MONSTA X Returns With 'The Phase,' First Comeback in a Year
MONSTA X released its 14th EP, "The Phase," at 1 p.m. Friday in Seoul - the group's first Korean album in exactly a year, since last September's "The X."
The six-track release is built around the title song "MAGIC," written, composed and arranged by member Jooheon, who also handled three other tracks on the record, including "Type X" and "Electric Heart." Hyungwon contributed a self-written ballad, "Sweet Night, Sweet Morning." Starship Entertainment has described the project as layering "a more refined and delicate texture" over the group's established sound, split across six songs the label says carry different moods that "come together into a single flow."
The rollout leaned hard into narrative. A string of member-specific teasers - Hyungwon wiping a window on loop, Minhyuk discovering Santa tied up beside a Christmas tree, Kihyun headbanging through falling confetti - resolved into a single trailer revealing a shared, unexplained mansion setting. Starship tied the concept directly to the group's ongoing "2026 MONSTA X WORLD TOUR THE X: NEXUS," in which the members are shown crossing a glowing portal into a new dimension; "The Phase," per the agency, continues that story. The group performs "MAGIC" for the first time on KBS 2TV's "Music Bank" later Friday.
It's a full-group record arriving after a run of individual work. Jooheon released his second solo EP, "(INSANITY)," in January, charting on iTunes K-pop lists in 24 countries. Minhyuk put out his own single, "Reaching," in June, drawing a nod from Forbes for his vocal tone. Starship has framed "The Phase" as the point where those separate threads reconverge under the group name - six members, one release, after months of member-led projects running in parallel.
The remaining two tracks round out that range without repeating it. "Survivor" and "Type X" carry credits from Jooheon as well, while "That's My Girl" fills out the set's more straightforward pop lane. Starship has described the six songs as deliberately varied in mood rather than built around a single sound, betting that the contrast reads as range rather than a lack of focus once fans hear the full sequence rather than the pre-release teasers.
The North American leg of "THE X: NEXUS" tour picks up October 3 in Fairfax, Virginia, and runs through October 24 in Seattle - 10 dates across the U.S. and Canada that will put "The Phase" material on stage for the first time outside Korea. Whether "MAGIC" becomes the song that carries that leg, or gets overtaken by whatever the tour's remaining teasers still haven't shown, is still an open question.
