K-pop group P1Harmony releases its new album “SAD SONG," on Friday. Courtesy of FNC Entertainment
K-pop boy group P1Harmony is ready to take another leap following its successful first feature album "Killin' It” released earlier this year, challenging themselves in the Latin genre with the new album “SAD SONG.”
The seventh mini-album, which releases on Friday, comes about seven months after "Killin' It,” which won the group — consisting of Keeho, Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul and Jongseob — its first trophy on the local music show “Music Bank.” Including the title track and an English version, the album contains seven songs: “It's Alright," “Last Call,” “Welcome To,” “All You” and “WASP.”
The title track is a Latin song infused with hip-hop on a rhythmic piano pattern. It picks up on the group's musical universe as heroes, telling a story of feeling emptiness and loneliness after their heroic act. Jiung, Intak, and Jongseob took part in writing the lyrics for the majority of the album's songs, including the title track.
A poster for P1Harmony's new album “SAD SONG" / Courtesy of FNC Entertainment
“I think this album's title song has the most distinct genre among the ones released so far. That's how fresh it is and will clearly show we took on a new challenge,” the group's leader, Keeho, said during a recent interview with The Korea Times, held at the headquarters of its agency, FNC Entertainment.
“We worked really hard on it, and because it was our first try (at the genre), we researched and prepared diligently so I hope our fans will love it.”
The members reflected on their experiences of holding their first solo concerts in Latin America last year as part of the band's world tour, "P1ustage H: P1oneer." These experiences inspired them to embrace new challenges in the genre.
“Because we were able to see the culture, passion and love from our fans more closely and directly when we performed there, we fell even more in love with Latin music and wanted to study it more,” Keeho said. “It became an opportunity to learn more about the music genre itself, allowing us to release this album's title track.”
Bringing such a defining genre into K-pop, Jongseob shared that reinterpreting it with the group's own musical identity was crucial, yet demanding work, as he took part in writing the lyrics.
“As we wrote the lyrics and created the song, although we really love the Latin genre, we also needed to incorporate P1Harmony's color into it,” he said.
“We have aspects we want to portray, so we thought a lot about how to write rap and design this song so it can blend into the genre while clearly maintaining our distinctive color as the foundation. I personally put in a lot of time to contemplate this and I made several versions to see which one could best suit this song.”
The new album “SAD SONG" has seven tracks, including the title song of the same name. Courtesy of FNC Entertainment
Jiung added he visualized the image of the genre to deliver a Latin vibe when working on the song.
“In my personal interpretation, genres with a long history often contain a lot of the culture of that country or region. So with the genre, I thought of the hot sun of Latin America. It might seem abstract in a way, but I tried to express those aspects through our voices and dance,” he said.
The album also includes the group's first unit song, “WASP,” by Intak and Jongseob. The two took part in writing the song and its lyrics.
Sharing that they wanted the song to contrast with the title track, Intak explained that it aims to convey their ambition through their music.
“When you look at a wasp, you get this image as strong and fearless with no enemies in the insect world. When we rap and make music together, we wanted to show that we're like two wasps freed in that world,” he said.
“We wanted to express our ambition that when we stand on stage, we're not afraid of anything, are confident in our music and have nothing to fear.”