In the distance, a bright beacon glows. As it gradually peeks above the horizon, it illuminates everything before it. It is a golden beacon of warmth, strength, and the essence of youth. That beacon is evershining boy group Cravity.
Even in darkness, there’s a promise of a brighter sunrise. The message of seventh mini album ‘Evershine’ fits Cravity well. Life is inherently tumultuous, certainly so for those training to become K-pop idols. For idols whose dreams came to fruition during the COVID-19 pandemic, a unique, gray uncertainty blanketed the start of their history. Social distancing measures kept artists from being able to regularly and comfortably meet with the source of power behind all that they do: their fans. Having debuted in April 2020, such is the case for Cravity – which reflects clearly in the unbridled love and care they extend to Luvity.
The group shows a boundless gratitude and warmth toward their beloved fans, seen in actions such as doing a deep bow of respect to a crowd of Luvity upon acquiring their first public broadcast win. The moment Clash joined the nine members of Cravity in Starship Entertainment’s practice room in Seoul, South Korea, it was apparent that this gratitude and warmth were a natural part of their character as people. They lead with politeness and personability, as we captured some exclusive photos, then sat down to chat about ‘Evershine’, youth, and the promise of a brighter sunrise.
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To start, please tell us a bit about your new album, ‘Evershine’.
Alan: With this album, we want to continue off of the theme we introduced in ‘Sunseeker’. We want to keep the light. We want to shine forever with our members and fans – we want to be a light in their lives. The title track ‘Love Or Die’ talks about our determination to love – it’s a punk rock-y song with a strong drum and bass rhythm. It introduces a new style to our group’s color, since we’ve been doing mostly bright concepts. We want to change things up, and show Luvity a more mature side from now on.
If you had to put words to that color of Cravity’s, how would you do so?
Taeyoung: I heard that we were described as having “good vibe” songs, and I think that’s true. Especially our recent albums.
Serim: There’s a lot of different genres that Cravity can pull off, but this album especially fits our color.
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The album has a message that, “Even in darkness, there’s a promise of a brighter sunrise.” For each of you, what is that “brighter sunrise”?
Alan: For me, it’s always my family, because I’m living in Korea away from them. There are a lot of difficulties that I’ve faced, but when I feel like I want to give up, or like I can’t handle it anymore, I just think of them, and they’re the ones that keep me going.
Seongmin: Pre-debut, I was always worried about whether it would even be possible to debut. We had to keep practicing and practicing, and had a really uncertain future. That was really difficult. After debuting, though, I was able to meet our fans, and perform together with our members, and (through that) I became brighter in that way.
How is the comeback process for you as a group?
Jungmo: During our comebacks, we often have many different promotion schedules, so we’re often sleep deprived. But our fans give us energy. During our mini fan-meetings, though, we aren’t able to do well for each and every single fan there. I wish we could. I feel sorry for that.
Hyeongjun: It can be hard when we’re recording, because we have a lot of different genres of songs. We have many energetic, strong songs, but a lot of ballads, too. There’s a lot of pressure to pull each of them off very well.
Alan: On the contrary, a fun part of comebacks is seeing fans’ reactions, and seeing them getting hyped up on everything. Seeing how they’re liking it, when everything comes out… It’s a big relief. It feels good.
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Any stories you can share from filming or recording the album?
Minhee: During our music video, we were all splashed with water as a group, we all got rained on. That was especially memorable, as it was the first time we’ve done something like that.
Taeyoung: The weather was so cold in Korea while we were filming. Our clothes were thin and not very warm, so that was a bit difficult.
Alan: But our passion kept us warm.
Allen and Serim participated in lyric writing for this album. What was that process like for each of you?
Serim: I was looking through Youtube Shorts, and one of them involved the origin of the word “beauty”, 아름다움. The origin is “Something that is like me. Whatever it is, it comes from me.” I wanted to include that in my lyric writing in the future. I ended up adding it to my part in “Mr” – “아름다움, that’s me, huh?” The process of writing this time was pretty easy.
Alan: For me, I actually took inspiration from our show, Cravity Park. We did an episode where we were doing balance games, and it was like, “Would you rather forget Luvity, or be forgotten by Luvity”?. Throughout our talks, I got these ideas, and thoughts from our fans as I was writing the words for ‘Over And Over’, and for ‘Mr’ as well. In that specific episode, I brought up the word “rebranding”, wherein I wanted to change my image from the cute-patootie style into a sexier style. You can hear it in my lines, as I say, “No more Mr. Nice Guy, I’ll show you my perfect rebranding.” It’s really fun writing lyrics like these. The whole process was pretty easy for me as well.
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As youth is a big center point of Cravity’s musical existence, what facet of youth would you like to dive deeper into in a future release?
Alan: I think Wonjin has a lot.
Wonjin: I started very early on in this kind of celebrity lifestyle, so I wasn’t able to play as much with my friends the same age. When I was younger, the path I was on was not as successful as I wanted it to be. But by meeting Cravity, and debuting together, I was able to feel a lot of different emotions and overcome many challenges. I want to put this process and the emotions I feel into future music.
Serim: We weren’t able to meet our fans when we debuted, because of COVID. Now that we can meet our fans regularly, I want to put that emotion and experience of meeting our fans for the first time in writing into our future music.
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What are some things you would like to accomplish in the future, some hopes or goals?
Jungmo: I would like for Cravity to have our own representative song, so when you hear us, you think of that particular song.
Alan: A smash hit.
Taeyoung: I wish for Cravity to just keep going together. Ten years later, you know, still attached together and still growing a relationship together.
Alan: I hope someday we can all have writing credits for a fan song, to dedicate to Luvity.
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As it stands, three of your members often participate in lyric creation for your music. Who else has interest in doing so?
Minhee: We have a lot of 작곡가 (lyricists).
Taeyoung: I want to try. I don’t know if it’s really going to be Cravity’s style, but I really want to try some songwriting. I listen to a lot of various songs. Jazz, pop, R&B… When I was young I listened to EDM. I think I would make a unique style, but I don’t know if I can do it, because I haven’t tried it yet.
Alan: Wonjin is also writing a lot of songs by himself. He also participated in writing lyrics for our previous album.
What else would Cravity like to try out, musically?
Taeyoung: I think R&B is cool.
Alan: I don’t think we’ve had an EDM banger yet, so I would love to have one in our discography. (Laughs)
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What’s something you would like for people to know about Cravity?
Alan: Our fans know us really well, so I really just… want people to know Cravity. I feel like people don’t know Cravity, but if they did, they would fall in love, and fall hard. I can guarantee that.
Taeyoung: As Allen said, our fans really know us well, but not everyone knows Cravity as fans. I hope other people can see our charms the way that our fans do.
When people think of Cravity, what do you hope they think?
Minhee: Young vibe team, young vibe group, family group.
Alan: Funny group, handsome group. (To Woobin) Do you have one?
Woobin: Famous group.
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Anything you would like to leave this interview off with?
Alan: Clash is from the UK, right? A little fun fact. Our debut track ‘Break All The Rules’ was actually mastered in the UK, so I feel that we actually have some kind of deep-rooted connection with the UK. We went to London in 2022 for Hallyupopfest and we had a really fun time. Our UK fans are really passionate, and we know they’ve been waiting for us. We’d love to visit again and maybe have our own concert.
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Words + Photography: Ciara Glagola // @ciaraglagola
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