Photo = S2 ENTERTAINMENT

 

[Hanteo News = Reporter KANG SUYOUNG] KISS OF LIFE BELLE revealed her ambition to aim for No. 1 on digital music charts with the new song ‘SWEAT.’

 

KISS OF LIFE met with Hanteo News at a cafe in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the 29th and talked about their 3rd single ‘SWEAT.’ On this day, BELLE said, “I want to rank No. 1 on digital music charts,” adding, “That is because our previous song ‘Sticky’ went up to No. 2.”

 

‘SWEAT’ was a song they were confident in from the moment they first heard it. BELLE said, “I personally brought in the demo for this song as the representative, and we had a listening session together with the members,” adding, “We discussed which song would suit us best and should come out this summer, and the moment we heard this song, I intuitively thought it was really good.” She continued, “The genre itself fit us perfectly, the performance came to mind, and the visual and performance potential that the keyword ‘SWEAT’ could carry aligned with our image, so we unanimously chose it.”

 

The modulation that appears in the middle of the song also drew attention, as it is not a common attempt in K-POP. BELLE said, “Before the release, it is true that we thought a lot about it because we had to consider realistic factors,” but added, “I felt that these days, music is coming out in so many diverse ways, and our seniors and juniors are also making various cool new attempts.” She continued, “Within such an open industry, we thought that if we brought in this new challenge, people would feel a sense of freshness, and even those who might find it difficult could see a really cool picture if we melted it well into the performance. So in the end, we decided to keep the modulation.” She added, “In fact, it has now become my favorite part.”

 

During the process of choosing the title track, there was also conflict with the B-side track ‘What.’ JULIE said, “There was enough conflict that we worried, ‘Should this be the title track?’ or even while filming, ‘What if this gets a better reaction?’” adding, “There was a place where we pre-released the new songs to a small number of fans, and even there, opinions were divided. Both songs are of such high quality that I am looking forward to and curious about the promotions.” Regarding the B-side ‘What,’ BELLE introduced it by saying, “It is a song that I thought was both a new color of KISS OF LIFE and KISS OF LIFE itself,” adding, “It is an EDM genre track that can show KISS OF LIFE’s coolness most intuitively, and it contains a new flavor that KISS OF LIFE has never brought before.” She continued, “It is a song that will shine when we hold concerts or stand on various festival stages in the future,” hinting, “Promotions are also planned.”

 

Regarding the recent popularity of Latin rhythms and EDM, they said they did not blindly follow trends. BELLE said, “First, we put as our top priority whether the song would suit our members and whether we could fully deliver its message. We first thought about whether there was something that connected intuitively and whether our members could be pictured in this song,” adding, “As the songs were selected, they turned out to be songs in popular genres, and I have expectations that this may actually work in a positive way.”

 

The members’ level of participation in making this album was high. BELLE said, “There were visual elements, such as the image of dancing barefoot on sand under the sunset, that we directly imagined and came up with ourselves, and we gave a lot of opinions when filming the music video and preparing the performance.” NATTY explained, “Julie unnie and I strongly said this time that we really wanted to dance a lot,” adding, “We realized that the reason people like KISS OF LIFE is because we enjoy ourselves on stage, dance with excitement, and understand the music as we perform.” JULIE shared, “We communicated with the company and worked out the details, such as wanting the trailer to have this kind of color and mood, wanting to include scenes of us dancing in the practice room to deliver this message to fans, and thinking that photos would come out well if we worked with certain photographers.”

 

BELLE played a special role in the process of sourcing songs. BELLE said, “As time passed and we continued promoting as KISS OF LIFE, I felt that because only we could know ourselves so well, I had to set the musical standard properly and make sure it did not waver. I felt a sense of mission that I had to take on that role.”

 

Regarding the modifier “hexagonal girl group,” BELLE explained, “Each member has very strong ability stats that support the group, so when those are viewed as a whole, I think the group appears like a hexagon,” adding, “In my case, I have spent a long time composing music and increasing my insight and understanding of music, and I have also polished my vocals for a long time, so I think I play my role in that regard.”

 

BELLE’s father, original top singer Shim Shin, also expressed expectations for this song. BELLE said, “My father has tremendous passion for music, so he always tells me that more than any other recognition, what lies at the root is music,” adding, “When I play new songs for him before release, he sometimes gives feedback, and he said that he thinks ‘SWEAT’ will do well.”

 

Their popularity in NATTY’s home country of Thailand also came up as a topic. NATTY said, “We performed at a festival in Thailand, and everyone knew all of our songs,” adding, “I think songs you can jump around to and that energy suit Thailand so well, and if we can go again next time, I hope they sing along to ‘What.’” HANEUL added, “As soon as we arrived in Thailand, I remember everyone there, starting with the airport staff, calling out NATTY’s name.”

 

KISS OF LIFE’s 3rd single ‘SWEAT’ will be released today at 6 PM through various music sites.

 

grace@hanteo.com