InterviewONEWE talks longevity, fairy tale-inspired 17-track album

From left are Kanghyun, Harin, Giuk, Dongmyeong and Yonghoon of rock band ONEWE / Courtesy of RBW

ONEWE, the K-rock band under entertainment label RBW, did not set out to make a 17-song album. The band's youngest member wanted to make a full-length record, and the idea kept returning.

"It was a ball our youngest member set rolling," bassist Giuk said Tuesday at a cafe in eastern Seoul's Gwangjin District, just a day before the release. "It kept rolling until it became a big snowman. We all got more and more ambitious."

The result, "面 : Unknown Atlas," closes a work the five-piece band has been building since May. Named for the Chinese characters for point, line and plane, it started with the single "點 : The Quiver" and the digital single "線 : The Wake" through to the full album. Twelve of the 17 tracks are new. The other five, including "Coordinates," "Compass" and "Neverland," carry over from the earlier releases.

Every song from the new studio album reworks a fairy tale. "Lilliput" argues against measuring yourself against anyone else. "Laputa" imagines an island that begins moving on its own to protect what it treasures. "Pinocchio" follows a boy growing up while hiding his wounds.

ONEWE, which debuted under RBW in 2019, returns with its third full-length album, "面 : Unknown Atlas," set for release Wednesday. Courtesy of RBW

The track "Scenario," built on an alternative rock base with soaring piano and strings, is about reclaiming a forgotten ambition and refusing an ending someone else wrote.

"Each song delivers a different message," guitarist Kanghyun said. "But when you listen to them together, the whole thing feels like a storybook."

ONEWE, made up of main vocalist and leader Yonghoon, guitarist Kanghyun, drummer Harin, keyboardist and vocalist Dongmyeong and bassist Giuk, debuted in May 2019 as RBW's first male rock band.

The members have written and produced their own material throughout their time together, releasing "ONE" in 2020 and "WE : Dream Chaser" in March last year. Yonghoon and Kanghyun returned from military service in 2024, coming back to a music market that had turned sharply toward bands.

"That was the turning point," Dongmyeong said. "We used to talk about wanting to play a lot of stages, and now there are far more summer rock festivals. The public can come across our shows more easily."

Members of rock band ONEWE pose for a photo ahead of the release of "面 : Unknown Atlas," a 17-track album built around reworked fairy tales. Courtesy of RBW

The five-year gap between the group's first two albums came down to inexperience, but this time the band moved quickly, partly because members had been writing between promotions for years, leaving each of them with songs that had nowhere to go.

Kanghyun had "Laputa" and "Lilliput" sitting unused. Giuk had "Pinocchio." Tying them together under the fairytale theme started as a passing suggestion.

"If each member writes just three songs, that's already 15," Kanghyun said.

Recording them was the hard part. Because the title track and B-sides were locked in late in the process, the band lost studio time it had counted on having.

"The singing itself was hard," Yonghoon said. "They're all different genres, so I had to switch personas every time I recorded."

Choosing the lead single took longer than writing it. The band was deadlocked between "Scenario" and "Pinocchio," which Dongmyeong called the bolder and more unconventional of the two. They broke the tie by playing both for friends and family outside the industry to get their reactions.

ONEWE will hold its sixth solo concert, "O! NEW E!volution VI," on Sept. 19 and 20, following Wednesday's release of "面 : Unknown Atlas." Courtesy of RBW

Seven years in, the members credit their durability as a group to having argued through everything early. Yonghoon said they have also asked older musicians how they lasted, including veteran act Jaurim.

"They told us to each carry our share. Simple words that landed hard," he said with a laugh.

The band is also aiming for an Olympic Park show next year and plays its sixth solo concert, "O! NEW E!volution VI," on Sept. 19 and 20.

What ONEWE still wants is a song people recognize immediately.

"Having one hit is homework we still have to do," Yonghoon said.

Giuk was blunter, borrowing stock market slang: "This album is the last chance to buy us at the bottom."