The 13th at 13:00.
The 14th at 14:00.
[1st SAME / DEBONAIR] ▲1
[2nd COIN / Beat-Lyn] ▼1
[3rd Euphoria / DEBONAIR] ▲2
Just as the two title tracks had been released.
─Is it dropping today too!?
Fans had been waiting to see if a new title track would be announced at 15:00 on the 15th as well.
─Ah, guess not today.
Unfortunately, nothing was uploaded on Sunday, but.
─Then the 16th at 16:00!?
─Every day is exciting hahaha
Fans naturally planned to happily repeat this until Thursday, which they had taken to be the album release date.
But of course, there were also fans who, instead of the excitement of waiting, were doing their own analyses.
==================
[Next title is EU dropping on the 17th at 17:00]
This isn't a hunch, I'm certain of it. Just look at the lyrics Dohee performed only once at the year-end show.
/Sometimes tormenting me, begging me not to forget, my dead specter
Whether there are two of me, or whether my place was stolen, even I cannot know/
Not only that, it's already a known fact that any lyrics you look at right now talk about another self.
Moreover, they even made a cross at the end hinting at the other self that had died.
In other words, Jekyll and Hyde!
This means that what Dohee directed on the year-end stage was openly暗示ing 'SAME' and 'Euphoria'.
Of course, 'I DO' is probably the first track of this album, so it's natural that the album's theme might overlap, right? True.
But that's exactly why it's clear that this year-end stage was spoiling this comeback.
Then why Tuesday the 17th? As you all know, two days later is Seollal, Korea's biggest holiday.
And what was the concept of the stage the members arranged on Womelmu, by any chance?
(Photo) It was openly Korean-style, right down to the gollyongpo and the fans.
It was a stage arranged in an Oriental version.
In other words, it was an outright spoiler that they'd be dropping some killer Korean style for Seollal at 17:00 on the 17th.
Seriously, you guys are too much for only realizing this now hahaha.
─Damn, you're right?
─This is right, for real.
─Can't believe I missed this hahaha.
─For real, no excuse, this song is so good I forgot...
└Fr... guys, I lose my mind just listening to the song, what do I do.
─I watched Dohee's year-end stage over 200 times... I really need to reflect.
==================
Though it was the kind of post that often appears on fan communities, the content was quite valid.
─So it's coming out at 5 PM on Seollal?
└You could say that!
This speculation became established theory among fans.
As predicted, Monday.
No one expected anything at 16:00 on the 16th.
─Today was never the day hahaha.
─Yeah, pretty sure it's tomorrow hahaha.
And finally, bright Seollal.
Fans repeatedly refreshed the page with fluttering hearts.
─One minute left!
─Let's go~
─DEBONAIR bringing Korean vibes on Seollal? I can't miss this hahaha.
The clock struck 17:00.
─What is this.
─It's not today?
No.
─Ah, I told you, 'I DO (Dohee)' is a spoiler, but that's because it was the first intro track of this album from the start.
└This bastard is the author of that post.
└LOL sorry.
And as scheduled, the song was released the next day, Wednesday the 18th at 18:00.
[DEBONAIR 'Do it anyway' MV]
But fans couldn't help but be slightly taken aback by the music video that once again defied expectations.
Unlike the flashy previous music videos, the composition was far too simple.
It was a sensibility that didn't seem fitting for an idol's title track.
Ua and Naeun holding guitars.
And the members sitting around a bonfire at the winter beach, the winter sea behind them.
* * *
"Should we boil some ramyeon here when we're done?"
Ua unnie, who had been warming her hands over the bonfire because they were still cold despite using hand warmers, smiled softly.
"That's what I'm saying. Since we're here, let's film some content and cook some rice too."
"Anything is good~"
Although we had clearly come here to film a music video, sitting around the bonfire as if camping and listening to the calm sound of the waves made a corner of my heart feel buoyant.
Of course...
"Content? I'm freezing to death."
Always thinking of myself, aren't I?
Of course, that's not what I mean.
The staff members are cold too.
"Ha, that Lee Dohee has no sensibility at all."
"There’s a real famous restaurant right ahead, so I already made a reservation. Shush."
"At least she gets things done."
As I always say, I just don't engage in unnecessary sentimental nonsense.
I'm practical but kind, rational but warm.
'Hmm-hmm.'
After all, that's precisely why I must be the one who wrote all these emotion-filled lyrics.
"Members, you may start at any time!"
It seemed the mic check for wind sounds and such had just finished, as the director sent an OK sign.
The plan was exactly as I had envisioned.
A peaceful atmosphere with the waves rolling in.
The audience was the staff who had come all the way here to hear the song for the first time.
"Keep it exactly like how we sang it at home, yeah."
I had truly wanted this melody and these lyrics to rest upon this kind of atmosphere, and I started with nothing but that thought.
Of course, I still worried and wondered if it was okay for an idol to sing a song with this kind of sensibility, but...
Ua unnie and Naeun unnie met my eyes.
It had been a self-proclaimed title, but now I had truly become the producer.
'But where have you ever seen a producer who's not the leader.'
The moment I calmly closed my eyes, the unnies gently took up their strings.
The peaceful melody began just like that.
The song's intro was, as expected, a brief guitar phrase.
And the first voice I chose was.
[They say everything passes
In the same place where it hurt]
So incredibly clear—Naeun unnie's tone, contrasting with the strong color of Kim Seoyun.
[Even if I'm left alone
There are words I want to say]
Each tone, like DEBONAIR's two identities, had always been a worry-free choice for me when developing a song.
And this song's chorus arrived quickly.
The first duet layered right over Naeun unnie's voice: Chiyo.
[My dear, don't be afraid to love so dearly
Even if it's hard within the thorny weir]
It was a duet, not harmony.
Despite Chiyo unnie's distinctive rap-tone color that I loved so much, merely by producing the same note, she blended into the background of a single painting, continuing the flow.
[The scars you've borne until now may make you cry
But you, in the end]
As we faced each other around the bonfire, wearing warm smiles while singing, before I knew it—the second verse.
For the second verse, I chose Kim Seoyun's tone, more convincing for its strength.
[Everything has passed
But there is a faint path]
Perhaps this song would be beautiful in anyone's color, but in the color of DEBONAIR adorned by five members, it was most beautiful in this arrangement.
[In the process of scattering
The resentments called regrets]
And in the second verse's chorus, it was Ua unnie.
[My dear, don't be afraid to love so dearly
Even if it's hard within the thorny weir]
To those who don't know, they might say Ua unnie's voice lacks distinctiveness, but that's exactly why she always knows when to hold back and when to give power. She has a good ear.
And that's why she melts softly into Kim Seoyun's strong voice like sea foam.
[Your tender heart, softer than resolve, may make you cry
But you, in the end]
This was the beauty of progression that I had wanted.
'...It's really so good.'
Up to the second verse, the voices simply harmonized and layered over one another.
The guitars strummed the strings of the same chords.
The theme of comforting pain was repeated.
As the second verse neared its end, once again, I followed the classic structure.
[Must love]
Classic, but a progression to higher chords in the bridge.
Hopeful, thanks to the image of ascent.
Yet the consonance of a semitone scale, still seemingly comforting, remained.
[Even if it's unfamiliar
In your own way]
Now, a basic three-part harmony rather than a simple duet.
I had tried arranging it divided into five parts, but in the end, it was three parts.
Not beautiful because there are many, but beautiful because they suit one another.
[Tender and so tender]
Naeun unnie and Chiyo unnie, who had been singing in harmony with clear tones, took the lower register.
[Even if I groan until the very end]
The combination of Seoyun unnie and Ua unnie, who had been singing in harmony with strong tones, became the higher register.
[I promise, despite it all]
I alone in the middle register.
And when we matched our harmony like that...
A shallow but pleasant smile naturally formed at the faint beauty of it.
For the end, we simply returned to the beginning, all singing the refrain once more in a low, quiet chorus without distinguishing voice parts, calmly and gently.
[My dear, don't stop loving so dearly
Even if it's hard within the thorny weir]
One might say that the sensibility and lyrics definitely don't suit an idol. I wondered if some might say it was a song written forcibly to fit a concept.
[When your resolve, like a young heart, rings out
You, in the end, are love]
Still, when the bleak sound of waves drifted through the silence, I asked the staff, who each wore their own expressions,
"Is it okay?"
If a smile formed, that was enough.
For the sense of mission an idol should have is, no doubt, laughter.