The group Stray Kids has finished preparing to captivate global listeners with a new album armed with confidence.
Stray Kids held a press conference to commemorate the release of their new mini album THIS & THAT on the afternoon of the 6th at the Conrad Seoul Grand Ballroom in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, and talked about the new album.
Stray Kids said, "Because it's been a long time since our last comeback, we are excited about each comeback stage. Last week we had five shows in Seoul, and I hope we can return the good energy we received then to our fans," they said.
Stray Kids' new release THIS & THAT is an album that captures the group's versatile side and justified confidence, doing both THIS and THAT.
Bangchan explained about the new release, "We are in our ninth year, and since debut we have tried various music genres. The more varied we are, the more of Stray Kids' different sides we can show, so through this album we prepared new Stray Kids colors in line with the album title," he said.
Changbin said about the difference from previous works, "Unlike previous works, this song captures a chill and relaxed Skz. We worked to put confidence that we do a bit of everything into the album," he answered.
The album features all tracks worked on by the group's producing team 3RACHA members Bangchan, Changbin and Han, and contains songs of various temperatures from cool, summer-friendly emotional tracks to songs that emit intense, fiery energy, offering listening enjoyment.
About again challenging experimental music, Han said, "There is always a safe option. The reason we do challenging things when making albums is that it's more fun. While making music and taking on challenges, there will surely be difficulties and variables, but we learn a lot through that process, and doing the same thing every time reduces interest, so we tend to do new things," she explained.
The title track THIS & THAT is a groovy, hip-hop-based track that maximizes the group's chill and cool mood and sings of the prepared ease and confidence of a "music peddler" who can do a bit of everything they want.
Changbin said, "I thought the track had an experimental, unique sound not heard before. By repeating simple lyrics I tried to make it accessible. From when we were working in the U.S., I was sure this would be the title. The hook came out quickly, and seeing members hum it and shape the choreography, I thought they would like it. The members liked it, so I gained confidence," he said.
Stray Kids' last year's full-length fourth album KARMA and SKZ IT TAPE DO IT both entered the U.S. Billboard main chart Billboard 200 at No. 1, making them the first artist in the world to send eight consecutive releases to the top spot on the Billboard 200 since their first No. 1 debut.
Asked whether they had expectations for this album, Seungmin said, "When we prepare each album or concert, rather than setting expectations based on specific achievements, we always try to show we are doing our best, so I hope appropriate results follow this time. I hope our music reaches many listeners," he said.
Stray Kids also drew attention by announcing they will hold a new festival led by Stray Kids called STRAYCITY in Bogota, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Mexico City, Mexico, this September.
Hyunjin said, "We prepared the 'STRAYCITY' festival together with the world tour, and the difference between a festival and a concert is that a festival is about us, our fans and also other audience members going wild together, approaching it with that determination, while a concert is about proving with STAY what music Skz have done, what stages they have performed and what we want to show in the future while enjoying it with STAY," he said.
He added, "We did our world tour in South America for the first time and it was really enjoyable. Even though it's a far country, we felt we could receive such great love. It's not that we could do this just because we wanted to, but because fans gave us such great love, we are thankfully able to host such a festival. As we visit countries, we want to show the passion and love we feel by presenting our stages directly, one by one. Starting with South America, we will show our stages in various places," he added.
Seungmin also said, "We are still hungry. Being hungry means we have a strong desire to visit fans around the world who have never seen us. Not only for solo concerts but also because we want to meet many people on as many different stages as possible, this seems like a good opportunity. I look forward to showing a vibe different from concerts," he said.
Reno, born in 1998, is about to begin his military hiatus. Regarding this, Reno said, "First of all, I believe military service is natural. If called, I will faithfully carry out the given duties," and added, "We have not discussed detailed plans for album activities after the military hiatus, but one thing for sure is we will reunite. From doing the concert I felt many fans are waiting for us, and even if I go to the military I want to continue repaying those fans. Please wait for a short time and I'll be back soon," he vowed.
Seungmin added, "While preparing for this concert and album I was truly happy with an honest heart. I didn't want to lose the present happiness by thinking too much about the future. We're human, so tomorrow we could die, it's all the same, so our motto is to do our best now and show sincere performances in the best way we can as Stray Kids. We would be very grateful if you watch over those parts," he said.
Meanwhile, Stray Kids' new album and the title track This & That will be released at 1 p.m. on the 7th.
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