RIIZE turns to literature to deepen story behind 'Insomnia'

K-pop group RIIZE is turning to literature to tell a deeper story, pairing its new single "Insomnia" with fiction and illustration in an experiment that puts emotion and storytelling ahead of performance.

The six-member group released "Insomnia" on Oct. 26, offering an acoustic pop track steeped in the mood of a chilly autumn night. The song marks a departure from the dynamic sound and performance-driven presentation often associated with RIIZE, bringing the members' vocals to the forefront instead.

Its lyrics explore thoughts of another person that become increasingly vivid as the night deepens, along with the complicated emotions that grow from them. Against the backdrop of a sleepless night, the members sing about a more complex and introspective emotional state.

The shift extends to the music video. Rather than centering on choreography, it adopts a dramatized, cinematic format in which each member experiences insomnia and emotional distress in a different way following a particular incident.

Individual side stories expand on the characters and fill in parts of the narrative that the music video alone cannot fully explain.

Those stories were written by Cheon Seon-ran, one of the prominent voices in contemporary Korean science fiction and the author of "A Thousand Blues." Cheon adds a literary layer to the world established by RIIZE's music and video, while illustrations by artist Noma turn the project into a combination of music, film, fiction and visual art.

SM Entertainment said the collaboration was conceived as a way to help listeners immerse themselves more deeply in the emotions behind "Insomnia."

"Because emotions are personal, we started with the idea that we needed a single story that would allow more people to relate to the emotions in 'Insomnia,'" an SM Entertainment official said.

The music video introduces characters with different personalities who experience their own forms of pain following the same incident, while the side stories allow audiences to understand the situation more deeply from each character's perspective.

Cheon's involvement was also closely connected to the concept of the project. A whale serves as an important element in the music video, while the narrative moves across the boundaries of reality — features that SM believed were well suited to the author's science-fiction imagination.

"We also felt that Cheon's works connected with the subject we wanted to explore in this music video because, within the conventions of science fiction, they deal deeply with human emotions such as loss, relationships, friendship and love," the official said.

The project was designed both to tell the members' individual stories and to connect them into a larger narrative. SM provided Cheon with the characters' backstories and the overall direction of the project, then asked her to write the stories as a linked series so that each narrative would become part of a single overarching arc.

With Cheon's literary perspective and imagination combined with Noma's evocative illustrations, the agency said it was able to "create a work that expands the emotions of the music into literature and visual art."

The experiment is particularly notable at a time when short-form video increasingly dominates the way pop culture is consumed. SM instead wanted fans to slow down and engage with "Insomnia" through written stories as well as music and video.

"We hoped the side stories would allow fans to see a single song and music video from a new perspective and enjoy them with a variety of meanings by adding their own interpretations and imagination," the agency said.

RIIZE is not the first K-pop act to look to literature to broaden the experience surrounding an album or song. EXO included a short story by author Lee Hee-joo as part of its eighth full-length album, while IVE worked with novelist Chung Serang on a summer film during promotions for its third single. Such projects reflect a broader effort by K-pop artists to use fiction, film and other media to communicate their worlds and emotions beyond music alone.

For RIIZE, the collaboration also represents an attempt to move beyond a model focused primarily on music and performance, inviting audiences to experience the group's work through the "fun of interpretation."

"Since the release of 'Insomnia,' we've seen fans continue to interpret and enjoy the content from their own perspectives," the SM official said, thanking fans for their close attention to the group.

"Insomnia" is a prologue single signaling the beginning of RIIZE's second full-length album, which is scheduled for release next spring.

Having expanded its musical and narrative world through an unusual meeting of K-pop, science fiction and illustration, attention now turns to what RIIZE will do with that approach on the upcoming album — and how far the group can stretch the boundaries of the "emotional pop" identity it has built around its music.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.