winner / d-7 'hold' press article

" ‘Dark → Cheerful’ A completely different WINNER, the unexpected charm they’ll show with ‘HOLD’ "

2020.03.19

Link : https://www.newsen.com/news_view.php?uid=202003181637580410

 

Boy group WINNER (Kang SeungYoon, Kim JinWoo, Song MinHo, Lee SeungHoon) is set to return with a new album that displays their unexpected charm.

 

WINNER’s third album ‘REMEMBER’ will go on sale on April 9th at 6 PM. Before that, however, they will have a pre-release on March 26th at 6PM with their digital single, ‘HOLD’.

 

 

▲ First full album in 2 years, the promise they kept with their fans through ‘hard work’

 

It has been two years since WINNER last released a full-length album. Beginning with their win on the 2013 survival program ‘WIN’, the group officially debuted in August of 2014 with their first album ‘2014 S/S’, followed by the release of ‘EVERYD4Y’ on April of 2018.

 

The release of the third album in 2020 was expected. During their press conference last October for their third mini-album ‘CROSS’, the leader of the group, Kang SeungYoon, shared: “My goal and wish is to release an album sometime in the beginning of next year. I found that once you say [a goal] out loud you feel more ambitious about keeping it. That’s why I’m saying it here today….I want to release a full-length album in the beginning of next year. I hope you guys will look forward to it.”

 

It’s been widely known that WINNER has kept themselves busy in determination to keep their promise with their fans, embarking on an 8-city stop Asia tour, participating in domestic events, featuring on variety shows and more, all while continuously working on making new music. Especially with a hiatus ahead due to Kim JinWoo and Lee SeungHoon’s mandatory military service, the boys worked more genuinely than ever to put in their sincerity and deep love for their fans.

 

 

▲ Only the title-track? Anticipation on high-quality b-tracks

 

The new album is set to have 12 songs. However the track list has yet to be released, so the name of the title track, the composition of the songs on the album, and other elements of the album are still under wraps, but it is safe to assume that this album will once again contain songs that are all self-written, composed, and produced by the members of WINNER.

 

WINNER, who debuted in 2014, has been able to consistently hit #1 on various music charts with their self-composed, self-produced title tracks, such as ‘REALLY REALLY’, ‘LOVE ME LOVE ME’, EVERYDAY’, ‘MILLIONS’, ‘AH YEAH’, and ‘SOSO’. Their b-tracks, like ‘DIFFERENT’, ‘DON’T FLIRT’, ‘AIR’, ‘LA LA’, ‘WE WERE’, ‘MOVIE STAR’, ‘RAINING’, and ‘DON’T BE SHY’ have received much love and favor from music fans in the past as well for their high-quality. 

 

This was all thanks to the leadership of Kang SeungYoon, joined by Song MinHo and Lee SeungHoon, to participate in the creation of the songs in order to fill up their albums with self-made tracks. One of WINNER’s strongest traits is that each member has a distinct, different style for song-composition, which allows for the enjoyment of the side-tracks as much as the title track itself. There’s a lot of curiosity surrounding the question of just how many songs each member had a stake in for the upcoming album.

 

On the 18th, the group’s agency revealed that, “You will be able to hear multi-genre songs that express WINNER’s exceptional love for their fans.” On the same day, Song MinHo shared on his SNS, “WINNER’s third official album. We worked hard on the songs we chose to put in,” garnering more interest around the new album.

 

 

▲ Name of the new title track is ‘HOLD’? How will this bright, cheerful version of WINNER look like?

 

‘HOLD’, which will be released on the 26th at 6PM, is set to be an upbeat, cheerful song. The members’ teasers on their official SNS pages of comments and captions such as “Did I take too long?”, “Don’t wait too long”, may be lyrics for the new track. 

 

In revealing teasers for ‘HOLD’, WINNER shared a retro ‘Family Photo’ that gave off a playful mood. The interest in the concept of the new song piqued with the way the members each sported a bowl-cut hairstyle with cheeky, goofy looks. 

 

It appears as though ‘HOLD’ has a completely different concept than ‘SOSO’. WINNER tried on an unfamiliar new look last October with their ‘CROSS’ album and title track ‘SOSO’; it was a dark, mellow track well-suited for the fall, and a successful move of genre-crossover to achieve a perfect, mature song.

 

When asked about the reason behind the transformation, Kang SeungYoon replied, “We have a lot of songs in general that play with genre-crossovers, and this is an album that holds a lot of different meanings. More than anything though, we wanted to give a very distinct change to the bright, refreshing vibe that we’ve been working with so far. For this comeback, we decided to go with a heavier title track.”

 

As WINNER warns of another transformation following a previous, bold change, we look forward to whether or not WINNER will be able to satisfy the fans’ expectations with their music.