K-pop girl group (G)I-DLE released their first studio album “I Never Die” on March 14, which debuted at No. 1 on music charts in South Korea.
This marked (G)I-DLE’s comeback in more than a year since releasing the album “I Burn” in January 2021 and the first time for the group to have an album with five members: Miyeon, Soyeon, Minnie, Yuqi and Shuhua.
“I Never Die” contains feelings and thoughts on not only the prejudice against themselves but on all the prejudice in the world.
The album features the carrier track “Tomboy,’ revealing “(G)I-DLE’s unique confident attitude, has straightforward lyrics such as, ‘I’m not a doll,’ and ‘Just me I-DLE,’ shows off bold charms and makes its listeners call to mind uncontrollable eccentric characters.
In the album, member Soyeon became a songwriter in “Tomboy,” “Never Stop Me,” Villain Dies” and “My Bag.” Minnie co-composed “Already” and “Escape” while Yuqi acted as songwriter in “Polaroid” and “Liar.”
Based on the Hanteo Chart, “I Never Die” debuted at No. 1 on the daily album chart for March 14 with 88,232 copies sold. In comparison, “I Burn” sold 75,510 copies on the first day of release and went on to garner first-week sales of 115,538.
“I Never Die” also debuted at No. 1 on the Gaon Music Chart’s daily retail album chart for March 14 with 86,513 copies sold.
During their album showcase on March 14, (G)I-DLE members talked about their comeback after a long time and their first studio album.
“First of all, I'm so happy to be on stage with all the members after a long time. As we're back with a new look, I'm curious how you'll enjoy our music,” said Soyeon, according to Pickcon.
She added, “(G)I-DLE's first full-length album, ‘I Never Die’ is an album that contains our emotions and thoughts in all prejudices in the world. I wanted to make an album that proves my value by facing the world without backing down.”
Miyeon said there are three concepts for the album: “Risky,” “chill” and “spoiled.”
“We tried to show you our mature facial expressions and emotions using three visual concepts. First, ‘risky’ is a very close noir concept. The second ‘chill’ is a relaxed and cool revenge squad concept. The last and third ‘spoiled’ expresses a protagonist who you can't hate even though it's arbitrary,” she said.
According to Minnie, “Since it's our first full-length album, we put a lot of effort into it. We participated in the production of these songs, so I hope that you listen to each of the B-side tracks beautifully.”
“That's right. It's an honor for me, too. I'm always working hard on writing songs, and I'm able to put it in a full-length album. I'm so happy to be able to let Neverland hear it like this,” said Yuqi.
(G)I-DLE also released a music video for “Tomboy,” which has garnered 10 million views as of writing.
“We transformed ourselves into ‘Tomboy’ by (G)I-DLE. I had a lot of fun while filming and I was confident in the concept. I can't wait to see how you enjoyed it,” added Miyeon.
Soyeon said, “Yes, I did it with the concept of watching a movie in the music video. You can express anything freely in the movie. So, I tried to capture a shocking picture without prejudice.”
Regarding their comeback and new album, Soyeon said, As much as our (G)I-DLE presence and value are included in this album, (G)I hope you think that there is no end to the team called I-DLE.”
When asked what their goal is with the new album, Yuqi said, “Of course, it's good to get good results. What (G)I-DLE members always say is ‘Let's do our best,’ ‘Let's do what we want.’ Since it's been a while since we made a comeback, I want to remember Neverland as well.”