''Circus'' is the second Japanese-language extended play (EP) () by South Korean boy band Stray Kids. It was released on June 22, 2022, through

Epic Records Japan Epic Records Japan is a Japanese record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Its founder was Shigeo Maruyama. Between 1978 and 1988 the label operated as a wholly owned subsidiary: Epic/Sony Inc. () was established in August 1978

. Centered on a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

concept with hip hop, trap, rock, and pop elements, the EP consists of six tracks, preceded by the Japanese version of "

Maniac Maniac (from Greek μανιακός, ''maniakos'') is a pejorative for an individual who experiences the mood known as mania. In common usage, it is also an insult for someone involved in reckless behavior. Maniac may also refer to: Film * ' ...

", " Your Eyes", and the title track. Commercially, ''Circus'' debuted at number two on the

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...

, and atop ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine ''Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence from ''Bi ...

'' Hot Albums, and was certified platinum by Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), surpassing 250,000 copies.

Background and release

On April 4, 2022, two weeks after the group's sixth Korean extended play (EP) '' Oddinary'' release, Stray Kids announced their second Japanese EP, scheduled for release on June 22, after their first Japan leg of their

Maniac World Tour The Maniac World Tour, officially Stray Kids 2nd World Tour "Maniac", is the ongoing second concert tour by South Korean boy band Stray Kids in support of their 2022 extended plays (EPs), ''Oddinary'', ''Circus'' and ''Maxident'', and 2023 album ...

ends. Pre-orders for the EP began on the same date, coming in four editions on CD–limited A, limited B, regular, and FC. The limited A edition additionally includes DVD, while the limited B SpecialZine. In a '' Pia Music Complex'' magazine interview on April 21, Bang Chan stated that the EP will give the group's "refreshing power" and "blow away all the heat of summer", while Changbin said that they will show both "unique" and "different" side of the EP. From May 12 to 16, Stray Kids posted individual and group teaser images, depicting a concept of

. On May 16, the EP's title was revealed, named ''Circus'', alongside the cover artworks for each edition, and the track listing, containing three new tracks, and the Japanese versions of "Venom" and "

" from ''Oddinary'' (2022), and "Silent Cry" from '' Noeasy'' (2021). Additionally, the limited A edition includes the music video of the previous-release single "

Scars A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs, and tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a natu ...

", and its behind-the-scene. The EP was preceded by three single: "Maniac (Japanese ver.)", released on May 18, " Your Eyes" on June 1, and the title track on June 10. The latter two were released alongside their accomapying music videos.

Music and lyrics

''Circus'' is nineteen minutes and eleven seconds long, consisting of six tracks. It opens with the title track, "

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

", a hip hop-dance track centered on the circus theme, featuring "vaulting"

pluck Pluck or plucking may refer to: Removal * Plucking (hair removal), the removal of hair, fur, or feathers * Feather-plucking, a behavior in birds * Plucking post, as used by birds of prey to dismember their prey * Plucking (glaciation), a process ...

bass, "addictive" vocal chops, and "solid" drums, which make sounds like elephant footsteps in the circus". It is followed by the second track "Fairytale", based on the theme "the ideal love of the world is all like a fairy tale". The final track, "Your Eyes", is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

love song driven by piano about the lover's gaze with the feeling of anxiousness sometimes but still wishing to be happy in the relationship.

Promotion

To promote ''Circus'', Stray Kids appeared on the covers and gave interviews for the July–October 2022 issue of Japanese magazines ''

CanCam is a Japanese monthly fashion magazine published by Shogakukan. Its name supposedly derives from "I Can Campus", because girls who read it are expected to become "campus leaders". The magazine was created for fashion-conscious consumers, and offer ...

''. ''

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

'', '' Nikkei Entertainment!'', ''Pia Music Complex'', '' Vivi'', '' Smart'', and ''

Rolling Stone Japan ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its c ...

'' (only interview). The group appeared for televised interview at '' Venue101'' on May 12, as well as the five-hour-special ''Kami Oto: Kamigata Otomatsuri'' on May 28, '' The Time'' on June 21, '' Mezamashi TV'' on June 23, and '' Asadesu'' on June 29. FamilyMart,

HEP Five HEP is a major shopping mall and entertainment center in the Umeda commercial district of Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. It is a shopping mall consisting of a HEP Five and HEP Navio. HEP stands for "Hankyu Entertainment Park". The building is operated ...

, and FuRyu partnered with Stray Kids for several campaigns to commemorate the release of ''Circus'' in June. Stray Kids gave the debut performance of "Circus" at the first

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

show of the Maniac World Tour in Japan on June 11. On the same day, they performed "Maniac (Japanese ver.)" at ''Venue 101'', broadcast from

World Memorial Hall or World Hall is a multi-purpose arena located in the Chūō-ku Ward of Kobe, Japan. It has a maximum capacity of 8,000 people and is optimized for large-scale meetings, sport events, trade shows and concerts. It is located on the artificial isl ...

, where they held the concert. The group appeared on the morning show '' Sukkiri'' on June 14, to perform "Circus". Following the EP release, Stray Kids held the pre-recorded livestream event to introduced the EP via YouTube,

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

, and Abema. The group performed "Circus", along with "Back Door", at '' Buzz Rhythm 02'' on July 9, and the two-hour special '' Music Station'' on August 5.

Commercial performance

According to

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

, ''Circus'' has sold 97,804 copies on June 21, 2022, the flying get date. The EP entered

at number two with 131,921 CD copies in its first week, behind only Tatsuro Yamashita's 2022 album '' Softly''. It also debuted at number one on the ''

'' Hot Albums, selling 198,239 physical copies (number one on the Top Album Sales), and 986 downloads (number eight on the Download Chart) on the first week. The album also charted on the

ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

Physical Albums at number 12, and the Croatian HDU International Albums at number 28.

Track listing

Notes * The Japanese title of track 3 "" (''Kumo no Ito'') means a spider's thread.

Credits and personnel

Musicians * Stray Kids – vocals, background vocals ** Bang Chan (

3Racha Stray Kids (; often abbreviated as SKZ) is a South Korean boy band formed by JYP Entertainment through the 2017 Stray Kids (TV series), reality show of the same name. The group is composed of eight members: Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunji ...

) – lyrics , composition , arrangement , all instruments ,

computer programming Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as ana ...

, vocal directing ** Changbin (3Racha) – lyrics , composition , vocal directing ** Han (3Racha) – lyrics , composition , vocal directing * KM-Markit – Japanese lyrics * Yohei – Japanese lyrics * Earattack – background vocals , composition , arrangement , all instruments , computer programming , vocal directing * Chan's – composition , arrangement , all instruments , computer programming * Darm – composition , arrangement , all instruments , computer programming * Millionboy – composition , arrangement , all instruments , computer programming , vocal directing *

DallasK Dallas James Koehlke (born 1991), better known by his stage name DallasK, is an American DJ, record producer, writer, artist, and singer based in Los Angeles. Active since 2010, he co-wrote and produced Fifth Harmony's 5× platinum single, " Work ...

– composition , arrangement , all instruments , computer programming * Versachoi – composition , arrangement , all instruments , computer programming * Hong Ji-sang – composition , arrangement , all instruments , electric guitar , bass , keyboards , computer programming , vocal directing * Jun2 – composition , arrangement , all instruments , vocal directing Technical * Goo Hye-jin – recording * Park Eun-jung – recording * Bang Chan (3Racha) – recording ,

digital editing Digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital ...

* Lim Hong-jin – recording , mixing * Eom Se-hee – recording * Hong Ji-sang – recording , digital editing * Lee Sang-yeop – recording * Lee Kyeong-won – digital editing * Park Nam-jun – digital editing , mixing assistant * Lee Tae-sub – mixing * Shin Bong-won – mixing *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career M ...

– mixing * Kwon Nam-woo – mastering * Dave Kutch – mastering Locations * Sony Music Publishing (Japan) Inc. –

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

* JYP Publishing ( KOMCA) – publishing * Music Cube Inc. – publishing * Cube Entertainment Inc. – publishing * Fujipacific Music Korea Inc. – publishing * Prescription Songs (

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

) – publishing * JYPE Studios – recording, mixing * Channie's "Room" – recording * Jisang's Studio – recording * KayOne Sounds – digital editing * Glab Studio – digital editing , mixing * Larrabee Studios – mixing * 821 Sound Mastering – mastering * The Mastering Palace – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2022 EPs Japanese-language EPs JYP Entertainment EPs Sony Music Entertainment Japan EPs Stray Kids EPs