'We tried our best to cover up emptiness'

Beast / Courtesy of Cube Entertainment

Beast returns with

‘Highlight’ without

Hyun-seung

By Kim Jae-heun

Popular K-pop band Beast, of Cube Entertainment, returned with their full-length third album “Highlight” on Monday without the band’s vocalist Jang Hyun-seung, who left the group in April.

The group was asked many questions by the press about its former member as it was the first album released after Jang’s departure.

“It was a difference in taste of music (why Jang left),” said Son Dong-woon during the press conference at Cube Entertainment building in Seongdong-gu, eastern Seoul. “Beast members prefer lyrical music while Hyunseung liked powerful dance songs. We have talked to the agency about this for a year and came to the conclusion that Beast will run as a five-member group.”

The group returned after a year after a busy concert schedule in Japan and the group members said they did not have time to contact Jang.

The new album consists of 11 songs, including the main track “Ribbon” produced by Good Life with lyrics written by Yong Jun-hyung. Yong participated in writing the lyrics for most of the songs in the album and other members participated in solo and duet tracks. Still, Jang’s missing voice left an emptiness in the songs that were sung by only five members of the group and could not be ignored.

“It is sad that we don’t have Jang’s energy anymore that our fans and Beast felt when we performed. We tried our best to fill his spot and did all we could to cover up the emptiness of his departure,” said Yang Yo-seob.

The boy group also explained that they choose a lyrical song as their main feature because the group’s strength lies in singing tunes that touch the listeners’ hearts and they would have looked ridiculous had they returned with powerful songs to cover up Jang’s emptiness.

“I did not intend to write a particular story in the title song and focused for long time on the word ribbon after choosing it as the theme. It would be a lie if I said I had left out all my feelings (about Jang’s departure) while working on the song and I believe my mixed feelings were expressed through the music. It will also appeal to many listeners when they put themselves in the situation of the song’s story,” said Yong.

The group members were asked about the renewal of their contract as it terminates at the end of this year. All the members agreed that they could not have enjoyed such popularity if they were not Beast members or if they had to work as solo performers.

Cube Entertainment’s 4Minute, who debuted in the same year with Beast, disbanded last month as their contract expired. The girl band neither agreed nor disagreed about the renewal of their contract when they returned with their seventh mini-album “Hate” in February.

“The reason many idol groups break up in their seventh year is because their contracts with the record labels are usually for seven years. Also they tend to have questions in their mid and late 20s about what their lives and future will be like, as they debuted when they were teenagers. That’s about the time when many stand at the crossroads of life,” said Son.