''Pleasure Shop'' is the third Korean

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 ...

(EP) by South Korean singer Key. It was released on September 23, 2024, through

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1995 by Lee Soo-man. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies and has been responsible for fostering and popularizing the car ...

. The EP has a

futuristic The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently e ...

theme, and contains six songs, including the lead single, "Pleasure Shop".

Composition

The EP consists of six songs belonging to the

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

genre. Lead single "Pleasure Shop" is an

electro house Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music and a subgenre of house music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 125–135 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including ...

song with a synth pad pattern and "danceable" drum beat. The lyrics, written by Key, depict Key as a cyborg leading people into his world. "Overthink" features repetitive synth

arpeggio An arpeggio () is a type of Chord (music), chord in which the Musical note, notes that compose a chord are individually sounded in a progressive rising or descending order. Arpeggios on keyboard instruments may be called rolled chords. Arpe ...

s and rhythmic kick sounds. It compares the human brain to a virtual world, with lyrics about stopping the thoughts that won't go away. "Golden" contains youthful themes. It blends

dance pop Dance-pop is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developi ...

and house music, incorporating organ, synths and

nylon guitar The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the modern steel-string a ...

. "I Know" is a retro house song with layered bass sounds, upbeat synth chords and snap sounds. It portrays the narrator possessing the subconscious of another. "Going Up" is a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

-based

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

song with rhythmic percussion and clap sounds over a strong bassline. The lyrics compare an inescapable and dangerous love to being stuck in a nightmare. Finally, "Novacaine" is an uptempo

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

song with a

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

rhythm pattern. It utilises synths to evoke a "dreamy" atmosphere, with lyrics expressing longing for an ex. The song is written in English, following the tradition of Key including an English song in his albums.

Release and promotion

On September 2, 2024,

announced that Key would release his third Korean EP, ''Pleasure Shop'', on September 23, his birthday. Promotional content for the EP depicted Key as a cyborg inviting people to his "Pleasure Shop", where visitors could experience euphoria by drinking "pleasure juice". Key hosted a series of participatory events for fans, titled the "Pleasure Addicts Club", where they could drink the "pleasure juice" themselves. He performed songs from the EP for the first time at concerts held in Seoul on September 14–15. Key held a live event to discuss the EP on September 22, which was also broadcast through online platforms such as

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 ...

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

and

Weverse Weverse () is a South Korean mobile app and web platform created by South Korean entertainment company Hybe Corporation. The app specializes in hosting multimedia content, the sale of artist-related merchandise, content subscription, and artist ...

Track listing

Personnel

* Key – vocals, background vocals * Maxx Song – vocal directing (track 1) * Andrew Choi – background vocals (tracks 1–5) * Anthony Pavel – background vocals (track 1) * Landon Sears – background vocals (track 1) * Lee Ji-hong – recording (tracks 1–2, 4) * Jeong Yu-ra – recording (track 1), digital editing (track 1), engineering for mix (tracks 1, 4), mixing (track 4) * Jeong Eui-seok – mixing (tracks 1–2), engineering for mix (track 2) * 1Take (Newtype) – vocal directing (tracks 2, 4) * Dewain Whitmore Jr. – background vocals (track 2) * Kwon Yu-jin – digital editing (tracks 2, 5) * Ju Chan-yang (Pollen) – vocal directing (tracks 3, 5) * Benji Bae – background vocals (track 3) * Lee Min-gyu – recording (tracks 3–6), digital editing (tracks 3, 6), engineering for mix (track 6), mixing (track 6) * Kang Eun-ji – recording (track 3), engineering for mix * Gu Jong-pil – mixing (track 3), mixing in

Dolby Atmos Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels as well as free-moving sound objects, interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horiz ...

* Jang Woo-young – digital editing (track 4) * Emily Yeonseo Kim – background vocals (track 5), vocal directing (track 6) * Ross James – background vocals (track 5) * Kim Cheol-sun – mixing (track 5) * Kwon Nam-woo – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

References

{{Key (entertainer) 2024 EPs Korean-language EPs SM Entertainment EPs Key (entertainer) EPs