Just a few weeks after messing with the “Tempo” of their last single, K-pop boy band EXO are back this week with their brand-new song “Love Shot.”
Released on Thursday, the act’s latest is a smooth tune that takes aim at figuring out romance. Fronted by heavy 808 bass, layered vocals and quirky elements like gunshot effects and warped synths, “Love Shot” slinks along from start to finish, rising and falling in intensity in anticipation of the groovy “na na na”s of the chorus ahead of the titular hook. The song comes to a conclusion in the most explosive way, but not before slowing things down temporarily with an evocative bridge from D.O and Suho and raps from Sehun and Chanyeol, bolstered by harmonizing from who sounds to be Baekhyun, before ending things off with one final rendition of the addictive choral refrain.
Chanyeol (Park Chanyeol) and Chen (Kim Jongdae) are credited as co-writers of the song's lyrics, while Bazzi is one of the song's composers.
“Love Shot” was released through a dramatic music video that saw the group switching off between the gritty locale of a gas station and luxurious trappings, before participating in a shoot-out with unexpected foes. The video is dominated by some of the most sensual choreography EXO has served up in some time, as the group seduces the camera with gyrating moves in some moments, while imitating guns and shoot-outs in others. Narratively, the video ties into EXO’s most recent music video with the resurgence of a red cube previously seen in “Tempo.”
“Love Shot” fronts EXO’s latest album, also released on Thursday, which is an extended re-release of November’s Don’t Mess Up My Tempo; upon its release, the prior album saw the group enter the Billboard 200 top 40 for the first time, peaking at No. 23 on the chart dated Nov. 17. Along with the Don't Mess Up My Tempo tracks and a Chinese version of “Love Shot,” Love Shot also features two brand-new songs: the lush standout dance track “Trauma” and the sweet, wintertime ballad “Wait.”
Watch the music video for EXO’s “Love Shot” here: