10 years on, Super Junior D&E is back to square one

When Super Junior D&E was formed in 2011 as a subunit of the popular boy band Super Junior, its members Donghae and Eunhyuk never expected it would remain active even after 10 years.

The two, both born in 1986 and having been with the group since they were trainees, looked back on their past years during an online press conference held Tuesday to promote their first full-length album. The new release will drop at 6 p.m., ahead of the unit's 10th anniversary next month.

"Super Junior D&E is not a team created by an official plan," Eunhyuk said during the conference. "We created it in a lighthearted way for appearances on concerts. That's why I feel more special about the 10th anniversary."

Donghae agreed, saying, "I thought let's have fun making songs and filming videos among ourselves. This is how we came this far."

Debuting with digital single "Oppa, Oppa," Super Junior D&E has since dropped four EP albums, enjoying steady popularity at home and other Asian countries.

The name of the forthcoming album is "Countdown," which literally means the counting of numbers in reverse order before something happens, especially before a spacecraft is launched. The duo said the name reflects their resolution to start anew based on the past 10 years.

The album consists of a total of 10 tracks, including "Beautiful Liar" and "Far Away." Its main track "Zero" is an electric hip-hop genre song with rhythmical tropical base, energetic rhythm blended with a keyboard sound. Donghae participated in the composition and lyrics for the song, according to the team's management agency, Label SJ.

"To put it simply, the song's title means we are nothing without you fans," Donghae said. "Without you, we couldn't have been loved and made albums. But we can start again from zero thanks to you."

The duo said they don't have any particular goal that they want to achieve through the album since they have already enjoyed the process of doing something together.

"Of course, it will be good if you get good results. But you'll never know. So rather than setting goals, I want to always have fun," Eunhyuk said.

Donghae said, "People cannot always go with the path they have set. If the music is good and the team is good, wouldn't we be able to continue to have fun?" (Yonhap)