Flare U's Choi Lip-woo Shot at Dawn, Kang Woo-jin Joined After Daybreak for the "Bloom" Video

Flare U's second mini album LOVEHOOD, released on the 14th, is built around the title track "Bloom," chosen from three candidates. In its music video, Choi Lip-woo filmed at dawn and Kang Woo-jin joined after daybreak.

Two people living in different hours

Kang Woo-jin said the video tells of two people who live in different times and then meet. Choi Lip-woo shot his scenes first in the dim early hours, and Kang joined once it was light. Both men acted in the video themselves. On the title-track stage, Kang said, the duo perform with six dancers, who frame the two members, form the shape of a flower and, in one scene, all slow their movements together.

The video also includes a scene of the two dancing the title-track choreography without any dancers. Choi said dancing as a pair did not feel embarrassing, but he missed having the dancers there, and because only the two of them were on screen he danced with as much force as he could. Playful moments are in the footage too: Choi said the director asked for a scene of them messing around, and Kang said some of what the two did during breaks, when the camera was not rolling, made it into the video.

The two said they came to know each other better through their debut activities. Kang said they were close already, but they have since met each other's parents, share more personal stories and lean on each other more.

Why "Bloom" won out

LOVEHOOD carries six songs: "Bloom," "Hundred Nights," "False Alarm," "Madly in Love," "Window View" and "Never Ever." The title track was decided from three songs including "Hundred Nights" and "Window View." Kang said it took a long time to settle on the title track and that he picked a song he felt he could listen to for a long time. Choi said he proposed "Bloom" from the start.

Choi's reason was that it suits the team's concept: it opens in an easy-listening mood, but the sound builds up gradually, so it becomes more stirring the longer one listens, and he called it close to the team's overall colour. Kang kept listening to all three candidates while thinking about which suited a title track. He felt the sense of the song drifting along could be part of its appeal, that it did not sound empty, and that he had no worries about adding choreography.

The song is a synth-pop track that starts on a soft synth bass and layers its instruments in three dimensions. Lyrical vocals and a warm sound carry delicate memories of time spent together and the flutter that came with them. Choi said its mood differs from that of the previous title track, "WAY 2 U," describing the new one as more beautiful and wistful. The duo chose it by putting the album's theme of love at the centre and weighing the song's mood together with the team's colour.

Studio favourites and struggles

Asked which recording pleased him most, Kang named "Hundred Nights," saying he thinks its recording quality is the best on the album. He also cited "Never Ever," saying he sang it well, that it was worth listening back to, and that his R&B expression was not bad. Choi chose the title track, saying that because he paid it so much attention, the result was also the most satisfying.

Choi found "False Alarm" and "Window View" difficult to record. He said he lacks confidence in rapping and that Korean lyrics have many final consonants to watch. English rap was relatively comfortable but sounded awkward at first, and he built it part by part under the lyricists' direction. He added that it is hard to say he is satisfied with the finished tracks. Kang said dance is the tricky part for him: though no choreography stood out as hard, he has kept practising with his teacher and was told in class that his dancing had improved.

From debut nerves to the stage

Choi said preparation for the debut was somewhat rushed and hectic. While preparing for KCON before debuting, he worried about how he would look to people on a big stage and whether fans would think well of the two. After the debut activities, Kang said, anticipation grew larger than fear. Kang also said he likes Ailee and would like to do a challenge with her, while Choi said he likes HWASA and drew inspiration from the senior artist when recording.

Before the debut, Kang recalled, he had felt pressure and fear. He was a trainee when he appeared on BOYS II PLANET, but after debuting he worried how he would be judged as an artist: whether people would notice what he had done and how he would be received in a society where cold assessments circulate. He thought that tension was probably healthy, and after going through it once he wondered whether he had needed to be so afraid. The two spoke on the afternoon of the 7th, a week before release, at the FNC Entertainment building in Gangnam District, Seoul, five months after finishing their debut activities.

Choi Lip-woo and Kang Woo-jin, who appeared on Mnet's boy-group survival show BOYS II PLANET, debuted as a duo last May. Their first album, YOUTH ERROR, sang of youth; this time they took love as the theme, packing six songs with the story of a boy who realises that a feeling that arrived at an unexpected moment is love.

On release day, Flare U met fans with a busking performance at Everland Rose Garden in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and they plan to perform the title track on music shows. Kang said he prepared the album hard and asked listeners to look into what love means to each of them within the theme. Choi said he tried to put many ideas and thoughts into the album and asked fans to find them one by one. The two thanked fans who waited for the album and said they will keep working hard.

Release details

LOVEHOOD was released at 6 p.m. on the 14th on major music sites. It contains the title track "Bloom" and five other songs.

Read the original (Korean)