
1. Atmos // 2. Hours // 3. Possibility // 4. Anti Believer // 5. Still Raining // 6. Thousand Miles Away
ANTI BELIEVER
ATMOS‘s first four tracks form an all killer, no filler suite of stylish dance music. Like the album’s teasers promised, it’s a whistlestop tour of genres SHINee have mastered. However, each song has its own distinctions to ensure the running order doesn’t feel repetitive.
Anti Believer brings the drama. Its title alone raised my eyebrows. It’s rare that a K-pop song makes me want to dive into its lyrics, but I had to take a look at translations for this one. It turns out the lyrics are vague enough to suit numerous situations. On the surface, this is a “love lost” concept, but it could just as easily be affixed to religious or societal anxiety.
Musically, Anti Believer pulses with a sinister dance beat. It’s one of the simpler song structures on the album, yet the hook has a way of quickly working itself under your skin. The guys sound great — sleek but emotive in all the right places. There’s an incredible moodiness to the entire track — not the subdued mush so many current acts peddle but an actual pathos that bears out in the sonic landscape of the production.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
Grade: B+
It’s my favorite B-side from this release! I find it really addictive – the production carries the song in my opinion – I especially love the way it punctuates the lyrics in the second part of the chorus.
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The only thing I had to unhear with this track is how much my brain wants to autocomplete the “oh, my heart’s so cold” segment with Glad You Came by The Wanted for some reason, but once I got over that this song is a real treat. SHINee is really good at fully setting a mood or vibe in a track and not just letting the production do all the work.
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I had this exact same issue :’D especially if it was stuck in my head with no actual song and production to guide my thoughts elsewhere
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My friend made the connection to Glad You Came too!!! I can’t unhear it now either hahahah
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My brain made the same connection to “Glad You Came”! Hoping I can get over that too lol.
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OH that’s what it sounds like! Every time I listened to it I knew it sounded very familiar… yeah I agree it’s slightly distracting lol
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Saw a mash up of both choruses on X and the lyrics and vocals fit TOO WELL, so now I am obsessed and need the full thing.
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The hooks on this one are super catchy and make the song memorable. I adore the post chorus, which provides nice variety after the straightforward chorus. All the members sound amazing when singing that part at their assigned time; Key and Taemin especially stood out to me. I also love the descending electric guitar in the bridge and last chorus. 8.75 (9, 9, 8, 9)
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My friend told me this reminded them of Glad You Came by The Wanted (but good) and honestly I hear it in the postchorus LMAO. Doesn’t affect how much I like the song (this one’s my third favorite on the album) but just thought it was funny 😭
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Haha I hear it! I always liked Glad You Came (and most of The Wanted’s music, honestly), so this isn’t a bad thing to me.
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I was about to comment the same thing, it’s very The Wanted coded but in a good way. I wasn’t a huge fan of theirs but I love a good dance pop track, especially with the summer coming up!
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Glad I’m not the only one. 😭😭🙏
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the song that immediately stood out to me… It’s soo good. Title track is the fav for this ep, but this is soo great too
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