Verivery thanked fans for celebrating the band’s milestone Billboard debut during an interview with The Korea Herald on Tuesday.
With “G.B.T.B,” the lead track on its new album “Face Us,” the seven-piece act landed atop Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart earlier that day, making inroads on the American music chart for the first time since its debut last year.
“We really did not expect this. We feel numbed,” band leader Dongheon said.
“We’re so grateful,” Gyehyeon chimed in, thanking the fans -- collectively known as Verrer -- who congratulated the musicians on their feat during The Korea Herald’s livestreamed broadcast on the platform V Live.
Around a year and eight months since Verivery spoke with The Korea Herald as a month-old rookie K-pop idol group in February 2019, it returned Tuesday, now as an established boy band, closing the book on its “Face It” series.
On Oct. 7 the septet dropped its fifth EP, “Face Us,” a follow-up to “Face You” from July. Along with “Face Me,” launched in January, the EPs make up the three-part “Face It” series themed around discovering one’s identity and making a connected world.
Fronting the new album is “G.B.T.B” -- for “go beyond the barrier” -- through which the boy band portrays a new facet of its music, stronger and darker in contrast with the rookie group’s earlier bright and bubbly concept. The act officially debuted Jan. 9, 2019, with its first mini album, “Veri-us,” led by “Ring Ring Ring.”
The group really does go beyond the barrier with its new songs, performing magnificent group dances -- which, according to Dongheon, seemed almost impossible at the start.
“We seriously discussed requesting changes in the dance moves,” Dongheon said.
Gyehyeon added, “We wondered if it would be possible to perform the moves onstage. It felt impossible to sing as we danced because we were so out of breath. We even had to work on enhancing our physical stamina in preparing for this album.”
The members also said the album was influenced by the Mnet music survival program “Road to Kingdom,” which aired in June. The group finished fifth out of seven teams.
“We had the chance to try diverse concepts during the show. Unlike our regular stages, the show required us to practice new gestures and expressions as the cameras zoomed in on us from diverse angles. We learned much about stage manners then,” Hoyoung said.
Yeonho also added that each of the members had matured during the competition this year. “The shootings often went beyond midnight and we had to master the moves in a short period of time. It was difficult, but we also became confident that we could manage different styles,” he said, adding that the members had discussed the tracks on the new album based on their experiences during the show.
This year has not been easy for any K-pop idol, all of whom have experienced concert cancellations since January and been forced to perform in the absence of their fans’ enthusiastic cheers due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
“It would be a lie if we were to say that the days hadn’t been burdensome,” Yongseung said. “But taking part in a competition program and dropping several albums with different styles of concept, I think as artists, we are spending a productive year.”
The group’s youngest, Kangmin, thanked the fans for supporting them during “Road to Kingdom.”
Meanwhile, Minchan was absent during Tuesday’s interview due to health issues. The previous day, the group’s agency, Jellyfish Entertainment, had announced he would be taking a temporary hiatus after having symptoms of anxiety due to health concerns that arose while promoting the new album.
By Choi Ji-won (
jwc@heraldcorp.com)
