After a Thunderous comeback with second full-length album, NOEASY, Stray Kids kept people on their toes for what would come next. Many expected the K-pop group to take the usual route: An album repackaged with several new tracks. Instead, the octet, composed of members Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N, surprised Stay (the name of their fandom) with the announcement of an early Christmas gift in the form of holiday album Christmas EveL.
The album arrived on Nov. 29 with back-to-back title tracks, Christmas EveL and Winter Falls. B-side 24 to 25 and the English version of NOEASY’s DOMINO complete the track list. The music video for Christmas EveL was released on the same day. The video sees the members get into all sorts of mischief as Santa’s helpers, giving keen-eyed Stays plenty of Easter eggs to enjoy.
Christmas EveL is a collaboration between the group’s producing team 3RACHA (Bang Chan, Changbin and Han) and Hot Sauce, whom Stray Kids worked with for the singles Back Door and Thunderous. This time, they partner up for an anti-Christmas, hip-hop song, made fresher by its twist of an outro, Felix’s addictive, “Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad / I can feel the evil coming, but Felix, never bad” of particular note.
The music video for second title track, Winter Falls, came out Nov. 30, crediting Han as writer and he and Earattack as composers. It skillfully counters the snappiness of Christmas EveL, with its gloomy mood and Han’s sentimental songwriting mourning lost love.
Bang Chan is writer and co-composer, alongside Nickko Young for 24 to 25, a Christmas ballad that captures the heart-fluttering feelings of falling in love. The track proves the group’s versatility once again as the members put their rapping skills aside for a mellow tune that showcases their impressive vocal abilities.
Closing the album is the English version of DOMINO, translated by Junoflo and members Bang Chan and Felix. The English lyrics carry the same confident defiance the group is known for as Hyunjin declares in the bridge, “In the end, they all come falling down. They’re not like us.”
In Christmas EveL, Stray Kids further explore their identity, reiterating that there truly is no one like them. No matter the season, count on these boys to deliver as only Stray Kids can.