Photo = STARSHIP Entertainment

 

MONSTA X’s HYUNGWON shared stories about the duo’s second mini album alongside their first unit comeback in approximately three years.

 

On the 19th, SHOWNU X HYUNGWON met with Hanteo News at STARSHIP Entertainment’s headquarters in Seoul and spoke about their new album. On this day, HYUNGWON said, “I hope people listen to the album and think, ‘SHOWNU X HYUNGWON can pull off something like this too?’”

 

SHOWNU shared his thoughts on the comeback, saying, “I thought the fans must have been waiting for us for a long time, so we came back with an album we prepared very hard for them.” HYUNGWON added, “We’re returning after 2 years and 10 months, and after finishing our military hiatus, releasing a group album, and preparing hard to show various new sides of ourselves as a new unit, I hope everyone looks upon us warmly.”

 

The changes compared to three years ago are also drawing attention. SHOWNU explained, “We came back with a title track that has more tempo and a stronger hook, and we tried to show a more mature, developed, and colorful side of ourselves compared to last time.” HYUNGWON revealed, “Compared to the first album, we participated in many more aspects and put much more thought into this album,” adding, “It’s an album that contains more of the maturity and emotions we experienced over those three years.” The album includes four tracks written and composed by HYUNGWON, while SHOWNU participated in the choreography work.

 

The emotions they felt during the three-year hiatus were also reflected in the album. HYUNGWON shared, “Since there was a hiatus, I think many of the thoughts I had during that time were included, and it also contains a lot of concerns about what we could show within the trends that changed over those three years.” SHOWNU said, “We were given the opportunity to prepare a second album, and while looking back on how we worked last time, I thought it would be nice if we could capture a more natural version of ourselves this time.”

 

There were also twists and turns in selecting the title track. SHOWNU revealed, “‘Do You Love Me’ became a candidate for the title track, but it competed with the second track, ‘Superstitious.’” HYUNGWON, who created ‘Superstitious,’ explained, “‘Superstitious’ was originally divided into more of a listening-focused direction musically, but after many discussions with the company, we agreed that now would be a good time to further solidify SHOWNU X HYUNGWON’s strengths once again, so we decided on ‘Do You Love Me’ as the title track.”

 

Following their previous title track ‘Love Me a Little,’ the longing for love continues once again with ‘Do You Love Me.’ SHOWNU commented, “It’s not exactly a series, but it’s connected.” HYUNGWON explained, “Love can be expressed musically in so many different ways,” adding, “It doesn’t necessarily have to be romantic love between two people, it could also be love for friends, animals, or plants. Within that, there are joy, anger, hatred, jealousy, and many other emotions, and we felt those aspects matched our color well, which is why we chose love as the theme of this album too.”

 

Regarding satisfaction with the album, HYUNGWON said, “Whether the fans like it is the standard of satisfaction for me,” adding, “I believe my role is to do my absolute best throughout the album-making process, and I worked as hard as I could.” SHOWNU stated, “Personally, as someone who really loves HYUNGWON’s songs, I’m satisfied.”

 

As for a nickname for SHOWNU X HYUNGWON, SHOWNU said, “I hope we become a different kind of ‘guaranteed performance group.’” He added, “There’s music we want to do as MONSTA X, and there’s separate music and performances we want to do as SHOWNU X HYUNGWON,” continuing, “I think it would be nice to have the nickname of a performance unit people can trust and listen to through SHOWNU X HYUNGWON’s own performance style.”

 

SHOWNU X HYUNGWON’s second mini album ‘Love Me’ will be released through various music streaming sites at 6 PM on the 21st. Attention is focused on whether the unit SHOWNU X HYUNGWON, returning after about three years, will showcase greater expansion through this album.