“Featuring from Korean Music Heros”… AKMU’s Album of the ‘Avengers’, the Favorites Meet the Favorites

[스포티비뉴스=정유진 기자] AKMU formed K-Pop ‘Avengers’ through their collaboration album.

On July 26, AKMU held an online press conference to celebrate the release of their collaboration album ‘NEXT EPISODE’, and shared stories on their upcoming album.

AKMU will release their collaboration album ‘NEXT EPISODE’, featuring IU, Lee Sunhee, and top artists of Korean music today. It is their full-length album being released in 2 years since the release of their third album ‘Sailing’, back in September 2019.

LEE CHANHYUK introduced the album by stating, “We made our comeback in a special format. Our previous releases were written and composed by me or did not have any collaborators or featuring artists. This time we will present you a collaboration album, co-written and composed by various artists. It was fun working while considering their colors. The vocals will also be fun to listen to. We put in a lot of retro vibes as well, not like before”.

AKMU created a musical synergy effect by collaborating with IU, Lee Sunhee, Zion.T, Beenzino, Choi Junghoon of Jannabi, Crush, and Sam Kim. The title track ‘NAKKA’ features IU, paradoxically stating that falling can also be an opportunity to rise high. It is expected that AKMU’s unique views on perspectives will stand out.

Regarding the title track ‘NAKKA’, LEE SUHYUN stated, “It contains the message to a person who is facing hardship, that I will stay by your side until the end”. She added that the song was inspired by the film ‘The Greatest Showman’ by stating, “We were inspired by the film ‘The Greatest Showman’. I told my brother that we have to watch it when it was released again. He said that he was inspired by a certain scene”.

LEE CHANHYUK continued, “The main character did well in the circus initially, but situations turned. He was devastated, but his original team comes to him and tells him, ‘We weren’t next to you because you were famous and successful. This situation won’t affect us’. I got inspired that moment and started working as soon as I got back home”, explaining the background of how the song was made.

Regarding the MV, he hinted, “If you have understanding on the song, you will be inspired through our work”. He added, “The mood itself may be dark, but intentions are hopeful. It means that even if you fall to the ground, it doesn’t matter as long as I’m with you. It’s a comforting message. There is a part when falling paradoxically looks like flying, which will be interesting to watch”.

Regarding the falling scene, he revealed that he filmed the scene pompously as a marine reserve by stating, “I wore my harness a lot during my military duty, but the one used on the MV was different. It was bigger and it hurt more. We had to put extra care on safety. We filmed 4~5 days without break, but I filmed with passion. There were aftereffects”. LEE SUHYUN added, “He walked waddling steps after the filming”.

In addition to ‘NAKKA’, AKMU’s album will also include songs with fresh charms including ‘Hey kid, close your eyes’(Lee Sunhee) which sees the reality of adults in a child’s perspective, ‘BENCH’(Zion.T) which tells a story of someone who can be free of the norms of other people and the society, ‘Tictoc Tictoc Tictoc’(Beenzino) which passes the message to do what you want because everyone wants something different, ‘Next Episode’(Choi Junghoon of JANNABI), ‘Stupid love song’(Crush), and ‘EVEREST’(Sam Kim).

Regarding the collaboration album, LEE SUHYUN revealed how they collaborated with artists by stating, “The beginning was ‘NAKKA’. We thought how we can make the listeners feel the message with more ease. We thought IU can help us. She is an artist who can deliver the message to the public. Since the fans were waiting for AKMU and IU to collab, we thought it is the right time. So we called IU, and she said yes. That became the first collaborative song, and we decided to make more after that point”.

LEE CHANHYUK thought about the time he recorded with IU. He stated, “There was a song we sang together when IU came as our concert guest. I directed at the time, so there were no difficulties. She recorded really well, and shared our thoughts. LEE SUHYUN and IU have similar vocal colors, so I thought how I can harmonize them to its maximum potential”. LEE SUHYUN chattily continued, “He’s very detailed and picky when he directs my vocals. When he recorded IU, he was yelling, ‘I like it, I like it’. It was almost like Facebook. But I admit, she is superb”. LEE CHANHYUK stated, “I let her interpret herself, and went easy” and added, “So I added 1 million likes”.

On the reason why they chose ‘NAKKA’ as the title track, LEE CHANHYUK stated, “We thought a lot on selecting the title track since debut. We chose title tracks if they represented the album. We did not think whether the song will do well, but whether the song can present AKMU’s character in our mid-20s musically, as ourselves. The song was perfect for that. The message of ‘NAKKA’ is what I also want to hear”.

Regarding their album, LEE SUHYUN shared her thoughts by stating, “The featuring lineup is the ‘Avengers’ of K-Pop, who left milestones as heroes. It was an honor to work with them”. She chose Lee Sunhee as someone who was the most impressive, and explained her thoughts on collaborating with her by stating, “We looked forward to working with her the most. It was an honor”. LEE CHANHYUK reminisced the time they recorded together and explained, “She invited me to her concert once, and the opportunity came. She accepted, which was an honor. The recording didn’t take long. She self-produced so I didn’t have to work too much on details, which I liked”. LEE SUHYUN added, “He was saying, ‘Thank you, I respect you, and thank you’ on every line she recorded’”.

They also revealed that they learned a lot from working with Zion.T and Sam Kim. LEE CHANHYUK expressed his gratitude by stating, “I’ve produced before, but I’ve never recorded someone. Recording a male vocal made me learn, ‘Oh I should do something like this when I participate in someone’s album’. Zion.T gave me many opinions on mixing. I felt passion, so I would like to express my gratitude here”. LEE SUHYUN added, “Also Crush. While doing ‘Begin Again Korea’, I felt we have good chemistry. After he accepted, we worked fast because we had to make the song before he joins the military”.

On the charms of collaborating with artists, LEE CHANHYUK stated, “Our previous songs were about the images of AKMU, but our new album harmonizes the music of LEE CHANHYUK, LEE SUHYUN, and another artist. Rather than focusing on AKMU, we considered the other artists’ colors, so please keep that in mind”. LEE SUHYUN stated, “The fans of the featuring artists were happy to hear the news, as well as our fans. They say the favorites met the favorites”.

They also discussed the theme of the album, ‘Transcending Freedom’. LEE CHANHYUK stated, “We created the word ‘Transcending Freedom’. It’s not freedom from being released from physical weariness, but from the inner mind. It’s freedom unaffected even when I’m in the bottom. We tried to think about being free from external force and to put them in our songs. There is a song called ‘Freedom’ in our third album. I thought that its lyrics, ‘I want to live without clothes, without a house’, refers to actual freedom. I wanted to express that”.

As the theme of ‘NEXT EPISODE’ is transcending freedom, AKMU tried to put in the strong will to keep their inner sturdiness rather than submitting to other people and society’s standards, as well as internal wounds. They are planning to broaden their musical spectrum through this album. The songs inspired by retro sounds of the late 20th century adds musical colors of various collaborators, creating a fresher and experimental genre.

The song ‘Hey kid, Close your eyes’ includes the word mask in the lyrics, making the people curious whether the pandemic influenced them. LEE CHANHYUK explained, “I don’t usually define this and that because I like to leave room for interpretation. I thought there would be those interpretations when people hear it, but I would like to leave room for extra. They say you can learn the generation through music, and it would be an honor if our music can contribute”.

He also revealed the relationship of their album with their single ‘Summer Episode’ released back in 2017. LEE CHANHUK stated, “It was a big challenge. I’ve been making songs based on acoustic sounds until then, but tried EDM. I collaborated with another artist for the first time, as a co-composer. I thought that since in this album, I’m a co-composer in all tracks, they connect, so I connected the episode and the logo”. He added, “The ‘NEXT EPISODE’ is a new beginning for AKMU. The lineup is composed of heroes. I thought it’s hero-like since we’re working with representative artists from the Korean music scene”.

Moreover, AKMU created official videos for all songs of the ‘NEXT EPISODE’, putting work in visual expressions as well. LEE SUHYUN revealed her satisfaction by stating, “I’ve been dreaming of it since debut. I wanted official videos for all tracks. Since we are collaborating with everyone we would like to, I offered to make official videos for every song. That’s how it happened. I feel like my dreams came true”. LEE CHANHYUK stated, “Rather than wanting to act in dramas or in a traditional series, I feel eager to act in more MVs”. LEE SUHYUN hinted, “Our upcoming MVs will show my brother more than before”.

Regarding AKMU’s charms, LEE CHANHYUK stated, “What surprises us is that our roles are perfectly divided. I like to do things by myself internally, while LEE SUHYUN continues to show herself vocally. Since we are male and female artists, that also plays a role”. He also revealed his affection on LEE SUHYUN by adding, “I don’t think that I can just do a collaboration album after planning. Our strength is that we have LEE SUHYUN”.

LEE SUHYUN stated, “My vocals were playing a big part in AKMU, but since the album is a collaboration album with LEE CHANHYUK, LEE SUHYUN, and other artists, some songs don’t have our vocals in them at all. People will hear more of LEE  CHANHYUK’s vocals. You will find LEE CHANHYUK’s new side as a vocalist in more singing methods and sounds”.

Regarding solo work, LEE SUHYUN revealed, “We were both working on music related things. We both leveled up after learning. When we met again as AKMU, it became an opportunity to feel stability and appreciate each other”.

After making debut back in 2014, AKMU topped charts with every song they released as well as receiving favorable reviews from the public and critics with their music with high level of completion and broad spectrum. LEE CHANHYUK stated, “When I first started music, I aspired to change the world. Now I think that changing everyone may not be so good after all. I realized that the world is beautiful with different things harmonizing with each other. Now I’m satisfied with changing the people who realize the message and who are ready to change”. LEE SUHYUN continued, “I agree with my brother. We will make songs now and in the future. The songs can have positive and hopeful messages, or comfort someone. I would like to comfort people by telling them how we were, rather than telling them to live a certain way”.

AKMU will release their collaboration album ‘NEXT EPISODE’ on the 26th at 6 PM through various music platforms, and perform songs from ‘NEXT EPISODE’ on Naver Now. ‘#OUTNOW AKMU IN SUHYUN’S FOREST’ at 10 PM for the first time.

2021. 7. 26.