ENHYPEN is back with their 1st Studio Album DIMENSION: DILEMMA and the seven-member group is already off to a remarkable start.

Being the BELIFT LAB group’s second release of 2021 (after rave reviews with the sophomore mini-album Border: Carnival) ENHYPEN now has taken on a different challenge – because the rigorous efforts of any artist’s first studio album are associated with their creative potential. In what appears to resemble a youthful and inspired body of work, DIMENSION: DILEMMA takes a bold step away from their comfort zone and alternates from the sound they’ve tireless perfected since their immersive 2020 debut. 

Aiming to connect to the world through music, ENHYPEN has lived up to the hype of their peers like BTS and TOMORROW X TOGETHER, charting on Billboard at No. 18, selling over 500,000 copies of Border: Carnival, and are now nearing an attainable goal of 1 million units for their new album upon release. Seizing the moment with this unstoppable traction, the group’s own Jake acknowledges their dedication during their media showcase event, noting, “We’ve worked really hard on this album”. The highly anticipated album is something much more expansive than the ENHYPEN fans already know, with Jake also adding, “This world is more complicated and full of paradoxes than we thought.”

The seven-member collective also shares that a big piece of this concept comes from a place of appreciating and loving the adoration of being artists – but still expresses that sometimes there’s just an instinctual need for solitude. 

The story of the album is told through three starkly different ideas, and with that comes individual standards to appease. The group’s own Sunoo shares his view of the three worlds by telling us, “The concept for this album is chaos and young people going through chaotic changes.” Over the course of the event, that certainly becomes a prominent and recurring theme that ENHYPEN embraces in their music video, performance, and sound, with the attempt to seek expansion.

For example, the group’s “refreshing” influence on the title track “Tamed-Dashed” is described by Jake as being an introduction to their own new wave genre with an ‘80s vibe and prominent synthesizer inclusions. “It asks if we should be tamed by desire or dashed by desire.” Though they note that their fandom ENGENE has been eager to see a concept of this nature, Sunghoon admits, “It’s much more cheery than the songs we’ve done before, so we were surprised!” The song was then performed for the first time by the group, with fun eye-catching choreography, and synchronicity that aids the buzz-worthy single’s production – as ENHYPEN appeared fully prepared to reveal their studious work.

Elaborating on how else this separates itself from their previous releases, Jake reaffirms their intentions by stating, “With our Border: series, we talked about being on the border between being trainees and debuting.” before additionally confirming that this release now follows up that perspective with “new experiences”. 

Keeping the energy light and “refreshing” as reiterated, Ni-Ki demonstrates his favorite addictive moment from the choreography – standing to introduce us to a dance where he fans himself off with a genuine smile and the support of his members. He also notes his appreciation for it being easy to replicate, sharing, “It’s not hard at all and it’s easy for others to do!” 

Another song that fans are clamoring to hear titled, “Blockbuster” enlists the help of TXT’s YEONJUN with the group all expressing gratitude for his contributions. First described as a boy’s desire to live in a live-action blockbuster, Jake explains that he was “honored,” that the singer was, “able to bring a grittier vibe” to their first collaboration so far.

Overall, the album promises to play with pop/rock sounds and creates their own musical world, with the hopes of eventually pioneering their own musical genre and their desire to exhibit growth. As far as what makes them unique and separates them from other groups with similar influences, Sunoo divulges, “I think our charm could be our music. We’ve shared our candid thoughts from trainees to artists, and I think that sincerity and honesty came through to listeners. I think many listeners would find that to be relatable!” 

ENHYPEN’s Jungwon ends the event by coyly explaining, “We worked really hard on this album, and will continue to try to keep showing good performances!” He energetically concludes, “Thank you to all our fans, this has been ENHYPEN!” 

ENHYPEN’s first full album DIMENSION: DILEMMA is available today, so make sure to stream it here and check out the music video for “Tamed-Dashed” included above!