K-pop boy band Nu’Est talk about ‘Romanticize’, their second LP, and what romance means to each of them
- Nine years after their debut single ‘Face’, and seven years since their debut album ‘Re:Birth’, Nu’Est are showing their maturity
- They talk about trying to define romance, and how they expressed their individual emotions on the album
K-pop boy band Nu’Est got their start in March 2012 with the release of their debut single Face, a rambunctious anti-bullying anthem, and with the release of their second album Romanticize today, they’re aiming to show everyone how far they’ve come in that time.
“We debuted at a relatively early age,” reflected Baekho, who has had a heavy hand crafting the band’s sound over the past few years. “I think the experience that we had as we grew as a team is also something that shaped us. The experience has shaped us so we want to show how we’ve changed, that’s what drives us.”
Romanticize, which is fronted by the propulsive, yet chill single Inside Out, and features nine other tracks – including solos from each member – arrives ages after the band’s first LP, 2014’s Re:Birth.
“We chose Romanticize and romance as the theme of the album because romance is something that can be very close or very far from you,” says Baekho. “Everybody has different ideas of what romance or being romantic is. Everyone listening will have different expectations and understandings of romance as we relay it through our song, and we thought that’d be a cool experience for our audience.”
JR, the band’s leader, ruminates that the way everyone romanticises the action of romance is something that really drove Nu’Est (typically stylised in all capital letters) while creating the album.