''Universe: The Black Hall'' is the first

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

and debut major Korean release by South Korean boy group

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...

. It was released on February 12, 2020, by Cube Entertainment and distributed by Kakao M and

U-Cube Universal Music Group owns, or has a joint share in, many of the record labels listed here. According to UMG official site, the main labels are Abbey Road Studios, Bravado, Capitol Music Group, Decca Records, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammopho ...

. The album marks their longest gap between their previous extended plays since the ninth mini album '' Sum(me:r)'' released in July last year. The group continue to promote as eight as Cube states Yan An did not participate in Pentagon's first full album promotions. The album contains eleven tracks with the lead single "Dr. Bebe" composed by member

Hui The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...

with Nathan and Yunji. The album features member Jinho, Hui,

Wooseok Jung Woo-seok (; Hanja: 鄭禹奭; born January 31, 1998), also known by the mononym Wooseok, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, model and composer. He debuted as a member of the South Korean boy group Pentagon in October 2016 and also ...

Kino Kino may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasters * KINO, a radio station in Arizona, U.S. * Kino FM (98.0 FM – Moscow), a Russian music radio station * KinoTV, now Ruutu+ Leffat ja Sarjat, a Finnish TV channel Fictional entities ...

, Yeo One, Hongseok, Shin Won, and Yuto who participated in the album process.

Background

It was revealed in GQ Korea's February 2020 interview with Pentagon that the title song for their upcoming studio album has been confirmed. Member

states that the song is produced by

and it is a concept that Pentagon has never done before. Leader Hui stated the reason why it's "black hall" and not "black hole" is because it means it is the space in which Universe ( fandom name) and Pentagon walk hand in hand together. According to member Kino, the album is the culmination of all their previous works and it also represents a new start for them. Three months prior to its release, Hui written and thrown away 5 songs, and finished 9 songs which were not included, but 3 songs were included in the album. During the group's album showcase,

revealed that his lower back hurts during practicing for the title song, but is in the midst of recovery.

Release

On January 30, Cube shared the time schedule for the group upcoming comeback as "Pentagon's 1st Full Album NIVERSE : THE BLACK HALL, which the group revealed their group image on February 4 and 5, and followed with audio snippet on February 6. On February 10, Cube released the music video teaser for title track "Dr. Bebe". The album was released through several music portals, including

MelOn A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

, and

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

Composition and lyrics

The title song "Dr. Bebe" is an electronic genre based on hip-hop rhythm. The song contains four themes 'Love, Fall, Hurt and Crazy' it is talking about repeated 'bridle of love' that everyone falls in love with, breaks up, get hurts, goes crazy and loves again. "Asteroid" is an up-tempo pop genre with synth-pluck sound, groovy drumbeats and unique synth line added to the song's ambience. The medium tempo "Shower of Rain" based on the hip-hop genre with easily with lyrics and lyrical melody portrays a man crying in the rain to hide the tears flowing from the heartbreak. "Die For You" contains a love story that happened after he was abandoned by his ex-lover. The song is composed by member Kino with an inspiration of Harley Quinn from the movie '' Suicide Squad''. "Talk" is a sensual R&B

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 ...

song featuring the stories of old lovers who don't dare to know each other's hearts. Member Jinho and Wooseok participated in the writing. "The Black Hall" is an EDM

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

song made through a collaboration between Hui and duo Flow Blow who together produce "Never" and "energetic" in 2016. "Worship U" is a trendy and energetic medium tempo

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

that tells a story of a man whose life has changed through his love and promises to his lover that her love her until the end of his life. Oriental

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and synth sound creates "Zoom Up" a dreamy and mysterious atmosphere with heavy

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

and

groovy ''Groovy'' (or, less commonly, ''groovie'' or ''groovey'') is a slang colloquialism popular during the 1950s, '60s and '70s. It is roughly synonymous with words such as "excellent", "fashionable", or "amazing", depending on context. History The ...

rhythm song. "Camelia" is a

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

ballad song produced and written by member Yuto. Through the meaning of camellia, the song depicts memories that Pentagon and Universe spent together in the past 3 years. The album also contains two special tracks, "Someday" that has the vocals of Jinho and Hui, and "Happiness (Korean Ver.)" is a newly released Korean version of "Happiness" which was the double title song of Pentagon's 2nd Japanese single ''Happiness/Sha La La''. Tamar Herman of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine called the title track "dynamic in its propulsive angst with pounding choruses, rapidfire raps, and melodic showcasing the diverse tones of the eight members.

Track listing

Promotions

On January 28, 2020, Pentagon released a forty-one second-long album trailer video. The video revealed Pentagon's logo shining brightly into a black hole after several intersecting images of the universe, with the release date of Pentagon's first studio album. The album was supposed to accompany by a fan showcase but Cube Entertainment decided to cancel it due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Only a live showcase without the attendance of fans was broadcast live on Vlive. Cube held Uni Hall outside Cafe 20 Space: The Mint Universe from February 12 to March 1, 2020. On December 12, 2019, a media showcase was held to commemorate the release of the group's first regular album at YES24 Live Hall in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. The group began promoting their title track "Dr. Bebe" on February 13 on

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

's ''

M Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet. The show features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. It is broadcast from CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. Bro ...

'' performing together with "Camellia", followed by performances on KBS' '' Music Bank'', MBC's ''

Show! Music Core ''Show! Music Core'' (), or simply ''Music Core'' is a South Korean music television program broadcast by MBC. It airs live every Saturday at 15:30 (KST). The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform live on stage. ...

',' and SBS' ''

Inkigayo ''Inkigayo'' ( ko, 인기가요; English title: ''The Music Trend'', previously ''Popular Song'') is a South Korean music program broadcast by SBS. It airs live every Sunday. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who p ...

''. Pentagon continue their promotion activities with follow-up song "Shower of Rain" starting March 12, on MCountdown.

Music video

The music video for the title track was released at midnight, 00:00 KST, on the 12th through Pentagon's official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel. The music video was meant to be released at the same time as the digital music release but due to the overwhelming response, it was brought forward to midnight on the 12th. The music video showed the members facing terrors raging over love and encountering a variety of dangerous encounters. On February 14, the official lyrics and dance practice video for "Dr. Bebe" was released on both Pentagon's official YouTube and V Live channel. On February 16, the music video surpassed 10 million views making it their fastest music video to reach it since debut. Pentagon also released "Dr. Bebe"'s performance version music video on February 17.

Analysis

In M2, Kino stated that in "Dr. Bebe"'s music video, the remaining members are all his

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

. The video presents two sides, Upside which means reality and Downside means inner feelings. The Upside shows how they are foolishly waiting for their loved ones and slowly turning into madness, while the Downside shows how they tried to escape from the pain of love. Both sides are connected by the metronome. Also, the trailer of the music video showed Hui during "

Shine Shine may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Shine'' (film), a 1996 Australian film based on the life of David Helfgott, a pianist * Shine, a fictional character in the American animated TV series ''Shimmer and Shine'' Lite ...

" with the paper aeroplane, and it changed colour as it landed on "Dr. Bebe"'s music video set. This represents how "A boy that wanted to experience love, finally experienced it, and feel the pain when he broke up".

Accolades

Charts

Release history

References

External links

1st Full Album UNIVERSE : THE BLACK HALL Audio Snippet
on

'Dr. 베베(Dr. BeBe)' Official MV
on YouTube
'Dr. 베베(Dr. BeBe)' (Choreography Practice Video)
on YouTube {{Authority control 2020 debut albums Cube Entertainment albums Korean-language albums Pentagon (South Korean band) albums Albums produced by Hui (singer) Albums produced by Kino (singer) Albums produced by Yuto