Did anyone else forget that EMPiRE have an album out next month? What is probably WACK’s most polished unit have been so busy lately that it can be hard to keep track of them. They only just released a single two weeks ago and they’re already promoting “The GREAT JOURNEY ALBUM” through limo rides (yes, really) and a premature music video for album opener “Have it my way”.

I’m going to give a somewhat irrelevant confession here; in my sleep-deprived state, upon seeing the title and thumbnail full of clowns in my subscription feed, my first thought was “Huh. So EMPiRE are promoting McDonalds now?” Then I realised that “Have it your way” is actually Burger King’s slogan. Other thoughts that followed were “Of course WACK are taking advantage of the fact that films like “Joker” and “IT” are relevant at the moment. Of course they’re riding that bandwagon” and “Hey, this is actually really good!”

See, EMPiRE were kind of slow starters for me; they were probably my least favourite of the WACK groups because I personally found their material was a little bit hit-and-miss. I didn’t even have an oshi that I could cry over when they inevitably left too soon! Well, I don’t know if its because the rest of WACK became an even bigger dumpster fire in 2019, because NOW EMPiRE is so darn cute or if they suddenly improved a lot the past year, but I’m liking EMPiRE a lot now. After a bit of restructuring early in the year, they’ve been pushing out consistently good releases, “Have it my way”, especially. Its going right on my workout playlist!

It honestly makes me a little worried that, in true WACK tradition, EMPiRE are going to crash and burn any day now. But, for now at least, I’m really excited for “The GREAT JOURNEY ALBUM”.