The no-doubt current frontrunners of the gothic, vampiresque concept in K-pop, ENHYPEN have made their comeback with (already) their 4th mini album in less than two years! This time, on DARK BLOOD, their title track is “Bite Me,” a track which makes no cowardice effort to hide the depths of its desires.

Having all of its members turning 19 or above in Korean age this year, ENHYPEN’s concept this year delves deeper into similar more mature concepts. The general aesthetic of the comeback was also catered to express such, as, despite the outfits and music video sets seeing similarities with their past Drunk-dazed-era, it’s inarguably a more explicit exploration of those uncharted waters.

The title track is quite addicting and very deceptive. The first few lines are composed so that the instrumental fades out before the ending of a vocal phrase, which is similar to what you would hear in many J-pop anime OSTs. Next, the verses are driven by a bass pattern and an electric drum set. The Pre-Chorus, by far, is the part that adds the most character and tension to the song with its ghastly choir sample of “oh-my-god.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXFLzODIdUI

The music video features many dream-like sequences that make use of similar objects to make almost seamless transitions. The boys are dressed in fancy attire, adorned with expensive pearls—appropriate for vampires. The sets include dark dressing rooms, abandoned ruins, and sinister theatres. A breathtaking moment of the MV is when the members' faces change into each other’s, one after the other, under the red lights.

A notable B-Side on the mini album is “Bills,” which is a song that uses the act of paying off bills as a metaphor for paying a priceless price for a breakup. Sonically, “Bills” is a soft-rock, dream-pop song that’s soft on the ears while being harsh on the heartstrings. Strung together by soft guitar strumming and piano chords, the song has a floating-in-air vibe that gives the track a late-summer feel.

Genius Korea actually had the honor of being able to chat with songwriter Ryan Curtis about his work with ENHYPEN on the B-side. We put together a mini-interview section in our FRESH PICK to share with our Genius Korea Readers.

Hi, Ryan! So nice to see you again! What did the pitch sheet look like for “Bills,” and did the song shape out to be how it was intended originally? Was the song always called “Bills”?

Hey, Genius Korea. Nice to talk to you guys again! To answer your first question, I didn’t specifically receive a pitch sheet for ENHYPEN. I had a song, originally called “SIKE,” that I made with my friends and co-writers Sophie Hintze and Tido that we all really loved, and we were looking to find a home for it. Then my publisher over at Innerv8 Music Obi sent it to ENHYPEN’s team, and they really loved it. This was around the time I just got told the NCT DREAM song was coming out, so it was a really exciting month for me and so unexpected!

The demo version of ENHYPEN’s “Bills” was recorded by you—can you share any details about the original demo that were either changed or kept the same for the final version?

Yeah, I recorded the original version, which the band used as a reference point, and they put their spin on it and took the song to the next level. They really went all in and sound amazing on it. Besides the lyrics, everything was kept 100%. They kept some of our English lyrics which is really cool. There were no changes to this one melodically or structure-wise. I just made the song out of my love for sound, so I am so happy that it found an amazing home with Enhypen and that all the fans love it as much as I do. It’s truly one of my favorites.

What is your approach when recording demos when you know the final song might not be in English?

As a songwriter, my approach is: don’t think about it too much. Let it flow. I always jump on the mic and do melody passes until I get the best one. The chorus of this song was born on the very, very first melody pass. I had it in my head as soon as I went on the mic when Tido sent me the guitar. This song wrote itself almost, it was just something I loved and thought was cool. I wasn’t even thinking about briefs or kpop or any particular artist. Then Sophie and I got together to refine and put lyrics on it, and that was that. I’m a huge fan of that dark pop guitar sound, so I was just doing what I loved, and it so happened to become one of my favorite songs ever.

How would you describe the song in terms of genre and instrumentation, and what’s your favorite moment in the song?

I’m not sure how I’d describe it in terms of genre. Dark guitar pop, maybe? Idk. My favorite moment in the song is the post-chorus in the final chorus. I remember this came to me at the very end, and I had that melody stuck in my head for days.

Were there any unexpected difficulties that you ran into while making the song? And what was the collaboration process like for you as you worked with other songwriters, producers, and HYBE?

Nothing but amazing things to say. It was a flawless interaction between my publisher and label. And my collaborators are some of the most talented easy to work with creators that I know. Sophie and I probably have about 10+ songs together that we are also obsessed with. Maybe you’ll hear more sometime soon!

How was it working with ENHYPEN? We know “Bills” is probably your favorite song by them, but do you have any other favorites from their discography?

There are so many to list, but on the mini album we’re on, I’m also a huge fan of “Bite Me.” I think that song preview sounds really dope. SUPER catchy. Shout out to the writers and producers on that!

Any final comments for the fans tuning in?

Last comments would be, I’m so excited for you guys to hear more from me. And appreciate all the fans reaching out on Twitter and Instagram and showing amazing support. I’m going to talk about more details of the song and react and post some fun stuff on my IG if you guys can leave any questions and follow me.

Thank you to Ryan Curtis for speaking with Genius Korea. Be sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram for more updates. Be sure to check out “Bills” by ENHYPEN on all music platforms now!

Follow ENHYPEN on Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates about their music. Check out the lyrics & English translation to their songs here on Genius!

Follow Genius Korea on Twitter and Instagram for regular updates about Korean music, dramas, and entertainment.

Photo Credits: BELIFT LAB