When Stray Kids hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with their Oddinary EP in March, it was a wake-up call to the music industry that the K-pop boy band had arrived on the scene with songs that stayed true to their underdog and outsider mentality. With the October release of Maxident, Stray Kids are back with more eyes on them than ever but refusing to re-create what brought them their breakout success.
Instead, Maxident lets the band venture into new territory — particularly love and relationships — but does so in their own way. The eight tracks on Maxident aren’t gushy, catchy love songs, but quirky and unorthodox explorations into all things connection. Just like the comforting theme of Oddinary in making the odd the ordinary, Maxident is relatable and clever in the way it approaches the subject, incorporating more extensive and universal themes in the tracks related to relationships one has with other people and with one’s self.
But more eyes on Stray Kids also gives them a prime opportunity to introduce the inner-workings of their group with songs performed by the band’s different sub-groups. 3RACHA (the hip-hop and production-focused trio made up of Bang Chan, Changbin and Han) create a self-titled drill track, while Lee Know, Hyunjin and Felix (the performance-based trio, nicknamed “Danceracha”) come together for “Taste,” as Seungmin and I.N (the singer-focused duo nicknamed “Vocalracha”) have “Can’t Stop.”
Get to know a new side of Stray Kids and read on for our ranking of Stray Kids’ Maxident tracks and why listeners will “STAY” with each song far beyond release week.
