The band CNBLUE (Jung Yong-hwa, Kang Min-hyuk, Lee Jung-shin) expressed their love and hate for their debut and representative song ‘I‘m a Loner’.

In an interview to commemorate the release of CNBLUE’s 10th mini-album [X], Jung Yong-hwa said, “The target we have to overcome is not a certain band, but ‘I‘m a Loner’. In the past, we struggled to make a song that surpassed ‘I’m a Loner’, but it didn‘t work out.“

He continued, “‘I’m a Loner’ is our weapon now. When we participated in a festival recently, ‘I‘m a Loner’ was played as the first song, and the audience went crazy. It was a moment when I thought, ‘Why didn’t I love him when he was my child? You hated your child for 10 years!”

“If we had gone to the festival a few years ago, we wouldn‘t have chosen ‘I’m a Loner’. However, having a hit song is a great weapon for a singer. Now, it‘s a very rare song. Because the standard of our music is set for ‘I’m a Loner’, the level of perfection itself has been able to rise.” (Lee Jeong-shin)““Among the comments at this festival, there was a comment that said, ‘I didn‘t expect CNBLUE, but it’s the best’. I was proud. It gave us a chance to let the audience who only thought of ‘I‘m a Loner’ and watched our stage listen to our other songs. Looking back on the experience of the past 15 years, it was a time when I gained confidence that we can turn even people who are seeing us for the first time into fans.” (Kang Min-hyuk)

Jung Yong-hwa expressed his pride by saying, “‘I’m a Loner’, which was a hit in its time. He emphasized the recent trend of band music led by DAY6 and QWER by saying, “I‘m sure that CNBLUE will have a place when that trend comes.”

“I believe that we can definitely do performances and music. That’s why having a hit song is our weapon. I like competition. Friendly competition. As colleagues and competitors, ‘Okay, I‘ll show you. Let’s do it together!’ When I debuted with ‘I‘m a Loner’, I had this much fearlessness and determination to show off. It’s on fire again these days.”

“Hip-hop, trot, and band music. They‘re all one flow. Thanks to that, I think our songs and albums that we’ve been honing are shining together.” (Kang Min-hyuk)

“I wonder what it would have been like if the band music boom had come a little earlier, but I‘m glad it’s here now. Aren‘t we a band that the public is familiar with?” (Lee Jeong-shin)

CNBLUE’s 10th mini album [X], which exudes confidence and pride in music, is their first full-group new album in 3 years since their 9th mini album [WANTED]. The album name [X] contains meanings such as the 10th mini album, 10 times the growth, and an infinite future.

The album contains six tracks, including the title track ‘A Sleepless Night’, ‘BAD BAD’, ‘RACER’, ‘To. My Love’, ‘Personal Color’, and ‘Tonight’. The track ‘SKIT (CD ONLY)’ was added only to the actual album. All the songs were composed by the members.

Among them, the title track ‘A Sleepless Night’, written and composed by Jung Yong-hwa, is a medium-tempo rock genre song with an impressive introduction using a unique whistle sound. It depicts a situation where memories of an ex-lover linger in the mind, and recurring memories and longing still linger.

The album will be released at 6 p.m. on the 14th.

Jeon Hyo-jin, Donga.com reporter jhj@donga.com