Liam: Oh my god, I thought his voice was literally, like, sub bass.
I did not...
[Rossini - Semiramide Overture]
Umu: You know ATEEZ?
Liam: Yeah!
Rachel: ATEEZ...
Liam: We know them. Rachel: Yeah.
Liam: Wait, they - yeah, those are the pirate guys, right?
Rachel: Are they the pirate guys? Umu: They are the pirate guys...
Umu: Why, our entire crew only knows them like, "Oh, they are the pirate guys."
Liam: Oh yeah, and the High School Musical II, the baseball bit, yeah (x3)!
Rachel: Oh yeah, I forgot about that one!
Rachel: That was a good, that was a good session, I remember that. Liam: That was a sick video.
Umu: Sick as heck! Okay so...
You are now reacting to the boy group ATEEZ,
aka the pirate guys,
aka the High School Musical baseball guys,
(Liam: Yes!) and their 2022 release 'HALAZIA'
off of their EP "SPIN OFF: FROM THE WITNESS"
Last time we found ATEEZ in 'Guerrilla',
they were trying to wake up the hearts of people controlled by a leader who took away their emotions
and they were using music and dance to do so,
but in this release, 'HALAZIA',
we are experiencing the perspectives of those who were the victims of the regime, not ATEEZ.
Like ATEEZ inspired people to free themselves from their oppressive government,
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'HALAZIA' is actually a reference to one of their earlier songs, called 'HALA HALA',
do you guys have a guess for what H.A.L.A. stands for?
Ali: Hala?
Umu: HALA, H-A-L-A. Ali: Like, halla!
Umu: No, like, it's an acronym.
Ali: Oh.
In English?
Umu: Yeah.
Ali: Uh...
Help...
Um, hm...
He Always Lives...
He Always Lives... Always?
Umu: It's not gender specific.
Ali: Oh Ju Young: Okay.
Ali: Heyyyyy~
Umu: Okay, it's been one minute, I am gonna give it, okay.
Umu: 'HALA HALA' stands for "Hearts Alive Wakin-" wait-
"Hearts Alive-"
"Hearts Again Live Alive?"
"Hearts Alive Live Again"
HALA stands for "Hearts Awakened Live Alive"
Brian: Does the Z stand for "Zombies"?
Umu: No...
Jason: Oh Brian.
Umu: The song is composed by EDEN, Ollounder, Maddox, Peperoni, OLIV, BUDDY, Neko,
and the lyrics are co-written by the ATEEZ members Mingi and Hongjoong.
Owen: Alright.
3, 2, 1,
HALA!
Liam: Good intro.
Rachel: Good intro.
Owen: Very cinematic already. Trailer-like, actually.
Jason: Drone-like
Very apocalyptic.
Kayla Rae: Okay, but I kinda like that vibe.
Owen: We have a minor pentachord.
Rachel: That was cool.
Oh!
Owen: I like how they sat on the *G♯-A*. (Kevin: Mm)
Liam: Oh, I like the vocal layering.
Jacob: I love the vocals for this. Kayla Rae: Me too!
Ali: This organ?
I hear it.
Liam: Oh God, with the organ?
Glorious.
Oh my god, I thought his voice was literally a, like, sub bass.
I did not...
Jason: See, that voice sounded like a bass.
So they are using their voices as actual instruments, which is pretty cool.
Kevin: Uh!
What?!
Owen: I'm happy they're doing this.
Kayla Rae: He's cute.
Jacob: Hmmm~
This is an interesting way to do dystopian
Owen: Very satisfying. Kevin: Very emotionless.
Rachel: That's cool as fµcĸ.
Is that the- that is a cool chorus!
It's like anti-drop add chime.
Liam: Oh!
Rachel: Oh man!
Kevin: Wow.
Ali: That came out of nowhere, I really like it.
Kevin: This is, this hits kind of hard.
Kayla Rae: Oh?
Both: "Who are you?"
Kevin: What a voice...
What a delivery.
Kayla Rae: Oh, I am a big fan.
Jacob: Mhm.
Jason: I do like that,
that that's kind of like a bass or a taiko drum almost, where it's just...
Liam: Oh my God their vocal timbre is so, Jesus Christ, it's like so smooth.
Ju Young: See, like that.
Like that was so abrupt.
Like why are they assaulting my senses.
Jason: And that's a very chromatic, interesting harmony
that can also emphasize the dystopian quality to this.
Rachel: Ah man, I love that so much.
Wow.
Ju Young: They like changed the tempo there, and then...
hhhhhHHHHAAAAAAA WOW!
Jacob: Oh my goodness.
Liam: Oh, I love the panning of the, the kind of ostinato thing they have got going on.
Kayla Rae: Uh? Oho. Jacob: MMmmm~
Kevin: Ah, a serviceable bridge.
Owen: Doesn't feel like a bridge.
Ju Young: It's SO EDM or like dubstep, it's like hahaHAHAH!
Liam: Yeah, drum and bass.
Kayla Rae: Oh? Jacob: Oh!
Kevin: Wow.
Ju Young: Whaaat the f- [t/n: Headphone users warning!]
WWOOOOOWWW!
Ju Young: What the f#%k was that?
Why did it do that?
Kayla Rae: I'm shook.
Oh it's not over.
Kevin: What a...
Owen: It's absolutely confusing.
Kevin: I like it.
Jason: That's pretty serene.
I like this sound, it's kind of glass harm- harmonic-ishy
It's kind of cool.
Synth.
Bass.
Ethereal.
Meditative.
Kayla Rae: I'm shook.
Ju Young: Did you not see the ball falling, the ball fell on him!
Umu: Oh yeah, mhm.
Ju Young: And he is, like, fine.
Umu: Taking that ball to the face like a champ.
Ju Young: He is, like he's just like-
Ali: No, he didn't even flinch.
Ju Young: Yeah, he didn't flinch at all.
Rachel: I liked the thing at the end where it was like the big black ball and it dropped
and then it became water and then the chimes went:
*DING*
Like, it like smacked the dude in the face and the chime was like:
Liam: And ending on a chime note always leaves lasting impact.
This is like, sh*t just happened!
Rachel: Shiŧ.
That just happened.
Umu: Okay, so as you were listening to the song and as it went on,
did you feel like there was a story from the perspective of- (Owen: For sure!)
Kevin: I think it's- Owen: I don't know what the story is...
Kevin: It's more of a portrait, it's like an image of like,
it really depicts the state of these people very well
and I also think that maybe I can relate to it sometimes, the lyrics,
it's like, you know, maybe life has just been sucker punching me
and sometimes I feel like a little, yeah, like devoid of emotion
and maybe it's important to remind myself what it feels to be alive.
The feeling, need to scream, it's like portrayed very well in this song, and...
yeah, just to feel something.
Owen: It think that was, a theme of the song was opening up as the song went forward
is that you start out a little bit smaller and as you went,
sort of the song allowed you to express more and more
until eventually they were just pouring out their soul.
And I think if you listen to that with that same sort of mentality then the song can definitely get you there, I think.
Jason: It is just really active
but the thing is that that's good for certain times and for certain moments
like this concept is not something that should be calm or ethereal or nice or something
like this is about society and people coming and saving a dystopian apocalyptic kind of terrifying regime kind of thing,
like it was very freaky, and especially that figure that was in front of it that was a little creepy.
Brian: That was freaking me out.
Jason: And it was evoking a lot of historical things like that
and, so, yeah, like the kinds of really intense,
like the hyper-intensified percussion and four on the floor
and like the screamo and parts of it that were just kind of metal,
I thought it worked really well.
Brian: Especially the percussion and the little bit of screaming that they were-
there was just a lot of yelling, I feel like,
and the percussion kind of evoked images for me of people like hitting...
Brian: like garbage cans with sticks- Jason: Well that's good though, that it made you feel that,
Jason: Because that's kind of what it was meant. Brian: Yes. That's what they were going for, it's just not for me.
Jason: It's what Yoko Ono said.
Brian: It's just not for me, if that's for you, power to you!
Jason: I mean and even the movement and how much intensity was going on
also does reflect kind of bringing down a regime,
bringing down an apocalyptic kind of thing,
which, I get it.
It was just a lot.
Which is not bad, but for me,
I think you could get a point across further
if it's just a little cleaner.
Ju Young: The dubstep just overwhelmed me.
Ju Young: And the song overwhelmed me. Ali: Yeah but maybe that's the point
Ali: Because they're like, they can't feel anything
so they need something overwhelming to like bring them back.
Ju Young: Yeah, which, like, I don't-
Like if you like being overwhelmed, like, great,
but like, in this context, I think the fact that I didn't know what was happening,
plus I didn't know how their music correlated with anything,
like I just didn't have time to process everything.
Liam: No, I like this song.
Rachel: Yeah, I did too, I really liked the chorus,
like, I was like, mmm, that slapped.
Liam: Yeah, you kind of get the impression, like with all the switching between genres,
like you get the drum and bass,
you get the reggaeton,
you get the like dubstep-esque stuff,
it's like they are trying everything in their power to like wake people up, which is kinda cool.
Ali: The lyrics are all about,
like he literally says "I can't feel what it's like to be alive"
and then you have all of this like heavy dubstep,
which is like pretty overstimulating,
so it's kind of like something to like wake up the people.
Umu: Yeah, and so the organ, you feel might represent somewhere of like a church-hymn or something?
Ali: I wouldn't say it's like hymn-like
but like the purpose of singing hymns came...
Well, so the communal act of singing hymns came from Martin Luther and the reformation,
like the split from the catholic church,
and so Martin Luther's thing was like:
Everything is in Latin? Ew!
We should, like, do things that the people understand, cuz we want participation from the people!
We want the people to be involved and to feel alive through the music and the texts that we sing.
Ju Young: And this is the people's song to the ATEEZ.
Ali: Yeah, I could see the correlations.
Rachel: Which the organ, I actually, like,
I know I was totally joking, but I'm kind of not,
I wish the organ was a lot louder in the pre, in the prechorus,
because it was like...
Organ! I was like:
Organ! I want Organ!
Cuz like you can hear it, but it's not that loud,
and you know, when I think of organs, I think of like big ass pipes
and like, big ass pipes make a lot of noise, so...
Liam: Big ass pipes do make a lot of noise. (Rachel: You know?)
No, that would probably go along with the heavens opening up for these people.
Liam: Being woken up. Rachel: It was like HhHHhhH!
Liam: I mean like, the sentiment is there, but...
Liam: You just wanted more. Rachel: I understand why they probably put it lower,
cuz it's organ and it's loud, but like still,
I don't know!
Jason: Every voice was kind of treated as a specific instrument
and like how their choices of instrumentation kind of did reflect the storyline and the narrative,
I thought that was interesting.
Kayla Rae: There were so many different vocal qualities that I was like picking out,
there was like the low, like bassy voice,
and then there is the one who sings like the, like, "Halazia",
so that has a more like airy head voice kind of quality,
and then there was like the middle range,
towards the end we heard like more middle ranged, like modal range,
and there was like the rapping and like the low.
Ju Young: Like it's so like in your face, like it's a change.
I like that.
It gives off that.
It's very like, I'm gonna throw.
Ali: I think that caught me off guard.
They went from like really sustained synth,
and there was like a buildup and you could hear it,
and then all of the sudden it just like stops
and then you have the rap verse enter, at a fairly fast pace,
and I like that you can still hear the beginning, like flute motif,
from the beginning of the song, like in the background.
And all of the percussion in that rap section is like super bright
and like *tktktktktk* instead of like *wubwubwubwuw*
It's less of a wub wub and more of a takataka.
Liam: It was so awesome.
The little interjections that kind of like...
I don't know, they bring attention to how busy the rap is, going on on top of it,
it's just like the little interjections of like the kinda glitchy, *prrr prrr*, like those sounds,
and like the hi-hat and like really dry snare drum,
it was like, man, it's so cool. (Rachel: Yeah)
Rachel: No, super cool.
Yeah, I like the interjections as well
because sometimes they actually like go with what is happening in the rap,
and then sometimes there is kind of like a play between the rap and the backing interjection.
Like I think maybe the first two times it was with the rap that was happening
and then the last one changes it. Liam: Yeah, and then sometimes it would just like cut out.
Rachel: His rapping was slower and the interjection was like a faster rhythm.
Both: Yeah, that *diggidi diggidi* was with him.
Rachel: And then he goes *dada - dada* Liam: Like when the bass cuts out.
Rachel: Like that's kind of what the-
Both: Yeah.
Rachel: So he slows down but then the backing rhythm thing gets faster.
Liam: Yeah, and the bass like completely cuts out, just for that beat.
Liam: Yeah, it's really interesting to listen to, actually.
Rachel: Yeah. Liam: Yeah, it's a nice rap verse.
Umu: Yeah, so,
What were just like the immediate things that jumped out to you?
Owen: I was ready for the chorus the first time around,
the second time the chorus just happened, but I wasn't like...
For the first time I was like, okay,
this is the time the chorus is gonna be and it's gonna hit right,
and it did, it was just right, I think,
I think that's something that I like about older music cuz it doesn't always hit you with the chorus,
you can like, sometimes it earns it and you get there when it feels like it's right,
but sometimes, like...
If the chorus comes too early it doesn't feel like it's really deserved yet.
Umu: You feel like that was an arrival, you didn't feel like that was any building tension.
Owen&Kevin: It was both!
Owen: Yeah, absolutely, it was still moving forward and like holding your hand, you know,
like into a new universe a little bit,
but it was also in like an arrival.
Kevin: I think that is ultimately what I look for in music,
the idea of every section serving as, yeah,
maybe some of them serving as an arrival point and-
Owen: And also leading... Kevin: Yes, there always needs to be momentum.
Kevin: Yes, but if the arrival points can also serve as that, that's like...
Kevin: The best. Yes. Owen: Or be springboards. Yeah, for sure.
Kevin: I like the ending, I like that it's different.
I think one more Hala Hala, like in the quiet mode, after the bridge, would have been,
would have brought the energy down too much, so I am glad they didn't do that.
Last time we reacted to 'Guerrilla' and I was very favorable towards it
but then I listened to it again and it actually was a little too noisy,
I don't know, it wasn't like, I realized I had to feel that song when I am in a certain mood,
the song doesn't just always bring me to it.
This song will bring me to it, I feel like, if I put it on.
Owen: That's a cool distinction between songs that you can access and songs that get you.
Ju Young: Someone said:
"If they don't play this at my funeral, I refuse dying"
Ali: Oh.
Is that how that works?