As flagged on Sunday, I will be posting reviews for the side tracks from Stray Kids’ second studio album, NOEASY, that we have music video for, in preparation for their upcoming album review this weekend. This include two group tracks and three unit tracks. First up is The View. It was promoted alongside Thunderous as a secondary promotional track and its music video was released in early September.

To me, The View was a standout track on the album. It went in a different direction to their other singles on the NOEASY album despite it being in the same boundaries of EDM. It was relatively light and quite atmospheric to listen to, and I find such qualities make The View fitting for the Summer season (in which it was released). I also appreciate the simplicity of the song’s melodies, which gave the song an overall sing-song approach that was flowy, breezy and just easy to get into. Thus, the vocals flourished effortlessly in this song. The View also was a great platform for the rappers. Felix (with his infamous deep voice) took things slow, making his voice more approachable than his usual harsh delivery. Jisung went with a much faster approach, throwing energy behind his delivery but still keeping it in line with the rest of the song. My favourite bit has to be Changbin’s section in the song. His section (in the second half of the bridge) was like a curveball, changing the momentum of the song ever so briefly with the heavier trap sequence and adding a bit of a ‘growl’ to The View. It changed things up, but doesn’t go overboard. His section just stuck out at me and really added a bit of a wow factor (for me) into The View. Overall, simplicity is sometimes key and I think The View is a prime example of this.

To match the breezy feel of the song, the music video was shot in the fields. It was very fitting and the closeup concept felt appropriate. I also quite enjoyed the scenic views throughout the video. However, I did want choreography scenes in this music video. As much as I find the ‘formula of closeup and choreography’ to be unoriginal and generic, I think it would have been a good inclusion for this music video. I also liked the tie in with the other videos at the end (i.e. the scene with Felix blowing out the candle and the other members are surrounding him). It is like a continuation of the events of Mixtape: OH, where he wished for the members to reunite.

I liked the performance, as it was light-hearted. I thought this was very appropriate for the song and match the vibes of the song that I mentioned above. The chorus had a nice bounce and the members looked like they were having fun on stage throughout.

Song – 10/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9.2/10