WINNER Says “Did we expect our album to top the charts? We couldn’t even sleep because we’re so worried.” [Interview①]
[OSEN=정준화 기자] YANG HYUN SUK has opened his jewel box for the first time in 17 months. It was filled with shiny jewels. WINNER has made a comeback after a long break, and they have brought beautiful jewel-like songs with them. Each song has a unique feel to it and is catchy at the same time.
WINNER members succeeded in capturing the hearts of the people with self-made songs. The long break was time well spent to cut and polish them into shining jewels.
At 12 AM on February 1, WINNER made a comeback by releasing a new mini-album titled “EXIT:E”. Their new single topped all the major charts upon release. Their title song “BABY BABY” became no.1 on all the real-time charts of major music streaming websites such as Melen, Olleh Music, Naver Music, Soribada, and Bugs. The other title song “SENTIMENTAL” also took the no.2 spot of major charts and ranked first place on the chart of Mnet.com. All the tracks of WINNER’s new album have taken the charts by storm with “IMMATURE” and “I’M YOUNG” also high up on the charts.
We met WINNER members to congratulate them on the good news. They said they stayed up until six in the morning watching the chart results.
– How do you feel now that you have made a comeback?
“It took 17 months to release this album. I’m so happy, and the memories of the past 17 months flash before my eyes. I felt slightly emotional during our live show on V App yesterday. I’m really thrilled. I’m also thankful to our fans since they have waited for so long. Our break wasn’t just about taking some time off. We wanted to put in enough time so that we can come up with music that can move people’s hearts. That’s why we were able to make a comeback with this great album.” (KANG SEUNGYOON)
– Your album topped the charts. How do you feel?
“I’m so thankful and honored.” (KANG SEUNGYOON)
“While I was making the songs, I didn’t think about making songs that would top the charts. I didn’t want to get hung up on the chart results. But then, I’m a human being, so I guess I somewhat wanted the songs to do well on the charts. I was really nervous though because I knew that the members and the staff really worked hard for this. I suppose I was thinking about the chart results.” (NAM TAEHYUN)
– When writing the lyrics and music, was there anything particular that you wanted to achieve?
“I really wanted the songs to be sincere, to convey true feelings.” (NAM TAEHYUN)
– Surely, with such a successful debut album, you must have felt a lot of pressure.
“Reviews are very subjective. Our last album did well on the charts, but we weren’t fully satisfied with all the songs. We felt that there were some areas that we need to work on, and that’s why we’ve worked harder this time. In a way, we were thankful to be given such a long time. We were able to grow as artists and make good music because we were given enough time. We really do think that we’ve matured as musicians.”(KANG SEUNGYOON)
2016. 2. 1.
