[Herald Interview] WEi ends odyssey of 'Love' with sixth EP

Boy band WEi (OUI Entertainment)

Boy band WEi is marking the end of its odyssey of love with the new EP "Love Pt. 3: Eternally."

The new album, the sixth EP from the sextet, comes out on Thursday, marking their return to the music scene after eight months. Ahead of their return, the members held a joint press interview last Thursday in Seoul.

The final episode of the band's love trilogy "Eternally" takes the topic of love to a more profound level and addresses the universal emotion of self-love. With the title song "Overdrive," the members deliver a healing message to their fellow youths wandering in life.

"The title songs' lyrics are about setting off on a journey to find myself. We want to empathize with and comfort people who are going through a time of discovering themselves," Jang Daehyeon, the band's leader said during the interview.

The six members, all in their early- to mid-20s, said they face similar emotions in life.

Kim Donghan said, "We're in that period when we are the most unstable and worried about our lives. We thought about how we could convey such concerns through the lyrics and our performances. We were also consoled ourselves from the song."

Jang Daehyeon, who took part in producing many of the group's title songs, again contributed in writing the melody and the lyrics of "Overdrive."

"It's a perky song. While delivering comfort through the lyrics, I wanted the sound to resonate an easy-listening and upbeat energy," he said.

Also included on the album are four other songs, "Be alright (chillin')," "Thriller," "All Day With You" and "End of the Day," songs all produced by renowned K-pop producers selected by through strict blind tests.

"We thought about what the public would want from us. We received diverse opinions through blind test and fortunately came to work with great artists," said Yoo Yongha.

The star-studded producer line-up includes BTOB's Lim Hyunsik, who produced "End of the Day."

"It's my favorite song," Kim Yohan said about the song, adding, "I've listened to the song every day recently."

WEi debuted in October 2020 with the EP "Identity: First Sight." Since then, the group has rolled out two musical trilogies, "Identity" and "Love."

With the new album, the boys hoped to get their first No. 1 spot on a TV music show -- a milestone every rookie K-pop idol aspires to achieve.

"A No. 1 on the Billboard charts is another big goal for us. But above all, we hope to make it into the local music charts so that even those people who don't yet know us can recognize our song," the leader said.

With many stars launching social media challenges with their comeback, WEi also aimed for the song to go viral online through the campaign.

"I used to shoot the videos myself before, but this time, I wanted to do it properly. I taught the managers on different camera works and styles and have already asked fellow singers to take part," Kang Seokhwa said.

The group recently ended its second global concert tour, "Passion," which took them across Asia, Europe and the US.

"We'd been nervous the whole time in our first tour, but this time, we learned to enjoy the different cultures of each country," Kim Junseo said, adding, "We'll work hard to make more new memories, so please wait for us!"

WEi is set to release its sixth EP "Love Pt. 3: Eternally" at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

As the members sing through "Overdrive," they are still discovering their own paths.

"At the end of last year, we had a lot of discussions with each other. We agreed we should do something that we ourselves could have fun making for this album," Jang Daehyeon said.

Kang Seokhwa added, "We hope that we achieve something new every time. We always aim to show ourselves improve. We gave our best shot for the last album, but this time, we worked even harder. We'll continue to make new attempts."

By Choi Ji-won(jwc@heraldcorp.com)