Fan Chant: ENHYPEN on Growing “Even Closer as a Team” Through New Mini-Album DARK BLOOD

Mary Siroky

May 31, 2023 at 4:46 PM·8 min read

The post Fan Chant: ENHYPEN on Growing “Even Closer as a Team” Through New Mini-Album DARK BLOOD appeared first on Consequence.

Welcome to Fan Chant, a weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. Each week, I’ll be rolling out interviews, lists, and all kinds of content to keep you in the loop on the latest and greatest from our friends in Seoul and beyond. Also, make sure to subscribe to my companion newsletter!

To anyone who watched I-Land, it feels like the members of ENHYPEN are growing up fast. Following their 2020 debut, Jungwon, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Ni-Ki found their footing remarkably quickly: A successful world tour in 2022 broadened their global horizons even more, and ENGENEs around the world today were treated to news of another world tour here in 2023.

With their fourth mini-album, titled DARK BLOOD, the guys have entered new creative territory, embracing thematic darkness alongside more mature sounds and aesthetics. “Just come over and bite me,” they sing on the album’s focus track, decked out in their finest vampire-inspired regalia and crushing, dramatic choreography.

I’ve been lucky enough to connect with ENHYPEN quite a few times since they arrived on the scene, and as we’ve all watched them hone their skills and experiment musically over the past few years, I also feel like the guys are growing closer and stronger as a team. I checked in with the members to hear about recent wins, future goals, and all their feelings around DARK BLOOD. Find their freshly announced tour dates below, keep an eye out for tickets here, and read on for the full interview.

ENHYPEN World Tour FATE 2023 Dates

07/29-30 — Seoul, KR @ KSPO Dome
09/02-03 — Osaka, JP @ Kyocera Dome Osaka
09/13-14 — Tokyo, JP @ Tokyo Dome
10/06 — Los Angeles, CA @ Dignity Health Sports Park
10/10 — Glendale, AZ @ Desert Diamond Arena
10/13 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
10/14 — Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
10/18-19 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
10/22 — Chicago, IL @ United Center

I love that the concept around this album references Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo + Juliet. What other pop culture influences took hold in this album? Do you guys have any favorite vampire-related pieces of media?

SUNOO: During my trainee days, I read a webtoon titled “White Blood.” I found myself frequently recalling memories from this webtoon to immerse myself in the album’s concept so that I could fully bring it to life.

“Bite Me” is so different from many of your other releases! How did you all get into the headspace to record and perform this track?

HEESEUNG: Throughout the production of “Bite Me,” I actively pitched my ideas to enhance the quality of the song and performance. Voicing my opinions on how to further develop areas that I believed had room for improvement played a significant role in adding depth and meaning to the track. Moreover, this experience served as a powerful motivation for me to partake at a deeper level in the creative process of our albums.

SUNGHOON: I strived to grasp the mood and essence of this song, immersing myself fully to deliver a flawless performance. I wanted to ensure that my execution of the concept was captivating for the audience.

Ni-ki, so exciting that you helped developed the choreography. What was that experience like?

NI-KI: I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in choreographing for the first time, and it was a refreshing and exciting experience to showcase my own moves on stage. The feeling of bringing my creative vision to life was truly amazing. I contributed to a portion of the song this time around, but I look forward to contributing even more in the future, so that maybe I can choreograph an entire song!

What are some ways that you’re all looking forward to getting more and more involved behind the scenes going forward?

JUNGWON: I have always had a strong desire to participate in the toplining process, so I’m eager to try it for our next album. Lately, I’ve been actively exploring music across different genres because I think it’s essential to broaden my musical horizons and find inspiration.

HEESEUNG: Rather than limiting myself to a specific role, I’m determined to actively engage in various aspects of the album-making process and showcase the final outcome to our fans. I want to create a meaningful album that resonates with ENGENEs.

JAY: Practicing guitar and songwriting is always at the top of my agenda. I’m dedicated to honing my skills in these areas until one of my self-written songs can be included in our album.

JAKE: I really want to perform with a song that I’ve made myself. Until that day comes, I’ll keep working on brushing up my skills so that I can proudly present my song and performance to the world.

SUNGHOON: Writing song lyrics! I’ve been trying to participate in the lyric writing process for every album that we release. With my resolution and efforts, I believe that, in due time, my lyrics will be included in our album. Can’t wait for this dream to come true.

SUNOO: I also want to delve into writing lyrics. This year, I’ve built a habit of jotting down my thoughts in my notes, much like writing diary entries. It’s kind of random, but I feel like it will be helpful when the time comes for me to write lyrics for our future albums.

Are there any goals not related to work that any of you have for the coming months?

JUNGWON: I would love to go camping with our members. The idea of enjoying a barbecue and chatting around the campfire sounds very inviting.

HEESEUNG: I hope that all of our wishes come true and that we achieve great things this year — both as individuals and as a group.

JAY: Guitar! I’m planning to dedicate my free time to practicing my guitar skills. I want to give it my all.

JAKE: For me, I want to delve into music production so that I can own the stage with a performance of my self-produced song in the future.

SUNGHOON: ENHYPEN is famous for our jaw-dropping performances, so I want to elevate our choreography and performance to even greater levels of perfection.

SUNOO: I want to practice playing the piano more. ENGENEs seem to really enjoy watching me play, so it would be great if I could show them more of it.

NI-KI: I’m really into baseball these days and want to be able to pitch faster and throw breaking balls.

Do any of you have any special memories from working on DARK BLOOD together? Do any particularly special days come to mind?

NI-KI: I really enjoyed going abroad to Poland to shoot our music video. We had a pretty relaxing shooting schedule, so it rather felt like we were on a vacation together.

JAKE: Same here! It was our first time traveling abroad to shoot a music video, so it ended up being a fun and memorable experience for all of us.

HEESEUNG: Personally, voicing my opinions and creatively contributing to this album at a greater scale made for an even more enjoyable album making process. Also, I’ll never forget the heavenly taste of the fried eggs and sausage we had in our greenroom at the site of our music video shoot in Poland.

JAY: There isn’t a specific moment in particular that stands out, but with DARK BLOOD being our first album in 10 months, we truly gave it our all every step of the way preparing for it.

SUNOO: While spending 24/7 with each other during our tour, we grew even closer as a team, and that continued throughout the preparations for this album strengthening our bond.

Is there anything you have coming up that you’re really excited about?

JUNGWON: We’re beyond excited to meet more ENGENEs all over the world through a variety of our upcoming activities, especially our second world tour! ENGENEs, we hope you’re as excited as we are, because you won’t want to miss it!

JAY: We just announced our second world tour, and I’m looking forward to applying our learnings and experiences from our first one to make this one even better. We’d also love to collaborate with more brands this year and show ENGENEs our versatility.

Running List of Artists My Cat Has Met Over Zoom and Never Thanked Me For:

1. ATEEZ
2. ENHYPEN
3. DPR IAN
4. Stray Kids
5. CRAVITY
6. EXO’s Kai
7. NCT DREAM
8. PSY
9. Joohoney

ICYMI: Joohoney Is Expelling Darkness with Solo Project LIGHTS

Joohoney, photo courtesy of Starship Entertainment

I checked in with the endlessly charming Joohoney of Monsta X to discuss his first solo mini-album. Find the interview here.

Song Rec of the Week:

It’s no secret that I adore the very underrated C9 Entertainment group CIX; be sure to give their latest release a listen, and then revisit the absolute magic of “Cinema” while you’re at it.