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"Antiretro" is a song by Filipino musician Xavier Luna as the second single from his debut studio album, XAVI (2025), featuring South Korean solo artists Chae Dahee, DEC, and Seoyeon; the selection of features was based on the fact that all three being fans of the artist. A futuristic art pop and electropop song, "Antiretro" lyrically is about a creature's quest to break free from the past to become a powerful force in the future. An accompanying music video, released on the same day as the single, features a colorful depiction of a dystopian rebellion.
"Antiretro" received critical acclaim from music critics, who complimented its maximalist production and atmosphere. The song topped the charts in Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong, becoming Xavier's third number-one in the former country. It was later included in the top 10 of MBS Entertainment's top 50 K-pop songs of 2025. The song was later used as the opening theme song for the Netflix animated science fiction action series Hyper Perfect, boosting its global popularity.
Background and release[]
In an interview in December 2024 following his win for Best Album Composition/Arrangement at the 2024 Hangang Artistry Awards, Luna expressed his admiration towards the newer artists who look up to him as an inspiration: "It's only been a while since I actually felt like an idol, so to see all these talented new singers, saying I'm their favorite artist or role model, is heartwarming. I stay in this music industry because I want to share my authentic self with other people through my art, and to see that it actually resonates is amazing and I will never be able to fully comprehend it."
In January 2025, after performing a cover of Chae Dahee's hit single "In The Back Seat" on Instagram, he replied to a fan asking for a collaboration, saying "I would love to collaborate with Ms. Dahee- I could imagine her schedules are so booked right now though so time will tell!" In February, Xavier posted a video of him singing Seoyeon's "Play A Card", and DEC's "Guilty" in March. All three covers had the same Face with Hand Over Mouth emoji (🤭), leading sharp-minded fans to find potential symbolisms in it. In March 31, 2025, just a few days before its release, Xavier released the single artwork with the caption defining the title, confirming the collaboration.
Composition[]
"Antiretro" is an electropop, art pop, and dance-punk song composed in the key of B Major, with a tempo of 134 beats-per-minute (BPM). The title "anti-retro" is defined as "a rejection of engrossment in the past." According to Luna, the lyrics are written in the perspective of a troubled, weak monster who is determined to destroy their bubble of yearning to transform into the powerful creature they envision themselves to be.
Music critic Paul Tajima of the Consequences digital magazine interpreted the song as a commentary or reaction to pop culture's continuous obsession with bygone eras, whether it be prevailing 1950s-1980s vintage or the Y2K revival that has oversaturated everything from fashion to music." Luna has echoed similar sentiments during past appearances in talk shows, one of which he said, "I don't hate nostalgia. If anything, I still find myself immersed in the wonders of my childhood and the comforting media that was present alongside it. But, all the nostalgia marketing nowadays, from the mediocre film reboots that nobody asked for to our continuous glorification of past decades, which I'd argue plays a role in this decade's political backsliding, it feels like we're unable to create anything outside-of-the-box anymore."
Commercial performance[]
Streaming charts[]
| Chart (2025) | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|
| BE.LIV Singles Chart (Chart by Ziyueism) | 1 |
| Tydal 100 (Chart by Zzofiaa) | 1 |
National charts[]
"Antiretro" debuted at No. 8 on the Circle Digital Chart issue ending April 12, 2025, while topping the Circle Download Chart. The following week, it ascended to number one, breaking the streak of G-Dragon and Anderson .Paak's "Too Bad".
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Music video[]
The music video for "Antiretro" features a cyberpunk-indebted dystopian future.
"Antiretro" was directed by independent filmmaker Bae Daeul, whom he discovered after watching the music video of Won Taehyun and Won Kyungjun's "Primé", which he described as one of his favorite videos of 2024. He described working with Bae as "a pleasant experience; he understood my vision and had so much input that ended up in the final storyline." He also personally coordinated with the other three artists so they can film together, not liking the trend of K-pop collaborations where the featured artists do not appear in the music video or film separately. The music video is currently Luna's most viewed of all time, with 35 million views as of 2026.
Filmed mostly in Songdo, a business district outside Seoul, the film features the concept of "rebellion through unapologetic expression." The music video features cameos from his Awkward Boy Syndrome groupmates (Choi Changwook, Nicolás Ahn, Charlie Kwon, Lee Jiyong, Kim Jungwon), LILLIES trainees, all 7ENITH members, all IMPGS Tap members, all EPHEMERA members, all khaos members, all Synesthesia members, all SOMANY members, Take Flight, Anuia Singhapat, Apsel Webner, Park Eunwoo, Moon Yujin, Nathaniel, Cho Sungho, Kwon Inha, Kang Donggun, Kaehwa and Yebi of LUMINESCENT, Lee Hyeyum of BEAUDENT, Juni of GIRLS SEASON, Yuni and Yeun of Færi, Han Seul and Fang of HEART2HEART, and Park Yeseon and Shin Moyeon of ODYSSEIA. According to journalists, the "Antiretro" music video now holds an unbreakable (for the foreseeable) record of most artist cameos of any K-pop music video. In an interview, Xavier described the filming of the music video as "the craziest and most fun thing I've done in my entire lifetime... I'm still processing how I got so many icons to have a party for a music video."
The music video is set in an unknown fictional country "10 years from now", ruled by an ultraconservative and neoliberal military dictatorship. The worldbuilding and its close time setting was interpreted as a commentary on the alarming backsliding of world politics towards the hands of fascist or alt-right politicians in the 2020s. The video opens with Xavier is seen walking down an impoverished street, wearing an office uniform and visibly exhausted, as guards wielding large guns patrol the vicinity with unempathetic faces. He heads down a subway station, running down an abandoned corridor before opening a manhole cover and climbing down into the darkness. The mysterious place ends up being an abandoned station concourse and platform, which has been turned into an underground illegal club, as partying and most music has been strictly banned by the state. Xavier is now wearing a black leather jacket, baggy green pants and holographic visors, mingling with the rest of the diverse crowd that wears different kinds of unconventional fashion. Dahee, Seoyeon, and Euichan wear similar punk outfits, showing off their individual styles. In the second chorus and bridge, the four artists and the rest of the partygoers are busted down by police and detained in cold prison cells, but they break out of their prisons and start a riot that in the final chorus, culminates in a chaotic rave scene, with notable shots of two men kissing each other and four women spraying obscene graffiti all over the paintings of politicians.
Awards and accolades[]
Music show wins[]
| Show | Date |
|---|---|
| Hallyumak | April 13, 2025 |
| Rankdown @ MBS | April 20, 2025 |
Release history[]
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Various | April 9, 2025 | Digital download · streaming | 24D Entertainment |