Fan Chant: WayV Embrace a New Direction with Second Album On My Youth
The post Fan Chant: WayV Embrace a New Direction with Second Album On My Youth appeared first on Consequence.
Welcome back to Fan Chant, our weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. This week’s edition features a chat with NCT sub-group WayV. P.S. — if you haven’t already, don’t forget to subscribe to my companion newsletter!
Having a strong team dynamic isn’t just a bonus for WayV, the Chinese sub-group of NCT — it’s their basis for all their work. According to members KUN, TEN, WINWIN, XIAOJUN, HENDERY, and YANGYANG, though, they’ve taken things a step further when it comes to teamwork in recent months.
“Sometimes now the members can even understand each other without talking,” shares YANGYANG, chatting with Consequence over Zoom. “That’s new,” confirms TEN.
WayV are back with their second LP, On My Youth, their latest full-length effort as a team since 2020’s Awaken the World. For this project, which is now available today, November 1st, the members were ready to step into a new direction, moving away from the sultriness of breakout single “Love Talk” by leading with a more introspective, emotional single. This is balanced with brighter B-sides, like the nostalgic “Poppin’ Love” and bass-powered “RODEO.”
The members have such clear chemistry it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if telepathic abilities had, in fact, become an option. They’re also genuinely curious about how people are going to react to the themes in the latest project. “Do you think your friends would like it?” XIAOJUN asks earnestly when we discuss the album’s focus track.
In a new interview with all six members, WayV reflect on their first KCON LA appearance, how they’ve been relying on each other in recent months, and goals for the remainder of the year. Watch the music video for “On My Youth” and read the conversation below.
Your last full album together as WayV was in 2020! What felt different about working on this project and the process of putting it together?
YANGYANG: Even before starting to prepare for this project, we told the A&R team that we wanted to try something new, but something that still has WayV elements. The first time we heard “On My Youth,” it was challenging, because it really isn’t like what we usually do. We had to take some time to process it, but the more we listened to it, the more we got used to it — and then when it was time to record, I feel like everyone did a really good job. I feel like all our members got better at singing and rapping and put all their emotions into the song.
I feel like the challenging part for us with “On My Youth” was the emotion, because, for us, it’s the first time we tried a ballad, R&B, mid-tempo song. Since it’s kind of slow, we had to put more emotion into it. The lyrics are also kind of sad. We had to really think about the topic.
TEN: I also think it’s the first time WayV had a more minimal track. Before, many of our songs were difficult, but “On My Youth” is minimal, simple, and light. The lyrics are what make the song a little heavy.
It’s really different from something like “Love Talk,” or “Phantom,” so I agree. But when it comes to the rest of the album, I think I really love “Poppin’ Love.” It’s so fun.
XIAOJUN: Thank you!
YANGYANG: That’s actually one of our favorites, too!
I was curious with the other songs on the project how involved you were with lyric writing, production, or choreography.
YANGYANG: TEN actually had a lot of ideas for the choreography, so we used a lot of them in the dance. As for lyric writing, KUN was really involved with “Be Alright,” which is a song that we wrote to our fans. He wrote the message into the lyrics.
TEN: When it comes to choreo, WayV often does very difficult choreography that can be hard to dance to. But now, for this song, we wanted to make it a little easier, so that more people could join in.
That makes sense for the message of the song. Do any of you have favorite memories from working on the album together?
TEN: For this music video, we got to do a lot of acting. I feel like it’s going to be very new for people to see our band doing that part.
XIAOJUN: Each member had their own scene.
YANGYANG: We had our own characters, with different descriptions.
TEN: It was hard to act out. We had to cry, we had to fight, we had to scream. One scene we all really enjoyed was breaking the car. We were all smiling.
XIAOJUN: TEN really enjoyed it.
KUN: There was a scene of snow at the gas station on a very cold night, and we were standing in a line, walking, all together. We were moving forward as a group, and when we were filming, I felt like that scene really suited the track. I’m really proud that we pulled it off, and it was very moving, for some reason, even though it was a very simplistic scene. It evoked a lot of emotion within me.
I can’t believe we’re already reaching the end of the year, and was curious what goals you might have beyond this specific project, through the end of 2023.
YANGYANG: We are actually going to have a showcase tour in China! We’re going to six different cities, and we’re so excited for our fans to see our new stages and performances.
TEN: I’m really curious about people’s reactions to this music — it’ll be new to them, but it’ll also be new to us. But as for specific goals, I just want to have fun. Too many expectations make you feel miserable.
What was it like being at your first KCON LA?
TEN: It was great.
YANGYANG: It was so much fun. We also had so much fun touring around LA before the show.
TEN: YANGYANG got into an Uber and said, “Hi, we’re WayV. Do you know us?”
YANGYANG: No, no!
TEN: He was like, “We have a new song coming out. Do you know ‘Love Talk?'” And we just vibed. But at KCON, when we performed “Love Talk,” I was emotional. We were all so happy that the fans were singing along and actually knew the lyrics.
YANGYANG: KUN wasn’t there, so I hope that next time he can come with us.
TEN: I just love how all the fans are very welcoming. We did a little twerk during “Love Talk.” Just a little one in the choreography. A tiny one.
With all the recent work you guys have been doing, how has your team dynamic felt?
YANGYANG: This has been one of the busiest times for WayV. We had the NCT concert, we had KCON, we had a fan meeting and were preparing for this album. But I feel like our chemistry got even better through each period of time — sometimes now the members can even understand each other without talking.
TEN: That’s new.
YANGYANG: I also feel like the members have gotten even better at performing, and more experience about professional stuff, like facing the cameras.
TEN: I also think with [the NCT project] Golden Age, when we got separated into different units, it inspired us to improve ourselves. We worked with different members and got to bring all that new stuff back to our team. Being in a new environment made us more confident in expressing ideas in our group.
Do any of you feel like there’s something you learned from another member recently?
YANGYANG: I learned a lot from WINWIN. He’s so calm all the time, even when we’re teasing him. I think he’s the chillest person I’ve ever met. It’s a characteristic I admire from him.
HENDERY: YANGYANG, WINWIN and I have a unit song, and I learned a lot from YANGYANG about his English pronunciation, since I’m not a native speaker. When we recorded “Rodeo,” I made a lot of mistakes, and he helped me. I’d like to say thank you to him for that.
XIAOJUN: I always watch TEN when we dance. I learn a lot from him.
TEN: It’s nice, because we motivate each other just from being together.
Is there anything we haven’t talked about that you’d like to share?
TEN: I really hope our fans have fun doing the “On My Youth” challenge. Give us a lot of feedback, because we’re very curious. We want to spread the message that it’s okay to make mistakes, but learn from them to become a better person. Overcome it!
WINWIN: I want to tell our fans that after a long day, if you’re very tired, we hope listening to our music makes you happy. With every listen, they’ll get better and better.
Gilmore Girls Revival Almost Had a K-Pop Storyline
Gilmore Girls (Warner Bros.) and BTS (photo via Big Hit Music)
We are in the peak of autumn right now, as far as I’m concerned, which means I’m in the midst of a (never-ending) Gilmore Girls rewatch. While A Year in the Life here is pretty forgettable overall, creator Amy Sherman-Palladino recently revealed that Mrs. Kim, mother of the iconic Lane Kim, nearly had a plot line that revolved around managing a K-pop group. And you know what? I’d have loved to see it! Get the scoop .
Song Rec of the Week:
Hoshi linking up with Epik High is such a dream of a collaboration. This track is much moodier than many SEVENTEEN releases, and it’s incredibly fun to see all these artists working together.
Meanwhile, what is Tablo cooking up? According to a recent Instagram post, it looks like it could be a reference to their 2019 project, sleepless in…I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out, but who would like to speculate about what he means by “sleepless II” in the top corner with me?
Fan Chant: WayV Embrace a New Direction with Second Album On My Youth
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