"I want to be recognized and loved for our music."
The group Onewe (Yonghun, Kanghyun, Harin, Dongmyeong, Kiuk) returns with their third full-length album, Myeon: Unknown Atlas (面 : Unknown Atlas), the radiant full stop of the Dot·Line·Plane series. Even if it may be an unreachable hope, they willingly soared in Dot: The Quiver (점 : 더 퀴버), and following Line: The Wake (線 : The Wake), which overlapped each other's footsteps to bridge the path even within a vast, directionless void, they are finally connected into a single world.
On the map directly drawn by the footprints they left behind, Onewe is ready to move forward toward their own new beginning, neither tragedy nor happy ending.
Onewe's third full-length album, Myeon: Unknown Atlas, to be released at 6 p.m. on the 19th, is an album that contains Onewe-style fairy tale narratives. All members of Onewe participated in the songwriting and production, sharpening Onewe's musical colors, and the album includes 12 new songs and five previously released tracks, for a total of 17 tracks.
The title track, "Scenario," is a song that expresses the will to write one's own story rather than follow a predetermined ending, conveying the message that our lives too are not scripts written by someone else but a scenario that continues to be completed even at this moment.
Ahead of their comeback, we met Onewe to talk about the third full-length album, Myeon: Unknown Atlas.
Q. How do you feel about coming back with a full-length album?
Yonghun: It feels like it's been a very long time since we released a full-length album, so I'm really excited. Especially that 17 songs are included. We prepared with a lot of care and sincerity, and I hope fans and the public will like it. We treated every song as if it were a title track and made and recorded them carefully, so I'm happy.
The full-length album wasn't something that suddenly came up; it had been planned since the end of last year. We had been thinking about it internally and had collected many songs. Because there were many songs, there were challenges during recording, arranging instruments and vocal recording. We didn't worry about struggling from lack of songs.
Q. In an era when people only listen to title tracks, aren't you worried that with 17 songs on the album the non-title tracks won't get attention?
Dongmyeong: While preparing this album, when we had meetings with CEO Kim Do-hoon he suggested, "Since there are so many songs that could be title tracks, rather than using them all on one full-length, why not use some as title tracks on other albums?" We wanted to make an album where every song felt like a title track, so we ambitiously prepared everything at once.
Kanghyun: Fans who like band music seem to listen to all the tracks, including the non-title songs. I wasn't worried about that. We worked on both the title and other tracks with fun, so that concern didn't arise.
Q. Was there a reason you chose "Scenario" as the title track among 17 songs?
Yonghun: It took a long time to decide the title track. "Scenario" and a song called "Bloody Pinocchio" were title candidates. Choosing the title was the hardest part. The members listened to them for a long time and discussed for a long time. When we played them for people at the company, they felt it was musically fitting, so we played them for friends and family a lot. "Scenario" came out a lot in the voting. Because it's the title track, we approached it with a melody and instrumentation that would stick in listeners' ears and in a direction fans and the public would most like.
Q. Your second full-length album came out after five years; is there a reason you were able to release this one in one year?
Kiuk: I strongly voiced the opinion since last year. Thankfully the hyungs were also positive. The company accepted it positively, so we prepared. I think a full-length album has its own strength. This year is also an important year for Onewe, and thinking that releasing a full-length might make people notice our effort, we loaded it with ambition and prepared 17 songs.
Kanghyun: Until now Onewe had been releasing albums with a space concept, but rather than solidifying "Onewe = space," we wanted to express something conceptual and new musically, so we deliberately abandoned space-related themes and tried something new.
Q. Is there a special reason this year is "the most important year for Onewe"?
Kiuk: This year is important, and next year is also important. I think we need to keep promoting in a relay format without stopping to attract new listeners, so I want to keep running without resting. Every year we repeat, "This year is Onewe's year." It seems to be the driving force that makes us work hard.
Dongmyeong: Last year we achieved a music show first-place for the first time 11 years after debut. We went to the KBS Arena, a venue we wanted to perform at. This year I hope we can reach a point one step higher than the achievements of last year. I think if we are recognized for our music and loved by the public, we can achieve those things, so we wanted to return to our roots and put our energy into that. For that reason it feels like an important year.
Q. Is there a keyword that runs through the third full-length album, Myeon: Unknown Atlas?
Dongmyeong: For this album we set out to work with the theme of fairy tales. The core keyword is fairy tales. There are many parts that relate to or reinterpret fairy tales.
Kiuk: First, the albums and songs we've released so far had high performance difficulty. This album is even more difficult, so I hope listeners focus on that part. I'd also like to see covers of the songs.
Kanghyun: While doing festivals and concerts we felt many things on stage. We identified points that fans like to some extent and, imagining concerts and performances, worked on the recordings.
Q. Will the keyword "fairy tale" continue as a long-term project like "space" did?
Kanghyun: We are thinking about those parts. There were many themes we wanted to include that couldn't be finished this time. With more time and too many songs, focus would be lost, so there were themes we wanted to include but couldn't. If continued, we might release more like we did with the space series. The space concept didn't start from the very beginning either.
Q. Why did you choose subjects like "Pinocchio," "Lilliput," and "Laputa" for this album?
Yonghun: We really put our heads together to decide the title track. For the non-title tracks, members generally got to sing the songs they wanted to express.
Dongmyeong: Each member probably had different reasons for choosing fairy tales, but I couldn't recall a fairy tale at first. When I searched, traditional tales came up. I thought, "I can't write a song for this album; as an ST I might not express N sensibility well," and then the idea of "Peter Pan" came to mind, so I remembered that fairy tale and wrote a song.
Kanghyun: There are songs called "Laputa" and "Lilliput." When I was doing military service I read Gulliver's Travels and was inspired to release a song; there wasn't an opportunity to do so. I thought it would be a shame because it required planning, so after talking with the members we went with a fairy tale concept. For "Icarus," we wondered what early fairy tale vibes might be and borrowed from Greek and Roman mythology to make it. Writing songs with such subjects helps the lyrics come out well and will probably feel novel to listeners. It should spark imagination.
Q. In what sense is the title track "Scenario" a story everyone can relate to—does it include Onewe's experiences?
Harin: Most of the songs I write come from my experiences. "Scenario" also grew from getting older and feeling more realistic things, and I approached it a lot from the perspective of escape when unpacking those things. It started from "If I could paint my life, how would I paint it?" I ended up approaching it more realistically than I expected. Of course it doesn't have a perfect beginning-middle-end structure, and I worried a lot about how to resolve things when choosing between options. It's a song I once threw into the trash and revived. I struggled because it felt too wordy and not relatable and hit practical obstacles, but then I went back to the idea of viewing it from the beginning with no preconceived notions. It's one of the representative songs of this album, and I thought it would be good to listen while feeling the flow of the lyrics and the overall story.
Q. Has re-signing as a complete group affected team activities or music work in any way?
Yonghun: We've been together since we were very young, so I always thought we could keep making music together. We didn't necessarily become closer or change direction musically, but there was a sense of stability. There was a feeling of, "We can make our music within the company and expand it," which gave us security.
Q. Onewe is known as a "band without scandals"—what's the secret?
Yonghun: After being a band for 10 years, honestly we've had no scandals. The reason is we don't have many friends around us and we really like staying home (laughs). We go to cafes at night and to jjimjilbang among ourselves. We're thankful and consider ourselves lucky.
Q. What goals do you want to achieve with the third full-length album, Myeon: Unknown Atlas?
Yonghun: With this album I want many people to feel they want to hear the 17 songs properly live at a concert, so I hope a lot of people come to the concerts. I think albums and live performances are different, and I'm thirsty to perform them properly in a live venue, so I hope people come to the concert.
Q. Like "Scenario," which expresses writing your own story, is there an ending Onewe wants to write?
Kiuk: I can't fix the present, but I want to write the ending in advance. I want the ending to be that we're still making music when we're old, that our parents and all of us are healthy and happy. I want to write the last chapter as a happy ending.
Yonghun: While recording with senior band Jaurim, I talked with senior Kim Yun A about our realistic concerns. I asked, "We've been active for 12 years; is there a way to continue for 20 to 30 years?" She said, "I don't think there is, so if Onewe has done it for 10 years, just go without overthinking. Perform like it's your first time." Thinking it's the first time, we keep performing with that mindset.
Dongmyeong: My personal wish is to perform in a larger venue with people who want to see our shows, and for our songs to become songs every Korean knows.
[Photo] RBW provided.
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