Glass talks to K-pop girl group Red Velvet for the winter issue as they look forward to entering a new era with their new album, The ReVe Festival 2022 – Birthday, and their excitement for their fans to hear their evolution.
Red Velvet for Glass. Photograph: Jiyong Yoon
After nearly nine years storming the industry, Red Velvet have become an enigmatic force of nature. A genre-busting group that fuses R&B, ballads, funk, and more with contemporary K-Pop – members IRENE, SEULGI, WENDY, JOY and YERI are fully fledged chameleons.
In their years at the forefront, the band have curated a discography that is as experimental as it is dynamic, something that has been furthered this year. It was early 2022 when their agency, SM Entertainment, confirmed Red Velvet would be returning prominently with brand new material, an announcement that was met with pure ecstasy from the band’s fanbase, the ReVeluv.
A month later their album Bloom was released to the world, a milestone marking their first official studio album entirely in Japanese. Met with widespread acclaim, their complete transition from K-Pop to J-Pop broadened their horizons as fascinating artists committed to evolution.
But they weren’t quite done there. An album and an EP later and we’re thrust into a whole new era, following the release of their latest project and second instalment II of the The ReVe Festival 2022 series, The ReVe Festival 2022 – Birthday, which dropped in November.
Now, closing what has surely been a memorable year, we caught up with the band to discuss how life has been since their latest album’s much anticipated release, what is next to come in their ever-expanding careers, and whether one of their projects comes out on top as an all-time favourite.
Red Velvet for Glass. Photograph: Jiyong Yoon
What was the process of creating Birthday like?
SEULGI: We sampled George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for the title track. Birthday is a pop dance track that harmoniously combines trap-based rhythm with a cool synth sound. We wanted to bring out the thrilling energy of the song, so we tried to record it more freely, and we think our members’ unique vocals really enhance the song. We think it came out exactly how we wanted it to be! For the visuals, as the title of the track, we tried our best to bring out the Birthday theme with loose and comfy looks, so we hope you love it!
What are you looking forward to most now it has been released to the world?
WENDY: We are looking forward to hearing about what ReVeluv likes the most about our new album. We are ready to be with ReVeluv who have been waiting for us and this comeback. Like the lyrics from our title track Birthday, we want to make your days feel like your birthday!
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