Photo = THEBLACKLABEL

 

Singer TAEYANG captured the essence of his 20-year career in his first full-length album in 9 years.

 

TAEYANG held a listening session for his 4th full-length album ‘QUINTESSENCE’ at Cube Convention Center on the 18th and shared stories about the new release.

 

TAEYANG successfully took his first step as a solo artist in May 2008 with his solo debut song ‘Only Look at Me,’ and has since built a unique musical world, proving his strength as an all-round artist in the K-pop scene. From fast beats to sweet R&B, he has completed his own musical language with soulful vocals that cover various genres. This new release is his first full-length album in 9 years, completed through numerous thoughts and decisions in collaboration with various producers and artists. It includes 10 tracks with distinct identities, including the title track ‘LIVE FAST DIE SLOW.’

 

Regarding the album title ‘QUINTESSENCE,’ TAEYANG explained, “It means essence or core,” adding, “It was a word that remained in my eyes and heart when I started making this album a year ago.” Introducing it as “an album that contains the process of searching for essence and studying what true essence is,” he shared, “In the end, I realized that what matters is having the heart, attitude, and direction of continuing to search for essence.”

 

About the title track ‘LIVE FAST DIE SLOW,’ he said, “It contains my will and thoughts that, in this rapidly changing era, I have come this far at my own direction and pace, and that I will continue to live every day at my own direction and pace.” He added, “As I started writing the lyrics, I thought this song suited ‘QUINTESSENCE’ and explained TAEYANG today the best.” He also said, “This time, I worked with the mindset of making every song a title track, so it was difficult to choose the title.”

 

He also shared stories about the B-side tracks. Regarding the first B-side track ‘BAD,’ he introduced it by saying, “There are many fans who like dark and powerful songs such as ‘Prayer’ and ‘Where U At,’ so I made this while thinking about how to express that in a new way.” He added, “I wrote about what path I have walked so far and what kind of fight existed inside me, so I included it as the first track.”

 

The B-side track ‘MOVIE’ is “a song that contains many of the R&B sounds I most wanted to do,” he said, adding, “It expresses the lingering sadness after a movie ends as a love song, and many cinematic terms appear in it.” Regarding the B-side track ‘LOVE LIKE THIS,’ he explained, “Paul Blanco was almost crazy about our old R&B tracks like ‘A Fool of Tears,’ so we made this song with the idea of creating that sound and feeling again in a way that fits this era.” He expressed gratitude, saying, “Paul put in passion and sincerity from beginning to end as if he were making his own album.”

 

He also revealed many behind-the-scenes stories about collaborations. The lyrics for the B-side track ‘MOVIE’ were written by TABLO. “When I played the demo version for TABLO hyung, he liked it so much that he finished working on it within two to three days,” he said. “When the lyrics came in, the concept and various expressions were so good that I recorded it right away without making any particular revisions.” He added, “The lyrics BLO hyung wrote are flawless.” TABLO participated in writing lyrics for a total of three songs on this album.

 

He also shared how the featuring with The Kid LAROI came about. “After recording the song ‘OPEN UP,’ I thought The Kid LAROI absolutely had to feature on it,” he said. “I met The Kid LAROI at dinner when he visited Korea for a Spotify event, but I was cautious because I didn’t think it was right to bring up the featuring on our first meeting.” He continued, “After dinner, I played the song for him at the studio, and before the first verse even ended, he asked me to stop and said the song was so good, which led to the featuring.” He added, “I think works that naturally connect through shared feelings and fate are more meaningful and good.”

 

ALLDAY PROJECT’s TARZZAN and WOOCHAN featured on the B-side track ‘WOULD YOU.’ “Watching the ALLDAY PROJECT members debut and promote reminded me a lot of when we debuted,” he said. “I thought that if these friends rapped on the verse, it would carry the freshness we had in the past and the texture we felt when we debuted, so I asked them.” He added, “Thankfully, they worked hard and greatly improved the quality of the song,” hinting, “You can look forward to a stage together as well.”

 

He also shared the stage preparation process. “There are many new attempts in terms of choreography and composition,” he said, emphasizing, “What I consider most important is energy.” He added, “I am practicing the stage while focusing on the energy of breathing together with the audience.”

 

He did not forget to express his sincerity toward fans. “I held a fan meeting for the first time last year, and I felt such great emotions and feelings that I had never experienced before,” he said. “After promoting for such a long time, I strongly felt that the biggest core and driving force that allowed me to continue was the fans.” He also shared, “When I think about my 20 years and the fans, it feels truly miraculous.”

 

Explaining why the album contains two fan songs, he introduced the final track ‘4U,’ saying, “I put into the song the emotions I felt while holding last year’s fan meeting ‘Forever’ and my wish to be forever.” He added, “It begins with the lyric, ‘I want to cross the boundary of time and draw eternity with you,’ and it contains my honest feelings for the fans.” Regarding the album being released today on his birthday, he explained, “This is the first time in 20 years that I have released something on my birthday,” adding, “It was originally scheduled to be released early this year, but the timing became awkward after the Coachella offer came in late last year.” He added, “The company suggested releasing it on the 18th with the feeling of giving fans a gift.”

 

He also shared his determination for future activities. “I want to promote while including everything I can do and want to do,” he said. “I’m happy to begin my 20th anniversary with my solo album, and I will show many different sides together with the BIGBANG members.”

 

TAEYANG’s 4th full-length album ‘QUINTESSENCE’ was released today at 6 PM through various online music platforms. Attention is focused on what color TAEYANG’s musical essence, presented after 9 years of contemplation, will shine with.