[&] (read as "and") is the fourth extended play by South Korean girl group Loona. It was released on June 28, 2021, by Blockberry Creative and distributed by Kakao Entertainment. The comeback marked the return of member HaSeul, who had been on hiatus due to health issues since early 2020.
Upon release, [&] became the group's fastest and best selling project. All of its tracks reached Gaon Download Chart becoming their first album to do so and also earned the group their first ever entry on the Gaon Digital Chart with the lead single, "PTT (Paint the Town)". The project was met with generally positive reviews with critics praising its genre diversity and the group's experimentation with different sounds on the project.
Background
On June 1, 2021, at midnight Korean Standard Time, Loona announced through social media that they will be releasing a new extended play titled [&] on June 28. They also shared a cryptic teaser image containing the Latin words "citius, altius, fortius. Acta est fabula, plaudite" which translates to "faster, higher, stronger. The play is over, applaud". The following day a teaser image titled "XII" was released featuring twelve eyes, confirming the return of member HaSeul, who did not take part in the group's last two promotional cycles to focus on her mental health. HaSeul also opened up about doing group activities again saying:
Individual member teaser pictures were released from June 3 to June 21 and a highlight medley video for the extended play was released on the group's YouTube channel on June 25. The track list for the album was revealed on June 10 and "PTT (Paint the Town)" was announced as the title track. Four different concept photos were also released for the extended play. The first trailer video titled "&" for the extended play was released on June 23 and it features member Kim Lip walking into a huge temple, overlapping with the scene for the video for her solo song "Eclipse". Then, a drum plays in the intense red lighting, heralding that the beginning of a huge worldview has risen, and Kim Lip, wearing a red school uniform connected to her solo and unit worldviews, stands on the altar located in the center of the temple. Two other trailer videos titled "&2" and "&3" were also released.
Composition
[&] features different sound that navigate from Bollywood-esque details, Korean ballad fairytale-like chimes and strings, quirky jazz, radio friendly power pop and dance-pop songs and ballads, and even the minimalistic traits of Korean indie R&B trends and rough lo-fi sounds. The extended play has been described as genre-diverse having a diverse tapestry of sound.
Songs
The intro song "&" gets the EP off to a dark, mysterious start, with its strong, thumping drum beats and hypnotic flute music leading into "PTT (Paint the Town)" which is a dance-pop and hip hop song that contains the most intense and "explosive" production among the songs that the group has released thus far. The song incorporates elements of Bollywood music, with Indian drums and tablas combined with dub-step and 808 bass sounds, and an Indian flute playing the signature melody of the song. "PTT (Paint the Town)" depicts the group members' new worldview, as they reestablish themselves independently without being trapped in taboos or being wary of others to "paint the town" in the group's colors.
"Wow" is a groovy jazz styled and broadway inspired song with bouncing tempo, a refreshing up-tempo melody and an upbeat chorus. "Be Honest" is an electropop song with fresh cord variations and sound effects and has an old school throwback sound. Member HyeJu (formerly Olivia Hye) compared the song to their 2018 single "Hi High" saying the song has a bright and fresh concept and a really refreshing vibe, which makes it a good song to listen to in the summer. "Dance On My Own" is the group's second full song in English following their 2020 single "Star", which was featured on the group's third extended play [12:00] (2020). It is a chill mid-tempo power pop song about dancing alone and feeling yourself. "A Different Night" is a deep ballad featuring a dreamy and faint sound. The last track "U R" is an indie R&B and lofi song with an emotional piano and electric guitar.