Xdinary Heroes, the ‘new symbol of K-pop bands, have already defined this year, with still three months left, as the “Year of Challenges”.

The ‘Experiment Project’, which is full of musical experiments, has made 2024 even more special for them. Since the beginning of the year, the six members have accumulated valuable experience by presenting digital singles and concerts every month as part of the ‘Open Beta’ and ‘Closed Beta’ as part of the project.

They also released their fifth mini album ‘Live and Fall’ on the 14th to mark the end of the breathlessly running project. In addition to the ‘Open Beta’ series of ‘Save Me’, ‘Boys‘ Manga’, ‘Instead!’, they put forward their first ballad song since their debut, ‘Night Before the End’, as the title track.

“This album contains all of our challenges and growth. We gained so much through this project. The most important thing is that we realized the truth that ‘We have to have fun while making music’. There was a time when I worried about popularity. However, as this year passed, we concluded that nothing else mattered because we presented music that we were satisfied with. It feels like the direction of the band has finally been set.”

They said that seeing the fans that have increased significantly through various projects gave them the confidence that “We were not wrong”. Interacting with senior bands also became an opportunity to gain confidence about the future. Last month, Xdinary Heroes collaborated with YB Band’s Yoon Do-hyun on the song ‘Instead!’, and will also perform at the Shin Hae-chul 10th anniversary tribute concert on the 26th and 27th.

“Seeing our seniors Day6, who are under the same agency (JYP Entertainment), do well on the music charts for a long time made us feel proud and thankful. I thought it would be nice if band music were loved more. I‘ve also seen with my own eyes that good music is recognized one day. We encouraged each other that if we made songs that we could be satisfied with, we could enjoy a ‘reverse popularity’ like that, and we even secretly picked out ‘candidates for a reverse popularity’. Haha!”

The members even revealed their bold aspirations, saying, “In the distant future, we hope to become the leaders of the current ‘band boom’.” Their immediate goal is “To become a band that makes people look forward to what’s next.”

“We want people who listen to our music to be surprised and say, ‘These guys really know how to have fun?’. When we released ‘Instead!’ last month, we saw reactions like, ‘K-pop singers make this kind of music too!’. That was really exciting.”


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com