The two-member group TVXQ has returned to their fans’ side for the first time in one year and eight months with a new Korean album. TVXQ’s U-Know Yunho (26) and Choikang Changmin (24) released their sixth studio album ‘Catch Me’ at the end of September. For the first time since releasing their fifth album ‘Why (Keep Your Head Down)’ in January, 2011, TVXQ are greeting their domestic fans with new songs in their latest album.
During their hiatus from the domestic scene, TVXQ successfully completed a tour in Japan and have reached a new level of maturity as musicians and human beings. They met with a total of 550,000 fans during their Japanese tour in the first half of the year. The event proved once more that TVXQ’s popularity is still soaring in Japan.
It has been eight years, getting close to nine, since the group released their debut single ‘HUG’ in January, 2004. They have been popular since their debut, and that popularity soon spread overseas. This would lead most to fall to mannerisms. But even now, TVXQ are still hungry for new challenges. This is the critical reason why they have not fallen to complacency.
Their new album has incorporated a sense of softness to their signature intense style of music to better approach the general public. They have stepped up to another new challenge.
The song that best represents this is the group’s title song ‘Catch Me’, which was composed and written by SM Entertainment’s star producer Yoo Young Jin. ‘Catch Me’ is a song that has a powerful electronic sound, but also has a melody that is relatively easy to sing along to.
The new album takes on a variety of genres, with a track list featuring a remake of ChaniMini’s bright and bubbly ‘Dream’, a medium-tempo ballad ‘How Are You’, and a rock number ‘Getaway’. It can be said that the new album reflects TVXQ’s musical capability and their endless aspirations for trying something new.
I sat with TVXQ, who had matured in many levels but still had a child-like innocence about them. TVXQ’s first performance for their sixth album will be during KBS 2TV’s ‘Music Bank’ on the 5th.
-How do you feel about your comeback?
(U-Know Yunho) I think our hiatus from Korea was longer than expected. It didn’t feel that long for us because we were performing overseas. But when we returned, we felt bad when we realized that our domestic fans had been waiting for us for a long time. We were planning to come back earlier, but it took us this long because we wanted to show that we had improved and grown. Our last song ‘Why’ emphasized our strong intensity, so we wanted our new song to better appeal to the public. We tried to balance out our unique style of music with a chorus that was easy to follow. We’ve always taken on new challenges, and this was yet another chance to show off something new. It’s only the beginning, and my heart is already pounding with anticipation. I still feel a bit of pressure because we haven’t performed yet.
(Choikang Changmin) It feels like it’s been such a long time since we had our last Korean comeback when I hear people say that it’s been a year and eight, nine months. But for us, it doesn’t feel that long because between our last two domestic albums, I think we’ve sung ‘Why’ over a hundred times during our Japanese concerts.
-If you could give us an introduction of your latest album?
(U-Know Yunho) There are a lot of genres incorporated into the album. If we compare it to our last album, there are more songs that are similar to the bright tracks of our first album. There are songs such as ‘Dream’, which has a distinctive 90′s melody, ‘How Are You’, and a rock number ‘Getaway’. I think ‘Catch Me’ is a song that is easy on the ears, but hasn’t lost our distinctive style of music. We want to perform music that isn’t always a set in a specific style, even if we fail. This is why there are so many different genres in our new album. I want to hear, ‘TVXQ are like chameleons.’
-What was the most memorable moment of the last year and eight months?
(U-Know Yunho) We broke our own record for the most audience members at a Korean singer’s solo Japanese tour. We met with 550,000 fans during our latest Japanese tour. The most we had ever met with was 300,000 people. I was so moved during the two performances at Tokyo Dome that I cried my heart out for the first time since I made my debut. When our fans held a special event for us, I felt so grateful to be able to stand on stage in front of them.
(Choikang Changmin) Of course, our Japanese tour has been the most memorable moment. I’m usually the kind of person who wears himself out. I used to always think, ‘Why can’t I do this,’ when I made a mistake on stage. But I didn’t feel that at all this time around, and I made the effort to enjoy it from the beginning to the end. Even when I made a mistake, I would think ‘I’ll do better next time,’ and move on. One of the reasons why I changed is because of the Japanese movie (‘Fly with the Gold’) that I filmed during the Japanese tour. It was so hard to do both things at the same time, but I found that I could do it once I started. I was stressed out at first because I had to act in a foreign language, but I later found myself enjoying it. This process helped me change into a person who makes the effort to enjoy his work.
-It’s already been close to nine years since you made your debut.
(U-Know Yunho) We’ve been doing nothing but staring straight ahead, but when I look around now, I find that we’re sometimes the most experienced celebrities when we go to broadcasting companies. There are now people who want to become singers after hearing our music. Our sincerity and sense of responsibility has only grown with the passing of time.
(Choikang Changmin) I heard that Girls’ Generation recently celebrated their fifth anniversary. Hearing that, it made me realize how long it’s been since we made our own debut. (laughter)
-Then do your juniors find you difficult to approach?
(U-Know Yunho) In the case of Girls’ Generation, I think they think of as friendly older brothers who they can be at ease around. Haha. But I think they find us difficult to approach at the same time. I think that’s the best relationship to have (with our juniors).
(continued in part 2)
Source: [star news]
Translated by: dongbangdata.net