A.C.E. is proud they have learned to ‘work more harmoniously as a team’ as they launch their ‘physically demanding’ new album.
The five member K-pop group A.C.E. – short for Adventure Calling Emotions – are back with 도깨비 (Favourite Boys) (도깨비 meaning goblin), the lead single from album HZJM: The Butterfly Phantasy.
It follows their 2019 release UNDER COVER, and DongHun, Jun, ByeongKwan, Chan and WOW say this comeback, which they describe as a ‘sequel’, will reflect the changes they’ve been through over the last year, including their increasing closeness as a band since they debuted in 2017.
DongHun told Metro.co.uk: ‘Since UNDER COVER we have moved on. In terms of performance and stage presence you will see a lot of changes. And it’s like a sequel to our previous album, there is a link between them. But at the same time we have grown so much and you will see that with this album well.’
‘We are working more harmoniously as a team, our teamwork has got better,’ Jun said. And it’s not just relationship changes either, it’s physical.
He added: ‘We have gotten much stronger physically so we can work with much more. Out of the five songs on this album, four songs have choreography.
‘It was physically very demanding but we have been able to improve with training and get much stronger.’
They’ve needed to be, as the impressive dance moves were punishing to learn across the three to four days it took to nail down.
WOW said: ‘After the music video shoot we just practiced, and even then it’s still very challenging for us because it’s difficult, and there are a lot of traditional elements too.’
‘Traditional’ is the key word for this comeback, which has been weaved into A.C.E.’s concept from their clothes to the artwork in the promotional photos.
‘Goblin’ in this instance is not meant as westerners may understand it; they are not seen as evil, but rather mischievous or helpful.
‘There are many different types of goblin, but here in our new album we portray a traditional Korean goblin, and you’ll see that in our choreography, our costumes and in different aspects of our album,’ ByeongKwan explained.
It’s clear in the video too, which also includes some heart-in-mouth underwater scenes.
Jun shared: ‘We tried the underwater shoot because we wanted to try new things for the fans and we wanted to show something new of ourselves.’
Says Chan: ‘It was actually scary and we ended up drinking a lot of water because we were filming underwater for hours, but we had to focus for the shoot.’
The members had a hand in songwriting this time around too. One of the album tracks, Clover, was co-written by Jun and WOW with Jun having a hand in composing as well.
Clover was, of course, inspired by the group’s fandom, called Choice.
‘This year has been a very challenging year and we wanted to do something for them’, Jun revealed.
‘I wrote the song from my heart and it came out very naturally and I really wanted to pay tribute to the fans.’
With passionate K-pop fans – in the West particularly – increasingly giving kudos to idols who participate in the songwriting process, Clover will likely be Choice’s choice for album highlight. But they’ll no doubt love all of it, of course.
HZJM: The Butterfly Phantasy is out now.
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