Circus (EP)

Background and release

On April 4, 2022, two weeks after the release of their sixth Korean EP Oddinary, Stray Kids announced their second Japanese EP, scheduled for June 22, following the first Japan leg of their Maniac World Tour. Pre-orders began the same day in four CD editions: limited A, limited B, regular, and FC. The limited A edition includes a DVD, while the limited B edition includes a SpecialZine. In a Pia Music Complex interview on April 21, Bang Chan said the EP would give the group's refreshing power and blow away the heat of summer, and Changbin stated they would show both unique and different sides.

From May 12 to 16, the group posted teaser images depicting a circus concept. On May 16, the title Circus was revealed along with cover artworks and a track listing of three new tracks plus Japanese versions of Venom, Maniac, and Silent Cry. The limited A edition also includes the music video of Scars and its behind-the-scenes footage. The EP was preceded by three singles: Maniac (Japanese ver.) on May 18, Your Eyes on June 1, and the title track on June 10, the latter two with accompanying music videos.

Music and lyrics

Circus runs nineteen minutes and eleven seconds across six tracks. The opening title track Circus is a hip-hop-dance piece built around a circus theme, featuring vaulting pluck bass, addictive vocal chops, and solid drums that evoke elephant footsteps. The second track Fairytale is based on the theme that the ideal love of the world is all like a fairy tale. The final track Your Eyes is a piano-driven ballad about a lover's gaze, conveying anxiousness yet a wish for happiness in the relationship.

Promotion

To promote Circus, Stray Kids appeared on the covers of and gave interviews for Japanese magazines including CanCam, Mini, Nikkei Entertainment!, Pia Music Complex, Vivi, Smart, and Rolling Stone Japan (interview only) from July to October 2022. The group gave televised interviews on Venue101 on May 12, Kami Oto: Kamigata Otomatsuri on May 28, The Time on June 21, Mezamashi TV on June 23, and Asadesu on June 29. FamilyMart, HEP Five, and FuRyu ran campaigns commemorating the EP's release in June.

Stray Kids debuted Circus at the first Kobe show of the Maniac World Tour in Japan on June 11, and performed Maniac (Japanese ver.) at Venue 101 broadcast from World Memorial Hall the same day. They performed Circus on Sukkiri on June 14. After release, they held a pre-recorded livestream event on YouTube, TikTok, and Abema. The group performed Circus and Back Door on Buzz Rhythm 02 on July 9, and on the two-hour special Music Station on August 5.

Commercial performance

Circus moved 97,804 copies on its June 21, 2022 flying get date, per Oricon. It debuted at number two on the Oricon Albums Chart with 131,921 CDs in week one, trailing only Tatsuro Yamashita's Softly. The EP topped the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart, shifting 198,239 physical units (number one on Top Album Sales) and 986 downloads (number eight on the Download Chart) in its first week. It also placed at number 12 on the ARIA Physical Albums chart and number 28 on the Croatian HDU International Albums chart.