EXO are back for their K-pop crown on REVERXE, the much-anticipated album that marked the SM Entertainment boy group’s return following military service and legal disputes. Not all of the third-generation icons contributed to their eighth album release. Originally 12 members, EXO had eight participating members in 2023, when they released seventh album EXIST. On 2026’s REVERXE, it’s members SUHO, CHANYEOL, D.O., KAI, SEHUN and LAY who are back for the trap-driven dance lead single “Crown” and eight other tracks. “Crown” is a self-described return to the “SM Performance”, or “SMP”, sound that defined much of SM Entertainment’s early-generation groups. The theatrical, club-ready fusion of rap and rock was prominent in EXO hits like 2012’s “History”, 2014’s “Overdose” and 2018’s “Electric Kiss”. On the brash lead single, the style is used to couch a promise to protect a crown for a precious loved one—even if the effort breaks them. EXO keep the tempo up across dance tracks “Back It Up”, “Crazy” and “Suffocate” before slowing things down for REVERXE’s back half. Album-ending pop ballad “I’m Home” doubles as a song for a lover and a song for the fans who waited for EXO’s return, however incomplete: “All winter long, the clock hands stayed frozen/When time finally begins to thaw/I said I’d find my way back to you.”