails because you know me and taemin, so this actually gives me a chance to talk about some of the other stuff in the gambler mv that i found interesting!

i do agree (and i've said this before) that mx is one of the most consistent groups active right now. they've established a really strong group brand that's been relatively consistent across their korean promotions and it's a look that really works for them as an "older" idol group (they're not old, it's just that they're not 22). although their mvs have usually been very sharp and well styled, i think these last three (korean) comebacks (fantasia, love killa, gambler) have had the strongest aesthetic and thematic unity, in addition to branching out a bit more from the general visual structure of a kpop mv. a thing that happens sometimes with kpop mvs is that the performers don't look like they belong in the sets; this happens most frequently with white/black voidspaces, but it also happens when, for example, they're out dancing in an empty dilapidated warehouse wearing pristine tailored suits. but the fantasia mv is practically draconian in it's commitment to colour palette and ornament, so by sheer visual force everything is integrated. love killa has a very cinematic and referential style without being overly obnoxious about those references. and gambler follows along the same vein as love killa but goes that extra bit further. i would not be surprised to find out that these are all directed by the same person.

to answer the question that you were not really asking, a fair amount of lyrics are referential to james bond. so the "my suit is black, my suit is fresh" -> famous for the traditional black suit/white shirt combo. "zero zero lucky bang" -> zero (0) zero (0) lucky (number 7) bang (the famous shot from the gunbarrel intro). "i got a vesper martini" -> a type of martini that the bond girl from casino royale is named after (vesper lynd), also martini (shaken, not stirred). it's obviously not a 1:1 because the mv takes more from bank heist tropes than strict spy tropes, but there's enough crossover that the comparison still works! another good example of using an existing property for spice rather than as the sole theme.

gambler, like fantasia, has a very strict colour palette, and does a really great job of integrating costume into enviroment. it's not perfect, since i think in the cinematic language that they're trying to establish the leather looks are a bit kpop, but i don't really have a real complaint about them because if mx can do anything, they can pull off leather. but in every other look, they look like they belong in those environments. it helps that a lot of it was filmed on location in (i think?) a hotel, so there was an oppotunity to match the style of the suits to the architecture and decoration of the preexisting rooms, as well as doing additional set dressing.

it's kind of interesting looking back at their mvs, prior to 2020 they were very focused on the performance/dance element of the mvs, which tracks because their performance and presence is one of their stronger traits. but the last three comebacks, which have been post pandemic and post wonho, have spent more time on creating a different viewing experience with the mvs, and then leaving their music show stages + other performances to pull out the big guns (shownu's arms).

#and yes if you are wondering i have in fact seen every bond film #mx w #and skyfall is one of my favourite movies of all time #the cinnamon topography......immaculate #the adele bond song........stunning #ive been thinking about the final fight sequence in the moors like once a month for the last 9 years #also the shot of him riding the boat into the dragons maw in macau......so heavy handed but MWAH it looks so good #also i keep wanting to write gamblr instead of gambler........sigh #i risk putting myself on thin ice but i actually really like all about luv and think its a very cohesive album #someones someone middle of the night and who do u love are some of the best english releases by idols #monsta x #kpop analysis #kpop questions #text #answers #group analysis #im going to finish this want writeup (its convoluted) and then move on to steadicam stuff #im going to cover gambler/dont call me/advice/sf9 teardrop/kingdom karma/ace higher/maybe taeyeon weekend? #im taking suggestions though if you've noticed steadicam in any music show stages that's been interesting please send me a message!