fromis_9 Talks About Their Latest Comeback, The Pressure Of Being HYBE's Only Girl Group, And More

Jan 17, 2022

On January 17, fromis_9 held an online showcase for the release of their fourth mini album “Midnight Guest.”

“Midnight Guest” is fromis_9’s first comeback in four months and their second comeback after being signed to Pledis Entertainment. Jang Gyuri said, “We returned after four months. We couldn’t forget the memories we made through the love we received for ‘Talk & Talk,’ and we got so much good energy that we were able to make a comeback quickly.”

Of the b-sides on “Midnight Guest,” “Love Is Around” is Lee Saerom, Song Hayoung, Jang Gyuri, and Lee Chaeyoung’s unit track, while “Hush Hush” is Park Jiwon, Roh Jisun, Lee Seoyeon, Lee Nagyung, and Baek Jiheon’s unit track. Park Jiwon and Lee Seoyeon participated in writing lyrics for “Hush Hush.”

Park Jiwon said, “Recently, we haven’t been able to move around freely [because of COVID-19]. I was stuck writing lyrics and went to the Han River. I heard this being described as a ‘dawn escape,’ so I held that image in my head as I worked on the song. Maybe that’s why, but the process of songwriting became more fun as I worked with Seoyeon. I also had a lot of fun directing the members during recording. The members worked so hard, and I was grateful.”

About the title track, “DM,” Lee Nagyung said, “I think the key point of this album is our vocals and our performance. We focused on a lot on making our vocals pop as well as the overall performance, including the key choreography points. In the intro, there’s a part where we all untie our hair together, but even though it was a simple action, we worked really hard to match up with each other.”

“Midnight Guest” surpassed 120,000 pre-orders, setting a new personal record for the group. Lee Saerom said, “First, we’re really grateful. Since people are showing us more love and interest with each comeback, we feel a sense of pride and responsibility to do even better.” Lee Nagyung added, “It’s embarrassing to say that our popularity is on the rise, but it means that a lot of people like us, so we want to say thank you. We worked hard on this album in order to meet those expectations.”

fromis_9 also took their first win on a music show since their debut with “Talk & Talk.” Lee Nagyung said, “I remember all the members hugged each other and cried. We were happy that we got No. 1, but it felt more like we were being comforted and told that the work we’d done until now hadn’t been wasted. Thank you to our fans!”

Park Jiwon added, “We were so happy that I’ll never forget it. If we can get No. 1 again, then we’ve been thinking about taking the ‘dawn escape’ concept and performing in pyjamas. Since Seollal [Lunar New Year] is approaching, we might do hanbok as well.”

After fromis_9’s move to Pledis Entertainment and the disbandment of GFRIEND under Source Music, fromis_9 is currently the only girl group signed under HYBE Labels. Lee Saerom said, “Of course we feel a sense of pressure at having such a huge agency’s name attached to us, but we tried to think of the pressure as a driving force to make fromis_9’s color stronger.”

Asked if anything had changed since their management change, Song Hayoung said, “[The founder of Pledis] had been producing us from our debut until now, but now there’s a lot of wide support in other areas too, so it feels like we’re working together with him in heart and mind as well. And it made us ambitious about making a fresh start.”

Roh Jisun said, “Producing director [PD] Han Sung Soo worked on this album just as he worked with us ever since our debut. When ‘Talk & Talk’ got a good reception after our move, the members’ teamwork became stronger and we became more excited to make our next comeback.”