Review: SHOWNU X HYUNGWON Explore ‘THE UNSEEN’ in MONSTA X’s First Sub-Unit Debut
Design by Laura Gomez
For the first time in MONSTA X’s eight-year career, an official sub-unit has emerged in the form of two of the group’s members - leader and main dancer SHOWNU and lead dancer and visual HYUNGWON. Simply named SHOWNU X HYUNGWON, the duo have released their first mini-album titled THE UNSEEN, consisting of five tracks that explore the different versions and perspectives of themselves seen through their own eyes and others. These tracks include the title song “Love Me A Little,” and B-sides “Love Therapy,” “Roll With Me,” “Play Me,” and “Slow Dance,” each created with the intention of showing a more ‘simple but impactful’ vibe to the two members.
Co-written and co-produced by HYUNGWON, “Love Me A Little” opens THE UNSEEN with a sensual, downbeat composition that integrates soft piano instrumentals with sharp electronic beats and memorable vocal ad-libs. In a video message posted to the group’s social media pages, SHOWNU revealed that the lyrics of “Love Me A Little” portray the conflict they face with being their true selves while simultaneously being the person others want them to be. They sing, “leaving behind my reflection in the mirror / I face the me that only you know (I never seen) / Every day, I take a fragment of emotion for you / I see you relying on the new me (get more insane)”* in the opening verse, setting the scene for the meaning behind the song.
The music video for “Love Me A Little” plays into the idea of their different personas, presenting scenes of SHOWNU X HYUNGWON in light and dark scenarios that depict them as being good and bad. A lot of the shots place SHOWNU and HYUNGWON in the same locations, doing similar actions, hinting that the two singers are potentially portraying two different versions of the same person (connecting to the song's lyrics.) For example, the opening scene shows SHOWNU and HYUNGWON separately engaging in a swimming pool as they stare into the water's abyss. Rapid shots then show SHOWNU to be having trouble below the water (with later scenes also showing HYUNGWON underwater) before SHOWNU comes up, standing behind HYUNGWON and covering HYUNGWON’s eyes and his mouth (again, role reversed towards the end of the song.)
The music video and the lyrics coincide perfectly with each other, providing a visual and audible story that the consumer can absorb or dissect to find meaning. Courtesy of MONSTA X’s two dance members, the music video also features a dance break segment showcasing SHOWNU X HYUNGWON’s impressive dance moves, with the choreography created by SHOWNU and FREEMIND (the dance crew responsible for several of MONSTA X’s iconic routines.)
The second track, “Love Therapy,” follows “Love Me A Little” with a gritty, bass-heavy beat and SHOWNU and HYUNGWON’s delicate vocals. “Love Therapy” has the components to make it a fan favorite song and a B-side worthy of having also been the title track, with the song carrying a sound that is reminiscent to pop songs released in the early to mid-2000s. With this track, SHOWNU and HYUNGWON’s vocals coast along the edgy composition with ease, adding even more sensuality to the mini-album, especially during HYUNGWON’S spoken word section towards the end.
The third track, “Roll With Me,” plays with a haunting, downbeat, nursery rhyme type of sound that combines trap beats and SHOWNU X HYUNGWON’s gentle vocals. This marks the second track on the mini-album to be co-written and co-produced by HYUNGWON, further highlighting HYUNGWON’s impressive talents behind the scenes.
Following the soft, hauntingness of “Roll With Me,” THE UNSEEN then leads into the mini-album’s most upbeat track, “Play Me.” This track dives into a funk-infused pop melody that will have listeners grooving along from the very first listen. “Play Me” has a Maroon 5, DNCE kind of pop vibe that is much softer than the hard-hitting, powerful pop music released by MONSTA X.
THE UNSEEN then comes to an end with the fifth and final track, “Slow Dance,” wrapping the mini-album up with a smooth R&B-Pop sound. Again, the vocals are delicate and soft but with impressive ad-libs and vocal runs piercing through the background, leaving you wanting to hear more of them in this strong vocal nature.
With THE UNSEEN, SHOWNU and HYUNGWON have accomplished their goal of showing a new and different side of themselves to their fans (sweetly named MONBEBE), with the songs on this album taking on a more chilled and soft approach to music that differs from the music fans have come to associate SHOWNU and HYUNGWON with through MONSTA X. So, go listen to THE UNSEEN and support SHOWNU X HYUNGWON on their new ventures as MONSTA X’s first official sub-unit. Hopefully, this is the start of more music from SHOWNU X HYUNGWON and more sub-unit’s from MONSTA X!