LE SSERAFIM Members Talk Debut Album "Unforgiven” and Making ...
The first words spoken in LE SSERAFIM’s Unforgiven trailer — titled “Burn The Bridge,” also the opening track on the album — are stirring. “The darkness drives me into a corner and forces me to choose,” Sakura gingerly utters in Japanese over a layer of wistful guitar, as she gazes, bruised, into the camera. “Either give up, or give in.” The baton is then passed on to Kazuha, who goes on to deliver the most powerful lines in the clip: “That I can go forward, but only within the limit,” she says. The camera inches closer to her, and massive angel wings on her back slowly unfurl to reveal her fallen figure. “My answer? I wish for what is forbidden to me.”
At the heart of global pop music culture is the tendency to adopt a formulaic or methodical approach to creation, so thinking and acting outside the box is a risk most aren’t willing to take. It’s natural human instinct — why surrender yourself to the uncertainty of shooting in the dark on the off chance of success when you have something you know is safe and will work? But for LE SSERAFIM, who debuted in 2022 as part of a rising class of innovative girl groups, these playbooks are nothing but shackles holding them back. Perhaps this is what makes the five-piece so riveting to watch.
“Whatever decision you make, whatever choice you make, I think there’s always judgement that follows,” main vocalist Huh Yunjin tells Teen Vogue over video call, days before the long-awaited release of Unforgiven, LE SSERAFIM’s debut studio album. The statement rings especially true for the girls as K-pop idols, who constantly find themselves scrutinized and picked apart by the world’s watchful eyes. “Through this album, we kind of talk about how regardless of what people think, or regardless of people’s prejudices, we’re going to conquer.”
LE SSERAFIM’s success was written in the stars even before they made their debut almost exactly a year ago. The buzz surrounding their then-impending arrival was irrefutable; new reports about speculated line-ups and famous additions surfaced almost every other week. When they finally burst onto the scene with their groovy, minimalist debut track “Fearless,” it marked the prologue of what eventually became a sensational career almost overnight — though one that wasn’t without its share of controversy. Throughout their first year, Huh Yunjin, Kim Chaewon, Hong Eunchae, Sakura, and Kazuha have learned something about strength, about what it means to be as antifragile as one of their hit songs.
When the time came for their first comeback — the earliest and best opportunity to prove you’re not a one-trick pony — LE SSERAFIM transcended expectations. Their sophomore extended play, ANTIFRAGILE, landed them spots on Billboard charts, earned them million-seller certifications, and grew an ever-expanding local and international fanbase. As they have laid the foundations for the landmark release of their first-ever full-length record, it was hard to completely grasp the fact that they’re barely a year old as a group, given their omnipresence in the realm of K-pop and their natural gifts as performers.
The resulting album is a 13-track collection of empowering songs, headlined by a title track that embodies the group’s trademark spunk while being a sublime third installment in their growing oeuvre. An air of conviction radiates from these young women as they mull over the new narratives they are spinning through age-old creative mediums of song and art. Yunjin says it’s the carnal desire to “just go forward and have pride in the path that we take. That’s a reflection of how we feel as a group and how we want to pave our own path.”
The title track frames LE SSERAFIM as the provocateurs, preferring to embrace their labels as “villains” of someone else’s story rather than subsume a role they don’t identify with. “Unforgiven, I’m a villain, I’m a / It’ll be remembered as a new era, unforgiven,” they chant rhythmically on the chorus, almost like a war cry. It’s fitting for the band, considering they are rightfully leading the charge amid a refreshed era of triumphant girl groups. “It is such an honor to be active and promoting [in] an era where girl groups are getting a lot of attention,” leader Chaewon says. “We want to keep telling our own stories going forward and [becoming] good influences.”
Courtesy of SOURCE MUSIC
That being said, villain origin stories do make for some of the most enthralling; LE SSERAFIM’s origins are no exception. Take 25-year-old Sakura, who spent a large portion of her adolescence and young adulthood under the spotlight before joining the group’s ranks. Fate is proven an indisputable force when looking back at Sakura’s history as a member of Japanese groups HKT48 and AKB48, as well as the Korean-Japanese project group IZ*ONE. “My previous team actually had a set date for when we were going to disband, and the members were going to change,” she says. She points out that with LE SSERAFIM, things are a lot more enduring, and being able to learn and grow alongside a like-minded group of women is an experience she cherishes greatly. “We feel like we’re a family, and it makes me feel at home.”
For Chaewon, who was also Sakura’s former IZ*ONE bandmate, being part of LE SSERAFIM and unearthing new dimensions to herself as an artist was a watershed moment for her. “I felt like I truly found my true self when I was preparing for the debut of LE SSERAFIM,” the 22-year-old singer admits. “I’m really thankful that a lot of people are seeing this in a positive way. But I don’t have a preference. I don’t prefer either — I just like the way I was before, and I still like the way I am now.”
Sitting just behind her leader is Kazuha, a 19-year-old former professional ballerina who gave up years of training to follow in the footsteps of her personal hero. “I only knew ballet before, but I got interested in K-pop especially because of Jimin from BTS, because he also majored in contemporary dance,” she recalls, pointing out the way K-pop artists meld a plethora of genres and styles of music and dance during year-end awards shows as a showcase of their versatility. “[I was] enamored by K-pop. It got me thinking that I wanna try this kind of dance and music so that I can express myself in a very diverse way.”
It would be a severe understatement to say LE SSERAFIM have managed to achieve that during their first awards season as a group, as proven by this artfully choreographed mash-up of “The Hydra” and “ANTIFRAGILE” at the Melon Music Awards. Even the group’s youngest, Eunchae, shares the same fervent passion for dance: “I actually really love to dance, since I was very little, and K-pop was already very popular then,” she says. The bubbly, fresh-faced 16-year-old finds her place as LE SSERAFIM’s baby — affectionately dubbed by her bandmates and FEARNOTS alike as Manchae, a cheeky portmanteau of maknae and Eunchae — who impressively holds her own alongside seasoned idols and trained opera singers and ballerinas.
The five-piece’s chief songwriter, Yunjin, turns to penning lyrics for solace. “I think especially after coming to this company, I learned a lot about expressing myself and using music and performance as a tool or a pathway to channel my thoughts and emotions,” the New York-raised vocalist muses, harkening back to the handful of forthright solo tracks she released in the past year, namely “Raise y_our glass”, “I≠DOLL” and “love you twice.”
“After debuting, I took a lot of time to reflect on how I felt throughout my trainee experience. I think, especially through “Raise y_our glass,” I was able to make a path through that barrier that kept me from hiding my emotions. I guess I had a lot of things I wanted to say.” She giggles quietly to herself before continuing: “I’m just very thankful that I have a place, a company that’s always behind me, supporting all of the decisions that we make.”
Each LE SSERAFIM member has so much to offer on her own, but they shine the brightest when they’re together. It’s this exact sentiment that sits at the heart of Unforgiven: “Alone we meander, together we venture.”
“In comparison to our albums before, there’s a sense of togetherness,” Yunjin says, as the others nod and hum in agreement. “I think this is going to be inspiring for a lot of people.” When LE SSERAFIM are together, everything else becomes fodder, especially the cynics. They aren’t seeking forgiveness. Only each other, and the future that lies ahead.
