GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5

The record

GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5 is the fourteenth mini album ATEEZ released, at 1 p.m. KST on 26 June 2026, with five tracks. The title track is ‘BAD’, a Brazilian funk track, and the record is the fifth in the series that runs on from GOLDEN HOUR : Part.4. Electronic Times reported that Hongjoong and Mingi were credited on the writing across the album.

The album introduction carried by Bugs says the record is “built on the fierce rhythm and performance of the Brazilian funk genre, and marked by the way it widens the existing story from the outer world to the inner feeling”. The same text introduces the title track as “a track built on addictive electronic percussion and an aggressive bass line”, and says its choreography was put together around the words attraction, control and synchronisation.

Reviews

Idology (아이돌로지), the idol-pop webzine, carried a note by Yemi in ‘Monthly : 2026년 6월’, dated 10 July 2026. Yemi writes that in the record’s first two tracks the group “applied its own attitude to Latin pop as well, and the result stands out”.

He takes the two songs apart in turn. “‘BAD’, the opening track, which takes Brazilian funk, reproduces the danceability particular to the genre at high purity in the members’ voices, over a minimal arrangement of percussion left unshaved, voice samples and a synth added in places.” Of the second he writes: “‘MAMACITA’ lays mariachi-style brass and piano over the frame of Latin trap, and builds an earthy mood that calls the film Coco to mind.” The same note points out that both songs use descending lines in the melody often and that ‘BAD’ works with the Phrygian dominant scale.

Yemi looks for the reason the group turned to Latin pop in its 2023 Sao Paulo concert and in the music video’s cast, then moves the answer to the stage: “what looks more important than anything is that the heat of Latin pop, connected to the energy particular to ATEEZ, brings the team’s physical strengths strongly to the fore.”

Debashree Dutta of Rolling Stone India wrote about the title track on 29 June 2026. She writes that the song is “built around a heavy bassline and a blend of Brazilian funk and Latin phonk”, and “keeps its production relatively minimal, letting the group’s strong vocals shine while setting the stage for the album’s other songs”. The same piece says that “instead of leaning on their usual metaphors or intricate universe lore, ATEEZ ground this blinding passion in a stylish club rhythm”.

Jacqueline Naranjo of the American music magazine Music Connection picked out the second track in an album review dated 17 August 2026. She writes that “‘Mamacita’ is the strongest song from the EP as its Latin-infused sound and anthemic chorus is explosive”, and that “the latter half is tighter and more cohesive as the songs delve more into melodic R&B sounds”.

Among the tracks

The title track, ‘BAD’, is the track both reviews take up. Yemi writes that its words carry “a quantity of Spanish ad-libs unusual for K-pop”, giving ‘Tú me tienes loco’ and ‘Ven aquí, bella’ as examples. Electronic Times reported that the Hollywood actor Chase Infiniti appears in the song’s music video.

‘MAMACITA’, the second track, is the B-side all three reviews name. Rolling Stone India sets out the genres of the rest as “EDM hip-hop rhythms in ‘Fallin,’ and the smooth R&B textures of ‘Toxin’ and ‘Body’”, and Music Connection reads that later half as moving into melodic R&B.

Numbers

Star News reported on 6 July 2026 that the record entered the Billboard 200 at number one on the chart dated 5 July 2026. The same report puts its first week at 228,000 album units, of which 223,000 were pure album sales. The outlet says the figure is above the 195,000 of GOLDEN HOUR : Part.4 and the group’s largest United States sales week, its third number one on the Billboard 200 and its ninth consecutive top-ten album there.

What came next

The title track’s Japanese version came out on 29 July 2026 as the group’s fifth Japanese single, BAD (Japanese Ver.). The record’s chart week is set out in ATEEZ’s ‘GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5’ Tops the Billboard 200, and the title track’s genre and its Japanese version in What ATEEZ’s ‘BAD’ Is.