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

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

and debut major Korean release by South Korean

boy group A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands dance a ...

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

. It was released on February 12, 2020, 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 ...

and distributed by

Kakao M Kakao M Corp. (; formerly Seoul Records, YBM Seoul Records and LOEN Entertainment) was a South Korean entertainment company established by Min Yeong-bin in 1978. It was one of the largest co-publisher companies in South Korea. The company opera ...

and U-Cube. 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 with Nathan and Yunji. The album features member Jinho, Hui, Wooseok, Kino, 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 Kino states that the song is produced by Hui 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 Many fandoms in popular culture have their own names that distinguish them from other fan communities. These names are popular with singers, Musical ensemble, music groups, films, authors, television shows, books, games, Team sport, sports teams ...

) 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, Wooseok 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. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

, and

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

Composition and lyrics

The title song "Dr. Bebe" is an electronic genre based on

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

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 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 ...

genre with synth-pluck sound, groovy drumbeats and unique

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

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 Harley Quinn (Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, PhD) is a fictional American character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for ''Batman: The Animated Series'' as a henchwoman for the ...

from the movie ''

Suicide Squad The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...

''. "Talk" is a sensual R&B

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

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 an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. 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 music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

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 stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

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 Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and

groovy ''Groovy'' (or, less commonly, ''groovie'' or ''groovey'') is a slang colloquialism popular during the 1960s and 1970s. It is roughly synonymous with words such as "excellent", "fashionable", or "amazing", depending on context. History The word ...

rhythm song. "Camelia" is a

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

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 advertis ...

'' 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Only a live showcase without the attendance of fans was broadcast live on

Vlive V Live (stylized as VLIVE), sometimes referred to as V App, was a South Korean live video streaming service that allowed celebrities based in the country to broadcast live videos such as live chat sessions with fans, performances, reality show ...

. 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 from the CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. It features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. First hosted by Leeteuk ...

'' performing together with "Camellia", followed by performances on KBS' ''

Music Bank ''Music Bank'' () is a South Korean music program which airs every Friday at 17:15 KST on KBS2. the show is also broadcast in more than a hundred countries through KBS World. Episodes are filmed at the KBS New Wing Open Hall in Yeouido-dong, Ye ...

'', 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. I ...

'', and SBS' ''

Inkigayo ''Inkigayo'' (; 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 perform on stage. ...

''. 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 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. 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") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

. 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 A metronome () is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a uniform interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats per minute (BPM). Metronomes may also include synchronized visual motion, such as a swinging pendulum ...

. Also, the trailer of the music video showed Hui during " Shine" 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 2020s Korean-language albums Pentagon (South Korean band) albums Albums produced by Hui (singer) Albums produced by Kino (singer) Albums produced by Yuto