[INTERVIEW] Marie Claire - October 2020

Unforgettable

Lovelyz's time flows again. They're walking the same path, but in a better way.

▲ Your new album <Unforgettable> is out. This is a comeback after a long time, right?

Sujeong: A year and 4 months.

▲ That's a very long time compared to the fast comeback pattern of idol groups lately.

Sujeong: This is the first time since debut that we were on hiatus for this long. So the preparation process was more exciting and fun.

▲ The response to the title track ‘Obliviate’ is good, with the MV hitting more than 6 million views in less than a week. What image did you want to show through this song?

Jiae: There were people who misunderstood that the concept would be strong when they saw the teaser, but I think they can see it as Lovelyz's existing delicateness, but in a stronger form.

Sujeong: ‘Obliviate’ is a title song where I participated in the lyrics making. It was intense when I first listened to the guide version, but I got the subtle vibe inside. So when I wrote the lyrics, I tried my best to emphasize that vibe. ‘Obliviate’ is some sort of a spell, and it's a spell to overcome a painful love.

Kei: Everyone's style changed a lot through this album, and our choreography became very powerful.

▲ This choreography is certainly strong compared to your past stages.

Jiae: Everyone got bruises at the same spot during practice.

Sujeong: We wore high-heeled boots during the music video filming and all the heels broke so we also changed them.

▲ Maknae Yein transformed in an eye catching way. This is your first time promoting with short hair, right?

Yein: First in my life. (Laughs) I've never had short hair before in my 23 years of life. I didn't regret cutting it. I got tired of my long hair. I feel happy now that I've cut it.

▲ In what situation is it good to listen to the songs in this album?

Jiae: Everybody will experience bad things while living, right? I hope you can listen to this song at that time and forget about [the bad thing]. So I hope everyone will listen to ‘Obliviate’ on the last day of this year.

Sujeong: Oh! With the meaning of forgetting bad memories and departing on a new start?

Jiae: Let's go!

▲ Is this album a transition? Or an extension?

Sujeong: We did do a new attempt, but I don't think it's a transition. I think it's more of an extension of what Lovelyz have done.

Jisoo: That's right. I think it's a bit more mature but it still has Lovelyz's unique vibe.

▲ You grew individually too and not just musically?

JIN: Yes.

Jiae: We say a lot among ourselves that we've become stronger than before.

Sujeong: All of us feel like we've become much stronger and mature than when we debuted, and it looks like that transition also melted into the song a lot, so it's good.

Yein: Also, isn't it great when we're noisy these days? We've been talking a lot more recently, and I think we cheer each other up like that.

▲ Who ups the energy the most?

Sujeong: Everybody. (Laughs)

Kei: People don't know this, but all of us are funnier than you think.

▲ Compared to other groups, Lovelyz didn't do a lot of individual activities. You've started doing activities where you can show each member's charms on TV shows and radio recently.

Yein: It's now, so it's better, I think. It was a pressure when we did individual activities before. I think opportunities to show our charms come to us when we're more relaxed and capable.

Babysoul: That's right. It's fun because the members are showing their hidden charms one by one in a lot of places these days.

▲ Is there any member who's able to show the side that they hadn't been able to show before?

Babysoul: Jiae is doing a radio show recently and she's showing the public a lot of her sides that she'd never shown before, but we know about those.

JIN: Her very playful and honest side.

Jiae: It's a bit of a problem because I speak too freely. (Laughs)

Mijoo: It's JIN for me. JIN's voice is really nice. I thought that it'd be nice if she could have a song showcasing that, and then she participated in an OST for the drama <Lonely Enought To Love> recently. With this opportunity, it would be nice if the members who sing well can do activities with various music.

▲ Is there any individual activity you want to try in the future?

Jisoo: I want to try being a <TV Animal Farm> MC. I really love animals.

Mijoo: I think you'll talk with animals later. Woof woof! Woof woof woof!

Sujeong: JIN-unnie is usually very talented and funny, but when MCs ask her to show her personal talents, what comes out is a bit different. So I wonder what will it be if she tries a content where she can film it comfortably.

Jisoo: An observatory variety is nice, and I think a daily vlog content would be good as well.

▲ You started your personal SNS accounts not long ago.

Sujeong: That's right. It's been 3 months.

Jisoo: We got the company's permission now.

Yein: Please follow us.

▲ I'm sure you had the desire to show yourselves quicker.

Babysoul: We thought that we had to speak and act according to the image that Lovelyz held, so we didn't think that we could show our individual characteristics comfortably.

Sujeong: Furthermore, we're all shy. When it's just us, we're very funny and loud, but we get nervous and shy on variety shows so our real selves don't come out well.

Jisoo: We're getting a bit better now.

Babysoul: After 6 years. (Laughs)

▲ That took a very long time.

Jisoo: Haha. We're a bit slow.

▲ What do you feel when you hear the word ‘6 years old’?

Babysoul: I thought, ‘When did 6 years pass? It's already 6 years? What to do?’ It feels like that.

▲ What's the moment you remember the most in that time?

Sujeong: Concert.

Babysoul: I feel very rewarded when I see the fans who have been supporting us since debut days watching our stage from the same spot. It feels like it's a bond that is past the fans-singer relationship now.

▲ What do you think is Lovelyz's unique strength that you've been building up so far?

Sujeong: The voices of 8 of us is very nice. Our strength is amplifying our music with those voices. I think people like the emotion that's created by mixing our 8 voices together better.

Babysoul: Lovelyz's music itself. We have no song that we made just to fill the album. We're confident in each of our song. I think our strength is our good music.

▲ What do you think Lovelyz need now? Will we be able to see another hit song like 'Ah-Choo'?

Babysoul: Of course it'd be nice to see that right away, but growing step by step is more important than that. That's why, we'll build ourselves on the inside in the process of going up.

▲ What do you wish people will think of when they hear ‘Lovelyz’?

Babysoul: Lovelyz will go for a long time.

Kei: A wall.

JIN: As expected, Lovelyz is 8 people.

Sujeong: Crazy/explosive.

Mijoo: As expected, Lovelyz whose music I trust to listen to. MidDeudLo.

Kei: Unrivaled.

Mijoo: Okay, that's enough.

▲ Shall we wrap this up by talking about what you want to say to your members?
JIN: I want to say something to Babysoul-unnie. You have a lot of high notes in this song. I understand the pressure because I also had a lot of high notes in the early days of our promotion. I just want to say that you did a good job.
Babysoul: That's so random? Should I cry?
Mijoo: Give us a bottle of soju here! (Laughs)
Yein: Anyway, it's not an easy thing to do to promote like this as 8 together for 6 years. I'm thankful for that alone. And I'm the maknae but the unnies sincerely take care of me. I'm thankful for that as well.
Kei: You've also been good to us as much as we have been to you.
Jiae: Oh my, you grew up well.
Yein: It suddenly becomes sad (after she finished talking, she couldn't stop crying for some time).
Mijoo: She's crying for real.

Kei: I guess she got emotional all of a sudden. Can we end this with her crying like this? (Laughs)

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