Monsta X has just dropped their new EP titled Fatal Love, and from start, to finish it’s a mixture of some of the talented group’s best sounds, with some introspective moments that result in an album with a transcendent vision. After five years, the group has found a massive audience around the world for the mixture of their impressive discography and lovable, quirky personalities, with their newest EP feeling like a piece of commentary about their previous tracks and potential nods to the future of Monsta X’s musical maturity.

On the album, Fatal Love opens with their familiar appreciation for a hard beat that indulges in their hip-hop inspirations, with the uniqueness of the Monsta X flare on “Love Killa.” It’s a strong teaser for Fatal Love, offering a song that feels like a good traditional option to open up the EP. It then transitions to “Gasoline,” which plays with tropical energy and a catchy underlying drum, followed by a strong falsetto pre-chorus leading into a mesmerizing chorus.

Fatal Love offers up one of my personal favorites next, with “Guess Who,” that encapsulates consistency. From the first moments of the song, the steady hard rap beat erupts into an electronic heavy moment on the album, and a rap that follows only takes the song to the next level. This feels like the point of Fatal Love that shows listeners some of their best collective assets, making the bold and brilliant choice to follow with “Nobody Else.” Drastically differing from “Guess Who,” the song finds its niche by fusing a slightly rock-twinged production with rap, similar to some of Joohoney’s recent releases, and finding a sweet spot for the melding of two different genres.

Another crucial point in the EP comes from “Stand Together” that features a lengthy Busta Rhymes-esque verse, in a moment that deserves to be appreciated as a high-energy banger — or the club beats with an electro-trance hook that’s found in “Night View.” On “Last Carnival” Monsta X sends Fatal Love into an R&B groove, with an infectious chorus and is one of the most significant dark horses on the album where each track holds its own.

Though we get a taste of different genre-fused variations of Monsta X, it’s the album coming to a close on “Sorry I’m Not Sorry” that’s arguably the best-kept secret on Fatal Love. The song immediately starts out with an instrumental, acoustic guitar backed track, blending smooth vocals for a somber, stripped, ’70s sound that feels like the musical child of a Crosby, Stills & Nash song and Bread. It’s with that final track that Monsta X has a chance to reflect on the album’s inquisitive endeavor — and this album is part of the evolution of a group prepared to broaden their horizons. Fatal Love is wholeheartedly filled with some of Monsta X’s best work to date, and will likely be celebrated for years to come.

Make sure to stream Fatal Love now!