This is another review for a song I should have reviewed sooner and closer to its original release date. This one, in particular, was a surprise to me that I had missed it when I was going through my list of releases to review/catch up, since the artist in question has been on a roll with their releases. STAYC made their comeback in July of this year with BEAUTIFUL MONSTER, the title track from their third single album We Need Love. It follows the release of RUN2U from earlier this year.

BEAUTIFUL MONSTER changes up STAYC’s range of title tracks with a more subdued release, featuring a lot more acoustics within its instrumental than usual, with guitars and pan flutes being some of the new instruments that STAYC are playing within this release. If you don’t follow STAYC’s releases, their title tracks have been quite heavy on the synth front. That being said, there was still some electronic elements to BEAUTIFUL MONSTER‘s instrumental, but the acoustics just stand out a lot more this time around. This heavier presence of acoustics allow the song to standout in STAYC’s discography. So far, however, I have been isolating the acoustics and electronic sides of the song. But it was quite interesting to hear the harmony that the two sides created together, and was undeniably a strong aspect of the song. It created a pleasant atmosphere, even during the stronger notes in the chorus. BEAUTIFUL MONSTER was driven by vocals melodies, which all complemented that pleasant atmosphere I just mentioned. However, their vocals were a bit soulless at times, if I am being honest. This did help those melodies pop out. But at the same time, it brought a dullness to BEAUTIFUL MONSTER, which one could describe as an aesthetic or unpleasing. As I like the song, I think it is more aesthetic, but understand why some people might say unpleasing or boring. Overall, BEAUTIFUL MONSTER does a decent job of being different. It may not be a riveting piece for some, but I thought it was a memorable piece for the group.

BEAUTIFUL MONSTER is about a partner, who is both a beautiful person but also a monster, depending on how they treated the members (toxic, if you ask me). The premise of the video focuses heavily on the ‘beautiful’ side, with the sweet closes up of the members and shots of the members longing and reminiscing of their partner. But throughout the video, monsters pop up via the addition of post production cartoons. It was a cute and more pleasant way of showing an actual monster in this video, which works cleverly with the music. I did wish there was a stronger showing of the monster element, just so the messaging is a bit clearer. But a nice video to watch, nonetheless.

Just like the music video, the choreography offers two sides. The beautiful side were the smoother and more graceful parts of the routine. And the monster side, which the members depicted with their claw like hands and poses in the chorus. The contrast was nice and helped create a strong performance routine.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7,5/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.9/10