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| yna@yna.co.kr 2026-09-30 15:30:17
SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- "We felt pressured to sample a song by veteran singer Yoon Si-nae, but we worked hard with the determination to do an even better job."
K-pop boy group CLOSE YOUR EYES made the remarks Wednesday at a media showcase for its fourth EP, "256th Note," held at the Riverside Hotel in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
"The original song, Yoon Si-nae's 'Enjoy This Night,' was released in the 1970s, before we were born, so we studied it together as members," member Song Seung-ho said. "We thought the improvisational elements of jazz suited us well."
Leader Jeon Min-wook said the group chose jazz funk for the new album because it wanted to show diverse sides of itself rather than being confined to a single genre.
The release marks CLOSE YOUR EYES' first new music in five months since its digital single "OVEREXPOSED" in April.
The title track, "Drop That!," set for release at 6 p.m. Wednesday, samples Yoon Si-nae's "Enjoy This Night," a 1979 song considered an early example of Korean jazz funk, and reinterprets it in the style of 1990s street hip-hop.
"Yoon Si-nae gladly gave us permission to sample the song," Jeon said. "It would make me happy if she listened to 'Drop That!' and said it was a song that represents and leads this generation."
The album contains seven tracks, including "Drop That!," "Open Your Eyes," "Vibe Check" and "Fool For You."
Jeon is credited as a lyricist on four tracks, while Song Seung-ho, Kenshin and Kim Seong-min each participated in writing lyrics for two tracks. All seven members contributed lyrics to "Eternity."
"The lyrics of 'Eternity' contain the members' friendship and our earnest desire to stay together with our fans," Seo Kyung-bae said. "We wrote the lyrics with sincere feelings."
Japanese member Kenshin said he had previously written lyrics in Japanese first and then translated them into Korean.
"I felt there were limitations to that approach, so this time I studied Korean again and tried to write the lyrics in Korean first," he said.
Jang Yeo-jun said he hopes the group will earn the nickname "a music hotspot" through the new album.
"We've thankfully received a lot of praise for our music, which gives us more courage to try different types of music and continue growing," he said.
"We plan to keep taking on diverse challenges and trying new things musically," he added. "Although some of our foreign members face difficulties with the language, our team has an abundance of musical ambition, so we'll show even better sides of ourselves."
The members unanimously said their goal for the promotion period is to win first place on a music show.
Kenshin said, "With this new album, I want more people to learn about the group CLOSE YOUR EYES."
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