Monkey Hotel

On the album's introduction note, Choi Jung-hoon shared that it is the prelude to a long series that Jannabi is attempting. It connects the songs to one storytelling against the background of a fictional place called Monkey Hotel, revealing the characters and relationship scenarios to each song with illustrations.{{Cite news|url=https://sports.khan.co.kr/news/sk_index.html?art_id=201608051956003|title=밴드 잔나비 첫 정규앨범 'MONKEY HOTEL 1'|date=5 August 2016}} In an interview with Busan Ilbo, Choi explained the album's concept, stating, “When I went to Hong Kong to play, there were many (people wearing costumes of) monkeys on the street because it was the year of the monkeys. When I went to the hotel, the bellboy was wearing a monkey hat. Conversely, since we are Jannabi, I thought it would be fun to dress up as a bellboy. This is how the Monkey Hotel began.”{{Cite news|url=https://www.busan.com/view/busan/view.php?code=20160818000179|title=잔나비 "왜 음악 시작했냐고요? '관종'이라서요. 하하"(인터뷰)|date=18 August 2016}} Later on, the band explained on You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook, aired in 2017, that they were inspired by Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel and tried to make an album with a story.{{Cite news|url=http://tvdaily.co.kr/read.php3?aid=14874042231212366010|title=

'유희열의 스케치북' 잔나비 "우리를 키운 건 윤종신 독설"|date=18 February 2017}}

The album attempted various genres such as hard rock, blues and rock and roll that they wanted to play through songs such as "Wish," "Hong Kong," "The Secret of Hard Rock," and "Monkey Hotel," starting with the title track "Summer" ({{ko-hhrm|뜨거운 여름밤은 가고 남은 건 볼품없지만||Tteugeoun Yeoreumbameun Gago Nameun Geon Bolpumeopsjiman}}) without losing its psychedelic color.{{Cite news|url=http://www.sportsq.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=190750|title=[인디레이블탐방] (55) 잔나비, 트렌드를 파괴하는 '사이키델릭 록' 대형밴드 보인다|date=14 August 2016}} When discussing the title track, Choi wrote the melody for the first time around the middle of 2015.{{Cite news|url=http://www.beyondpost.co.kr/view.php?ud=201905182056512632191c80caff_30|title=잔나비, '뜨거운 여름밤은 가고 남은 건 볼품없지만' 시적인 가사 사라질 뻔했다?|date=18 May 2019}} Described as a ballad with an old pop sensibility, it depicts lonesome and empty feeling after a breakup.{{Cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnXMByXs5q8|title=[I'm LIVE] JANNABI (잔나비) & Summer (뜨거운 여름밤은 가고 남은 건 볼품없지만)}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MIVpoW9xtQ&t=14s|title=헤어진 연인과 친구로 지내기, 가능 VS 불가능? 잔나비 최정훈과 함께하는 《고막메이트》 Ep.74}} In a JTBC interview in 2022, he shared that "Summer" is the song he is most thankful for because it promoted the band steadily and gave them a lot of strength to work on their next album confidently.{{Cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CdNgZThP7I|title=[Differential Class All Night Talk] The musician Jannabi wants to collaborate with?!}}

Their sixth solo concert, titled "Monkey Hotel," was held to commemorate the release of their first full-length album of the same name on June 18, 2016, at KT&G SangSang Madang Live Hall in Seogyo-dong, Seoul.{{Cite news|url=http://www.sportsworldi.com/newsView/20160519000947?OutUrl=naver|title=밴드 잔나비, 정규 1집 발매 기념 단독콘서트 '몽키호텔' 6월 18일 개최|date=19 May 2016}} Jannabi revealed that the album was delayed several times as they did a lot of trial and error recording for the first time in a studio. From July 28 to August 3, the two video teasers for "Summer" and the preview of all the tracks in the album were released through the official YouTube channels of the band and 1theK Originals.{{Cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NbLy1wTMw8|title=[Teaser 1] JANNABI(잔나비) _ Summer(뜨거운 여름밤은 가고 남은 건 볼품없지만)}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZQVEcAU0hY|title=[Teaser] JANNABI(잔나비) _ 'MONKEY HOTEL' Highlight Medley)}} On August 4, the "Summer" music video was released on the same channels.{{Cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5wCZ0-3Eos|title=[MV] JANNABI(잔나비) _ Summer(뜨거운 여름밤은 가고 남은 건 볼품없지만)}} From August 6 to 7, Jannabi held a "PREVIEW" event featuring an art exhibition and live performance at Space Art 1, a gallery in Jung-gu, Seoul, to celebrate the release of their first album with the fans.{{cite web|title=Band Jannabi Instagram Post on Seoul Additional Seats|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BIMmljlByW-/|author=@bandjannabi|via=Instagram|access-date=May 20, 2023}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 =IZM{{cite web| url=http://www.izm.co.kr/contentRead.asp?idx=27821&bigcateidx=1&subcateidx=3&view_tp=1| title=MONKEY HOTEL| publisher=IZM| accessdate=20 May 2023|language=ko}}

| rev1Score ={{rating|4|5}}

}}

Im Jin-mo of IZM found Monkey Hotel to be the long-awaited pop or pop rock album. The reason why they dare to use the word pop is because they have harvested the 'popularity' of rock band music that is difficult to come across these days through "proper arrangement and balancing of emotions and energy." With the album's soft theme, "the large stem is taken and the overall unity is given, but the individual songs constantly violate the hearing as if shooting a double-barreled gun."{{Cite news|url=http://www.izm.co.kr/contentRead.asp?idx=27821&bigcateidx=1&subcateidx=3&view_tp=1|title=MONKEY HOTEL|date=1 September 2016}} Korean Indie praised the stylistic shift the band did commenting that the album is "curiously old-fashioned-sounding, with a character reminiscent of classical musical theatre and the Roaring Twenties."{{Cite news|url=https://www.koreanindie.com/2016/11/07/jannabi-잔나비-monkey-hotel/|title=Jannabi (잔나비) : Monkey Hotel|date=7 November 2016}} Music critic Bae Soon-tak called Monkey Hotel "a masterpiece of rock in 2016 that proved that you can have a familiar yet clear personality." He also commended the band with no obsession that "something must be different," but pursued an album "made only of goodwill for familiar things, but like a skillful curator."{{cite web| url=http://music.naver.com/todayMusic/index.nhn?startDate=20161222| title=2016년 놓치면 아까운 8장의 앨범들 | publisher=Naver Music| access-date=20 May 2023|language=ko}} Commercially, the original version of the album released in 2016 peaked at number 41 while the special edition re-issued in 2018 peaked at number 10 on Gaon Album Chart.{{cite web|title=2019년 20주차 Album Chart|url=http://www.gaonchart.co.kr/main/section/chart/album.gaon?nationGbn=T&serviceGbn=&targetTime=20&hitYear=2019&termGbn=week|access-date=2019-05-28|website=Gaon Music Chart|language=ko}} The song "Summer" rose to various domestic music charts and peaked at number 15 on the Gaon Digital Chart following Jannabi's rise to fame in 2019.{{cite web|title=2019년 17주차 Digital Chart|url=http://www.gaonchart.co.kr/main/section/chart/online.gaon?serviceGbn=ALL&termGbn=week&hitYear=2019&targetTime=17&nationGbn=T|access-date=2022-01-13|website=Gaon Music Chart|language=ko}}

All tracks are written by Jannabi. All tracks are produced by Choi Jung-hoon.{{cite web|url=https://www.melon.com/album/detail.htm?albumId=2702242|title=MONKEY HOTEL by Jannabi|publisher=Melon Music|language=ko|date=August 4, 2016}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Monkey Hotel track listing

| total_length = 29:24

| title1 = Goodnight (Intro)

| length1 = 1:08

| title2 = Summer

| note2 = {{lang|ko|뜨거운 여름밤은 가고 남은 건 볼품없지만}}

| length2 = 4:03

| title3 = Surprise!

| length3 = 3:22

| title4 = Wish

| length4 = 3:49

| title5 = The Secret of Hard Rock

| length5 = 3:16

| title6 = Hong Kong

| length6 = 3:37

| title7 = Tell Me

| note7 = {{lang|ko|꿈나라 별나라}}

| length7 = 2:43

| title8 = Jungle

| length8 = 3:09

| title9 = Monkey Hotel (Finale)

| length9 = 2:00

| title10 = Waltz (Bonus track)

| note10 = {{lang|ko|왕눈이 왈츠}}

| length10 = 2:17

}}

Notes

• "Waltz" is stylized in small caps.
• "Hong Kong," "Jungle" and "Monkey Hotel" are stylized in all caps.

{{reflist}}

Category:2016 debut albums

Category:Jannabi (band) albums