“LOONATIC” (Hangul: 루나틱) is the third track from the mini-album Mix & Match by LOONA’s second sub-unit, ODD EYE CIRCLE. It was later included in the repackage album Max & Match as the fifth track.
An English version was later released as a gift for international fans.
The international title track which will be released in English for the fans outside of Korea. The track is in the styles of dream pop which has almost never been done in Korea to satisfy both international and local fans. Be ready to experience a musical roller-coaster ride.[1]
미국에서는 영어버전으로 발매되는 인터내셔널 타이틀 곡. 국내에서는 거의 시도되지 않았던 드림팝을 구현하며 해외 팬들과 국내 팬들이 모두 좋아할 수 있는 스타일을 담았다. 특히 사운드에 있어 큰 공을 들인 결과 듣는 이는 마치 환상특급 같은 놀이기구를 체험하는 듯한 놀라운 기분을 맛볼 수 있다.[2]
G-high from MonoTree entered the session with BlockBerryCreative with “LOONATIC”’s project file on hand.
Before he had BlockBerryCreative listen to it, the topic was on producing K-pop that grasps the general public’s attention.
He said he brought in the song because it was produced in the opposite manner.
Side story: Before playing it for them at the session, he said it was perhaps the song with the quietest vocal track in 2017. But then while playing, the vocals were way clearer in that pre-release mix [than what was released]. He thought he heard it better just because it was a demo mix, but even the composer, after hearing it, said the vocals were so audible, and was surprised.
There are songs that are designed for concepts/plans requested from the company, and there are also songs without specific plans written in advance. “LOONATIC” was the former.
The company’s orders were to make a song that sounds like Grimes. G-high didn’t know about Grimes, but to create “LOONATIC” he listened to Grimes a lot, and ended up loving her work. The host asked “wasn’t the song a bit too bright to reference Grimes?” and he responded, “it has to sell though” laughing.
He said BlockBerryCreative allows for a lot more experimental music, and those kinds of companies tend to request MonoTree to work with them.
Host asks Monotree if they communicate a lot with the artists to create their music. MonoTree says LOONA’s plans are already set by the company, so they didn’t in that case. They communicated while recording, of course. And they’re already in tune/friendly with LOONA so they know their specialties by now and consider that in production.
G-high’s intended vibes for “LOONATIC”: “4-D”, or eccentric/airhead-y, Grimes’ old “rocking” vibes, more “wet” than “dry”, meaning that audio feels like it could fly away. It’s a different idea of “wet” from most. (T/N: Might be an audio thing. Wettest signal: maximize the effect (reverb). Dry signal: zero effect)
Wanting to give a different sound than normal, he intentionally cranked up the reverb and had the bass on a lighter tone, and even used 4 tracks to maintain lightness. The trend for minimalist music is to emphasis bass and cut the highs, but this song does the opposite. To get the electric guitar in the chorus feeling super airy (enough to feel like it could fly away), they recorded in mono twice, created a stereo mix from that, then panned left and right afterwards.
The host seemed to have the most enthusiasm in this panel (of 5 total). G-high seems gentle and fun to be around.
–“LOONATIC” production story with G-high of MonoTree English translation: @orrery_nim[3]