N. Flying comforts youth through ‘Sober’

After N. Flying teased a snippet of their promotions on social media, the South Korean rap-rock band who hit it big with their megahit song “Rooftop” is back with another album after nearly four months. The five-member rock band dropped “Turbulence,” a repackage of their first full album, which was released Wednesday evening.

The repackaged album talks about how one can always take a leap of faith after wandering through reality and confusion. If the first LP, “Man on the Moon,” was about overcoming past trauma and pain, “Turbulence” is about force landing in an unidentified location due to emotional instability and wounds that are not fully healed and turbulent movements in the sky, the band said in an online press conference Wednesday.

In line with the name of the album, “Turbulence” suggests unsteady movement. But the quintet said although the original meaning is dark, the band chose the word to make it positive.

The group’s definition of turbulence is about landing on hope, not a hopeless fall. In this way, N.Flying comforts young people with the message that they can fly again, any time, even if they currently feel anxious and apprehensive. 

“What we wish to convey as singers is hope. ‘Turbulence’ means landing on hope, not a hopeless fall to us. Although the journey may be shaky due to turbulence, where (listeners) will land is the land of hope, not dismay,” Hun said.

The guitarist went on to say that he hopes to deliver a message of comfort and fuzzy feelings to the younger generation currently facing the harsh realities of life. Hwe-seung added that the band aims to push the envelope with their music.

With little surprise, leader Seung-hyub once again composed and wrote the lyrics to all 13 tracks. The musician described lead song “Sober” as one that talks about wanting to be left alone from the bitter and cruel reality. At first, the singer said the words to the music were about love, but others interpreted the song as about achieving one’s dreams and walking toward that goal.

“Our band members are in their 20s and 30s, and I came to realize how people our age would actually think about finding their purpose and goal in life. I thought our music could be a new source of positivity to the younger generation,” Seung-hyub added. 

Jae-hyun also went on about how people act as if they are mentally strong, although they are just acting tough. “People tend to digest the pain they are confronting, act as if nothing hurts and they barely show their emotions although they are hurt behind closed doors.” The drummer added that he would be happy if people could be frank and let their tears out.

Apart from the lead track, “Into Bloom” talks about becoming more mature through memories, which is why the group decided to add the word bloom to the title, Dong-sung said. Hwe-sung also spoke about how “Video Therapy” is about the band’s confidence and love toward “N.Fia,” the band’s fandom. The vocalist added that a lot of string and bass sounds are peppered throughout the background, which is worth a listen itself.

The K-pop act also talked about how their return means more than just releasing a new album. Last month, all the bandmates had tested positive for COVID-19 and spoke about what they had felt during their quarantine period.

“Thanks to health authorities and medical staff, we were able to recover at the treatment center quickly,” Dong-sung said. Leader Seung-hyub chimed in, saying that people should be more careful about the contagious virus to resume offline concerts across the nation.

N. Flying said they are excited to meet and greet fans through their new album. Apart from the promotion, the band will join the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival, which kicks off on Saturday and lasts until Sunday.

At the end of the conference, the five bandmates said they plan to solidify their presence as a “K-band” in the K-pop scene. “K-pop is taking center stage among the music scene. But what we do and our music is also Korean pop. And hopefully, we would be able to reach out to global music listeners with our tunes and melodies,” Jae-Hyun said.

The 13-track package was released at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

By Park Jun-hee (junheee@heraldcorp.com)