[Herald Interview] Kiss of Life continues to describe different aspects of freedom through music

Kiss of Life say they were born to be artists. Not only do they love producing music, singing and dancing, but they are also good at it.

“We also have a common interest in spreading positive energy with our musical talents. We love music and we are happiest when performing on stage,” said Belle, the main vocalist of Kiss of Life.

Just five months into its debut, the band has already won public recognition for its unique music style, as well as dancing and vocal talents.

“We were naturally born with these talents but we also invested a lot of time and effort to develop ourselves as K-pop artists. Our members Natty and Julie were K-pop trainees for a long time and I was in this field since I was in high school as a music producer,” added Belle.

Natty took part in Mnet K-pop trainee shows “Sixteen” and “Idol School.” She also debuted as a solo artist in 2020 with her first EP, “Nineteen.” But she chose to start over as a member of Kiss of Life instead of continuing her career on her own.

“I figured that I would be able to make greater achievements in a group than as a soloist. It was when I met with Julie for the first time that I thought we could make a great team. Then we were introduced to Belle and Haneul,” said Natty.

“We are really grateful for all the love we’ve received through our debut album. It motivated us to come back with a better album. We enjoyed the process of preparing for our new album ‘Born to be XX,'” said Julie, the leader of the group.

Kiss of Life made a rapid return with its second EP, “Born to be XX,” Wednesday.

The group’s new album also revolves around the keyword of “freedom.”

“We wanted to convey the message that there is always more than meets the eye. We sing about the need to get rid of stereotypes and break free from the fear of accepting something new in this album,” explained Belle.

The new album carries seven tracks including “Bad News” and “Nobody Knows.”

“Because we were loved by many overseas, we were able to include the English version of our title (lead) track ‘Bad News' in this album. I think they love our music because our music is highly influenced by pop and R&B. I also think that being a multilingual group has helped us better communicate with foreign fans,” said Julie. “This is our first time back after our debut. We returned stronger as professionals after working on our weaknesses.”

The group aims to continue talking about freedom in their music, as they described it as key to the group's identity.

“Our debut album talks about freedom from pressure deriving from external factors. In this new album, we talk about freedom that comes from deep down our hearts. We’ve also seen comments that we seem like free spirits on stage, and that’s true,” said Belle.

The group also included a song on the album directed to fans, “Says It.”

“My favorite track is ‘Says It.’ It is a fan song composed by our member Belle. It is the only ballad song in the album. Both its melody and the lyrics ring in my heart,” said Haneul.

“I think this song really goes well with Haneul’s vocals. She even learned to play guitar to play this song. I love how she always tries her best to digest a song in her own way,” said Belle.

The group wants to continue composing and writing the lyrics to their own music.

“We were created as a group that produces its own music. We wrote songs even before our debut and that’s how we came up with our debut lead track ‘Shhh.’ Our forte is that we can best express what we want through music because we make our own songs. That’s a huge benefit for us and also what makes us different from other groups,” said Belle.

Belle and Natty participated in composing their debut lead track, while Belle and Julie participated in writing the lyrics.

“We want to establish a unique vibe among other artists with this album. We want to write new history challenging ourselves to diverse genres,” said Julie.