at the freaky friday party

Let me start by saying that imho this is one of the most coherent albums atz ever released. And I mean it. Ever. On par with albums like All to Zero or Movement and Outlaw. There’s a story developing behind the tracks' order and it’s an engaging one, as well as an extremely coherent one. I loved the narrative behind the songs and their succession and just for a moment let’s forget about Sopro and the lore, because I know that it’s also possible to do that kind of reading of it, but I’m approaching this thinking about who doesn’t know shit about the lore and is listening only for the music and the lyrics. Well, the story is there anyway, and in its simplicity it’s a compelling one nonetheless.

Basically, along the songs you follow your stereotypical fuckboy on a successful prowl, starting from spotting his prey, to actually catching them and having steamy hot sex with them. But there’s a twist, because at the end of the last song the Captain turns the moral of the story upside down for us:

I should've let myself go back then, and held you until the morning

Instead, I acted cold with pointless pride, I was so immature

And this is so, so important. It is because the thing that mostly didn’t sit well with me the first days the album got out was the inherent patriarchy vibes and objectification of the love interest present in the first two songs (as I rambled about in this post). But if you read those two songs as the starting point of the story, well then you can see how our ‘protagonist’ changes, and, with him, changes the whole message of those two first songs. They’re not an example to be set anymore, they’re a cautionary tale instead.

So yeah. I honestly love this album. Not because of the music, there are other atz albums that I like a lot more if we talk just about music, but because as a writer I really appreciate when someone is telling me a story. And this is a really good one. Basic maybe? Maybe, but imho never told enough.

Musically speaking I found GH5 a little less experimental than other atz albums, or better, maybe, a little more simple. Let me explain. Usually when I listen to their songs I find myself wondering what genre they are, because often there is a mix of different ones in a single song. In GH5 the first three songs are not like that (the last two a little bit more, but not a lot tho). BAD is brasilian funk and nothing more. MAMACITA is textbook latin trap and Toxin is basically just R&B. Is it a bad thing? No. It is not. It’s just less to my personal tastes, because I like to be a bit more surprised while I’m in the middle of listening to a song, but that’s just me.

That said, now let’s talk about which songs I liked and why from most to least.

1. Toxin. (actually almost tied with Fallin’ but I might like Toxin a tiny bit more, hence the 1st place)

So. I know, it sounds contradictory given what I just wrote, but I’m a sucker for R&B and for good vocals and Toxin really delivered on both. I didn’t need to fall again in love with atz vocal line but goddamn. Also the song is all-round nasty (the beat, the bassline, the instrumental as a whole, the topline, the lyrics, just wow) and I really, really love well made nasty songs.

Also, had an orgasm while having it as bgm and jfc 10/10 would recommend (don’t ask for details, but it’s true).

2. Fallin’

My kind of music, meaning the kind of music where a lot is happening under the topline. It’s full, so full that you need to listen to it repeatedly to catch all that’s going on in the instrumental (and I’d really love for them to release it tbh, because I’m so curious about how it sounds without the topline over it). It has World era vibes but with a GH package and I love that. Sadly I’m not exactly a fan of its chorus and post-chorus, there’s something too it that doesn’t fully convince me, and that’s why it’s 2nd place.

3. Body

It has Empty Box vibes and I adore that song, plus it has such good lyrics that even if the instrumental is a bit too simple and repetitive for my tastes I cannot help but love it as a whole. No really, those lyrics elevated it and the whole album for me and that’s why Body is at 3rd place and not 4th, because it’s such a deep, hard hitting song that, even if, genre speaking, is not for me, I still cannot stop listening to it. 

4. BAD (actually almost tied at 3rd place with Body, but I got too many contrasting feelings about it, hence the 4th place)

Let’s start with what I love about it. The beat is sick. Crazy good. No idea what samples they used for it but it’s insanely good, as well as the bassline. I love the MV (I know, it shouldn’t count if we talk about music, but it does, because it influenced my perception of the song). It’s typical atz: camp, over the top and all over the place, kind of musical like. I always say that atz is for the theater kids and BAD just confirmed it for me.

Sadly I find the way they stripped down the instrumental to a minimum a bit underwhelming, but I already said it, I like songs that are full, where a lot is happening, so ofc I found it less to my tastes than other songs from the album. I’m waiting for their Japan CB tho, because it will have the instrumental track, so I’m open to change my mind about it. Also, I found the topline a bit too repetitive (and I mean the melodies and the rhythm of them, not the lyrics), and to me that makes the song a little bit boring so yeah, it’s a good song but it’s not for me, not entirely at least.

5. MAMACITA

Let’s start by saying that I’m biased, in a negative sense. I sadly understand Spanish, so I cannot listen to that line in the chorus without thinking it sounds like catcalling and feeling uncomfortable. A lot. I’m sorry but it is what it is.