WayV's album 'Give Me That' offers love, wolves, moonlit drives

WayV drops EP 'Give Me That,' its first release in four years with a Korean title track.

WayV performs ″Give Me That″ for a showcase on June 3 at Blue Square’s Mastercard Hall in Yongsan District, central Seoul. [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

Crossing over multiple cultures is difficult, but boy band WayV is ready to commit. WayV is gearing up for its activities in Korea with its new EP, “Give Me That,” which dropped on Monday at 6 p.m. The NCT subunit seemed more than eager to perform and spread love on its showcase on Monday, which was held a couple of hours prior to the release.

“The love of the fans are all the same, wherever they are,” said group member Ten during the press showcase at Blue Square’s Mastercard Hall in Yongsan District, central Seoul.

The album contains a total of six songs, “She A Wolf," "Might As Well,” "New Ride,” "Don't Get Mad" and the Korean and Chinese versions of the lead track, "Give Me That."

WayV answers question at the showcase on June 3 at Blue Square’s Mastercard Hall [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

“The key theme of the album is love,” said Ten. “If you look at the teaser tracks, there are a lot hearts.”

WayV was formed in 2019, and became part of the NCT group in September 2020. “Give Me That” is its first album in seven months, following the boy band’s second full-length album, “On My Youth,” released last September. This is its first Korean music release in four years after the Korean version of “Turn Back Time” dropped in June of 2020.

Three songs from the EP were played during the showcase: “She a Wolf,” “New Ride,” and lead track “Give Me That.” The members seemed confident as the songs played, smiling as they moved to the rhythm of the music.

WayV poses for the cameras at the showcase on June 3 at Blue Square’s Mastercard Hall [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

“She a Wolf” is a colorful dance song that combines hip-hop rhythms with rich harmonies. The lyrics depict meeting a wolf as a metaphor for falling into dangerous love.

“We thought about making this the lead song instead,” said group member Xiaojun. “It is that good. We will definitely show the live performance for this song to our fans.”

"New Ride" is a refreshing R&B pop song featuring an 808 bass, guitar riffs, soft keyboards and synthesizers along with lyrics expressing excitement for a drive under the moonlight with a loved one.

“We made ‘New Ride’ in a song camp,” said Ten. “I’m very interested in the production process, and I figured the chill vibe would make a great song to sing along with our fans.”

WayV poses for the cameras with pointed fingers, a key element to the choreography of its new song, "Give Me That." [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

The lead track "Give Me That" is a pop dance song with addictive melodies and brass woven over an old school funk drum beat, featuring lyrics about confessing love for the first time.

KENZIE, a hitmaker known for NCT's "90's Love" (2020), "Light Bulb" (2020), "OK!" (2021) and "Universe" (2021), participated in the composition and wrote the Korean lyrics.

“There are a lot of chants in the song,” said group member Hendery. “We recorded many takes for it, making ‘Give Me That’ very entertaining.”

Boy Band WayV [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

WayV performed “Give Me That” live on stage and played the music video for the song as well.

The performance was cheerful and energetic, matching the song's exciting, groovy vibes. The choreography utilized a lot of pointing in tandem with the drum beat, including shooting imaginary arrows on the chorus while singing the lyrics, “gimme your love.”

The music video features WayV as a variety of characters, including cowboys, dancers, singer-songwriters, rappers and basketball players. The video follows the story of the five members attending an audition in their respective personas, showing off as much talent as possible with a timer in the background counting down.

″Give Me That″ is WayV’s first release in seven months since its second full-length album, “On My Youth,” on Nov. 8 last year. [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

“We do have some difficulties with our Korean,” said group member Xiaojun. “But our amateurish Korean actually helps us use simpler expressions, giving us an advantage on communicating with our fans.”

“I hope many people will listen to our album and see WayV as a group that can do many things,” said Ten. “That is my goal with this album, to make sure as many people as possible listen to our diverse identity.”

The members also mentioned group member Winwin's absence, saying they missed him. Winwin did not participate in this album due to scheduling conflicts. "He will be back," said group leader Kun.

"Give Me That" will also be available as a physical album on Monday, the same day as the digital release.

To find out more about WayV, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]