The group CORTIS returned in a raw, authentic form armed with CORTIS's unique personality.
CORTIS held a showcase to commemorate the release of their mini 2nd album GREENGREEN on the afternoon of the 20th at the YES24 Live Hall in Gwangjin District, Seoul, and talked about the new album.
Ahead of the official release of the mini 2nd album GREENGREEN on May 4, CORTIS released the title track REDRED's audio and music video at 6 p.m. that day and began comeback activities.
CORTIS, who returned eight months after debuting in August last year, said, We tried various challenges and experiments to capture CORTIS's own story for this comeback and completed it. I'm curious how people will listen to it, and added, Having learned and grown a lot from our first activities, we want to show even more impressive performances.
He added, I was eager for the comeback because I wanted to meet the fans as soon as possible. It seems a satisfying album came out because we prepared hard, and he expressed, We want to show a more grown-up side as a team. We'll do our best on every stage, so please enjoy it and have fun.
CORTIS's new album GREENGREEN is filled with what CORTIS aims for. All five members have credits on the album, revealing their identity as a "Young Creator Crew."
CORTIS's new song REDRED honestly expresses what the team aims for as "GREEN" and what they are wary of as "RED." The song is like the starting point of a journey to explore CORTIS's own direction beyond the world's standards and rules. It features distinctive lyrics created by all members collaborating and an addictive melody. Over rough synthesizers, repetitive and catchy rhythms are added to deliver a fresh sound.
About the title track REDRED, Joohoon explained, The song uses red and green as motifs to talk about what we are wary of and what we pursue. It wasn't easy to set the theme. After racking our brains for a long time, James hyung threw out an idea, and from then on the work progressed well.
James added, I had to match the word rhymes and while thinking the word "green" came to mind. While talking with the producer, the opposite word red came up as a motif, completing the theme. Also, Gunho said, When the lyrics were completed I felt the song gained power. Everything—the music and the choreography—fit perfectly. After finishing the mixing, I thought this is the title, showing confidence.
Asked if he was confident about the new song REDRED, Martin said, If I speak with hope, I'm sure it will do well. When I first heard it, when the second verse started, it was so good it gave me chills. The song's temperature is hot so it doesn't get old, and it's a song I still like.
Other members also said, We focused on fun elements on stage when creating it. Breathing with fans on stage earlier became good nourishment. So we're even more looking forward to the performances, and they added, While working, we erased things that weren't like us or things we didn't want to do. By doing that, we came to better understand what we want to say and pursue.
Following their debut album, the members again held a song camp in Los Angeles, U.S., and co-created most of the tracks. In particular, REDRED, ACAI, YOUNGCREATORCREW, and Wassup involved all members in songwriting, and they contributed to production overall—choreography, video production, visuals—infusing their tastes into the content.
Martin explained, We actively participated as songwriters on all six tracks and participated in producing three tracks to raise our capabilities to the maximum.
Gunho added, With a busy schedule for a while, ideas were depleted, so we tried to spend new daily lives among ourselves. For refreshment we went for walks, played basketball and watched movies to recharge. I heard creativity is stimulated in high-ceilinged spaces, so we also worked in open spaces.
They said that even during the concept photo shoot they did not receive makeup and hairstyling, We were photographed with minimal makeup so much that skin texture was visible. We wanted to show an unadorned, truly real look, not just say we are honest. We suggested showing ourselves as we are, even if dark circles are visible.
Regarding being true to CORTIS, the members said, Honesty is one of the core elements. Even if we think some parts we work on are cool, we worry whether this is truly CORTIS-like, and said, Through working like this we discovered that inspiration comes from doing the work. Rather than waiting for inspiration to come, we start creating and reflect on our lives to get inspired. First, we start creating.
Finally, when asked how they want to grow as a team, CORTIS said, We want to be artists who have our own symbolism like a brand and make people want to go see this team's stage. We will grow to become such artists, and added, As we go now, we constantly want to draw out newer things, experiences we haven't had, researching and wanting to bring out more.
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