GFRIEND is back with their brand new album, Walpurgis Night, with their initial comeback single “Mago” bridging disco and modern pop to display the group’s true range.
Just hours ahead of the release, the six women gathered to discuss their third album, breaking off into partners, the lead single, and music video that’s also out now (“Mago” included below.) PopWrapped attended the press conference for the Source Entertainment and Big Hit Entertainment artists to witness a special performance and additional insight on the well-established and powerful girl group that still has so much to show the world.
Lead vocalist Yuju talked about “Mago” specifically, explaining, “With our title song ‘Mago’ we’re expressing our bold and lightheartedness. With our unit songs were expressing our individual desires of what we want to say and it’s all about being bold and sending out a message of healing.” The group’s youngest, Umji also chimes in about the new sound and “Mago” describing it as “refreshing” but also “seasoned.”
Sowon (the group’s leader and rapper) expands on the new notion of having the women split off into pairs, adding, “From the concept, melody, songwriting, performance, every element felt more like ours and much more personal so we developed a real affinity for these songs.” The group says “Night Drive” (a combination of Eunha and Yuju) is a Pop / R&B endeavor where the wanted to bring together the overall experience of a drive — though the two members admittedly don’t drive themselves, Eunha quips, “You don’t have to drive to be on a drive!”
Another duo on Walpurgis Night comes from Yerin and SinB, with a pop R&B “Secret Diary” a song where friendship takes center stage. Yerin divulges, “We wanted to sing about friendship, not love, and about our friendship.” She adds, “We talk about our experiences and emotions as trainees and put our emotions into words.” Eunha later shed a little light on her affinity for city-pop, mentioning one of her favorite musical contributions stating, “I mentioned I like city-pop songs and they ended up with one, [“Three of Cups”] so I felt like maybe it helped to inspire the songwriters.”
The group reflected on the evolution of GFRIEND, something that has been tested in particular with Walpurgis Night, proudly professing,”Through [Walpurgis Night] we found our identities and gained confidence knowing we can handle anything.” going on to conclude, “GFRIEND is continuing to try new things and I think it’s very important [as a group] to try these different motifs and concepts.”
Sowon later brings up the past and future of GFRIEND, explaining, “The final song is the conclusion of the 回 series, it’s about looking back but still moving forward.” The singer reiterates, “It really expresses what GFRIEND is and what GFRIEND will be.” Sowon also optimistically acknowledges the bonds within the group, sharing, “No matter what, if the six of us stay together, we can handle anything.”
Despite the drastic loss of live-music due to obvious safety concerns, GFRIEND’s Eunha talks about her love for their dedicated fans and the virtual concert. “Because of COVID-19 we were unfortunately unable to meet our fans in person and have a concert, however, with the online concert we were able to interact with them.” She elaborates about the love they feel from BUDDY by acknowledging the recent fan event filled with messages of love and support. “That had us very excited and we were very moved.”
Walpurgis Night is available to purchase and stream now, so make sure to check out the GFRIEND comeback we’ve all been waiting for!
Author
