"Dark (X-File)" (stylized as DARK (X-file)) is a song recorded by South Korean girl group

(G)I-dle I-dle (; stylized in all lowercase), formerly known as (G)I-dle (), is a South Korean girl group formed by Cube Entertainment in 2018. The group consists of five members: Miyeon, Minnie (singer), Minnie, Soyeon, Yuqi, and Shuhua. Originally a se ...

for their fifth

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

'' I Love'' as the sixth track. The song was released on October 17, 2022, by

Cube Entertainment Cube Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean entertainment company. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production company, and music publishing house. Cube are known for h ...

. It was written by leader

Soyeon Jeon So-yeon (; born August 26, 1998), known mononymously as Soyeon, is a South Korean rapper and record producer under Cube Entertainment. She first gained attention for competing in the television shows ''Produce 101'' and ''Unpretty Rapstar ...

and produced by member

Yuqi Song Yuqi (, ; born September 23, 1999), known mononymously as Yuqi, is a Chinese singer-songwriter, dancer and record producer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group I-dle, which debuted as (G)I-dle under Cube Entertainment in May 201 ...

and Siixk Jun. The song is about the essential feelings from being in love.

Background and composition

On September 14, 2022, Cube Entertainment announced (G)I-dle would be releasing their fifth extended play ''I Love'' on October 17. On October 10, Cube released an audio snippet of each song from the album except "Dark (X-File)". Alongside the announcement, (G)I-dle's surprise-released the track video on October 12, 2022, five days before their full EP. The inspiration for the song came to Yuqi while drinking

Tsingtao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to Ger ...

beer in her studio with lights turned off. It is composed in the key of

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic ...

, with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 166 bpm and a running time of 2 minutes and 45 seconds.

Critical reception

Hien Nguyen of ''The Kraze'' describe the song as having mysterious and dark vibes that talk about falling into someone deep and are reminiscent of their previous title track " Oh My God. Writing for ''

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

'', Sofia Gomez wrote the song "reaches the point of losing yourself with an erratic emotional shift" that will give a "mysterious aura" to the listeners feeling goosebumps. "After absorbing so much negativity from the world and toxic relationships, you fall deep into a persona that’s no longer your original self." In his album review for ''

The Korea Herald ''The Korea Herald'' () is a South Korean English-language daily newspaper founded in August 1953 and published in Seoul. The editorial staff is composed of Korean and international writers and editors, with additional news coverage drawn from i ...

'', Park Jun-hee remarked that "

X-file In the fictional universe of the television series ''The X-Files'', an "X-File" is a case that has been deemed unsolvable or given minimal-priority status by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These files are transferred to the X-Files unit. Th ...

refers to a case deemed unsolvable". He pointed out that in the song, (G)I-dle 'continuously declares, "Kill the truth/me, and you/I cannot end anything" – hisperinga dark truth into people's ears, its no doubt that this track will be added to many playlists. It’s that good.' Madison Murray writing for ''The Honey Pop'' cited it as a " normal love song" in the EP but with "a bit of twist". She describes "Dark" as the "kind of thrilling, adrenaline-filled romance that comes to those who are comfortable in their identity and being."

X-File video

Before the album's release, on September 19, Cube released the album scheduler, which it stated that the X-File video would be slated for release on October 12. On the promised release date, a track video of the song was released on the group's official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel. It begins with Soyeon smiling while looking at her

cell phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...

. Several concerning headlines about (G)I-dle's future, such as "(G)I-DLE are on the edge" and "Are they being forgotten?" can be seen in the video. Then the camera cuts to a shot of Shuhua and

Minnie As a first name, Minnie is a feminine given name. It can be a diminutive (hypocorism) of Minerva, Winifred, Wilhelmina, Willemina, Winona, Margaret, Hermione, Jasmine, Mary, Miriam, Maria, Marie, Naomi, Miranda, Clementine, Dominique, Dom ...

. There is a scene where

Miyeon Cho Mi-yeon (; born January 31, 1997), better known mononymously as Miyeon, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is a vocalist of the South Korean girl group I-dle under Cube Entertainment, and voiced Ahri in the virtual K-pop girl group ...

and

wander with empty eyes behind the gorgeous visuals, and the dark atmosphere is doubled throughout the video.

Charts

Notes

References

External links

* * {{authority control I-dle songs 2022 songs Alternative rock songs Songs in Korean Songs written by Soyeon Songs written by Yuqi