"I want to express our own colour." 2AM on their first album in seven years

In a new interview, K-pop act 2AM talked their first release in seven years and how they want to incorporate their own colours into music.

‘Tis the year of watching our favourite second-gen acts come back – and what a ride it is! As K-pop group 2AM came back with their first release in seven years – their album Ballad 21 F/W – the group sat down with Naver to discuss their artistry, and expressed their desire to “earn the label” where their style of music becomes evident to fans.

“I really like the phrase, ‘it’s very much like 2AM,” said Changmin.

“I want to express our own colour more so that we can earn that label.” Seulong added, “Park Jin Young (JYP Entertainment founder) and Bang Si Hyuk (HYBE Founder) branded us in such a way that we could perform modern and sophisticated ballads. I want to walk that path well and show people good music.”

For fans, 2AM’s album is a walk down memory lane in more ways than one – it also reunites them with Park Jin Young and Bang Si Hyuk, who worked on the two title tracks of the album. Bang, of course, worked as a producer for 2AM with JYP before he left to set up BigHit Entertainment – now known as HYBE – the company home to BTS.

“It was under Park Jin Young and Bang Si Hyuk’s production that we became the first group to be called ‘ballad idols.’” member Jo Kwon said. “We brought back the vibe of those times, as well as 2AM’s unique emotionality. It’s an album that contains our identity as 2AM.”

“I was moved to see them work with us directly until the very end of production. We’re in our 14th year since our debut, but in their eyes, we’re still youngsters who have much to learn.” added Changmin.