Wanna One returns with toned down ‘Nothing Without You’

About three months ago, the emergence of K-pop act Wanna One breathed new life into K-pop.

With the strong support of its loyal, die-hard fans, this 11-piece K-pop rookie has quickly carved out its niche, dominating both airwaves and commercials, as well as magazines and TV shows. 

Enjoying its heyday as one of the biggest hits in the current K-pop scene, Wanna One returned Monday to rekindle the flame by releasing “1-1=0 (Nothing Without You),” a repackaged version of its megahit debut EP “1X1=1 (To Be One)” in August.

“While we’ve showcased our energetic and passionate sides as rookies through our previous works, we tried to relive the time before our debut, when our days were full of anxieties and contemplation on our future,” said group member Hwang Min-hyun during a press event for the group’s new release in Seoul on Monday.

Hwang also explained that the new album tells the story of how the 11 members, who were all unstable individuals, came to complete one another after forming the group. 

The group’s prequel album features a total of 11 tracks, including four new songs “Beautiful,” “Nothing Without You,” “Twilight“ and ”I Want to Have You“ as well as remix versions of its previous hits “Energetic” and “Burn It Up.”

While the group’s summer hits explored upbeat electronic dance music, Wanna One delved into warm and emotional feelings of autumn in the much toned down new single “Beautiful.”

The group has rolled out two different versions of music videos for “Beautiful” -- the movie version, featuring actor Cha Seung-won, and the performance version that emphasizes the song’s detailed choreography.

Wanna One frontman Kang Daniel said that member Ong Seung-wu, who has acting experience, was especially natural when acting in the drama-like lengthy music video. Bae Jin-young also revealed that he aims to receive a rookie award at the end of this year.

Wanna One is a temporary act formed by finalists of the audience-voted competition show “Produce 101,” with a limited lifespan, as the group is scheduled to disband in December 2018.

A successor of now-defunct project girl group I.O.I that was produced from the first season of the show last year, Wanna One became the first K-pop act to hold its debut showcase at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul, where big-name acts such as BTS and EXO have held concerts.

Wanna One recently became the first K-pop act to sell a million copies of its debut album, with the combined sales of its first album and its latest repackaged edition. While its first EP debuted on Billboard’s World Album Chart at No. 3 and sold over 720,000 copies, the number of preorders for “Nothing Without You” has reached more than 500,000 copies, according to the group’s agency YMC Entertainment.

The reigning act, which has topped the brand value ranking for K-pop boy bands for November, outrunning BTS and EXO, will hold fan meetings titled “Wanna One Premier Fan-Con” in Seoul from Dec. 15 to 17 and in Busan from Dec. 23 to 24.

(lotus@heraldcorp.com)