Photo Courtesy of BELIFT LAB
BELIFT LAB
ENHYPEN is all about trying new things.
With the release of their 7th Mini Album, The Sin : Vanish, the popular K-pop group – composed of members Jungwon, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Ni-ki – shares their new narrative style, skits, and sounds with the world.
“Our previous album was Desire : Unleash, and the very keyword within that overarching theme was desire,” Heeseung says over Zoom during a private listening party for their album. “We had many visual elements to showcase the keyword, ‘desire.’ This time, for The Sin: Vanish album, it explores how the vampire lovers decide to escape because they can no longer suppress their desire. So they would break the taboo and decide to escape together as vampire lovers.”
Since the group’s debut in 2020, they’ve developed a vampire mythology, with their stories told through their albums, webtoon, and music videos. It explores the themes of eternal life, power, love, temptation, desire, and now, sin.
This album’s concept now has the vampires (ENHYPEN) fleeing on a dangerous journey away from hunters, who want to destroy them and their love. Centering on their promotional campaign, Vampire Now, the digital news outlet for “vampires,” the album presents a series of escape episodes, each told through distinct chapters to form a cohesive narrative.
“From the planning stage, from the very beginning, we envisioned this to be a concept album incorporating a fictional Mystery Show,” Jungwon explains. “From the first narration track called ‘The Beginning’ to the final narration track called ‘The Beyond,’ it has one consistent storyline that goes from beginning to end.”
The album was produced in four different languages – Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese – to reach a global audience. Korean actor Park Jeong-min narrated the Korean version, while actor Kenjiro Tsuda provided the words in Japanese, and singer Lars Huang narrated the Chinese version.
Jungwon hopes that, with the multiple languages offered, it will gain significant empathy worldwide. He smiles, “It will be a fun experience.”
Four chapters have been released in total, and all titles are tracks on the album. Chapter 1: “No Way Back”: The Beginning of Escape used both animation and a scene in the caves to describe them giving in to their desire and breaking the taboo of turning their lover into a vampire. The group then plans their escape through the caves. Chapter 2: “Big Girls Don’t Cry”: Romance in Escape finds the group in the desert, being hunted, and forced to fight their attackers. The video plays snippets of “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Lost Island.” Chapter 3: “Stealer”: Rebellion in Escape finds the group in a mansion, stealing a powerful orb. They are then seen enjoying the outdoors together, still on the run from unknown forces, when they are attacked.
Photo Courtesy of BELIFT LAB
BELIFT LAB
“The film shoot was really big in scale,” says Sunghoon. “For the ‘Stealer’ concept film and photos, they were shot in Florence, Italy. For ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry,’ we shot the photos and film in the [Los Angeles] desert. We put a lot of effort into these concept photos and films. We really wanted to show that we did this on a large scale. For the different films in the chapters, we wanted to showcase their cinematic quality and high production value. We put significant effort into this.”
The final chapter in the video series, Chapter 4: “Knife”: Danger of Escape, is the group’s lead single for the album. In this futuristic military scenario, the group faces tech-heavy opponents and must use their vampiric powers to fight. They worked closely with renowned photographer Jack Bridgland for the photo concept.
“I have actually been a fan of his and wanted to collaborate with him for a long time,” says Ni-ki. “So we had this great opportunity to collaborate with him for the shooting of the ‘Knife’ chapter. He [brought] the concept and the mood we wanted to showcase to life. His distinctive visual style and film perfectly fit into our concept. So we had a lot of fun working with him.”
The group carefully curated every track on the album, including the narration segments. The first track, “The Beginning,” was built on an energetic hip-hop beat and produced in part by Jake. He began working on the track after their last album promotion, following a conversation with one of their producers about future music. He drew inspiration for the music from the film Interview With The Devil, which included brief clips in the demo track, but not in the final version.
“We named it ‘The Beginning’ because it sets the mood for the whole album really well,” Jake explains. “You’ll feel how it shapes the image of this whole album.”
Their first song, “No Way Back,” which features So!YoON! Is an alternative R&B track with whisper-like vocals and an escalating emotional arc. Sunoo describes it as “having a mysterious vibe” and “notice this right away when you hear the song, but in the very beginning, there are various sound elements that allow you to really get immersed in the track.” He also notes that So!YoON’s vocals blend well with their voices.
After the next narrated piece, “The Fugitives,” the group introduced their lead single, “Knife,” a hip-hop track with a catchy chorus. Heeseung says the song will allow them to showcase a confident performance, revealing, “This song is built around an unyielding confidence that we can stand our ground against any kind of threat. We gratefully had the opportunity to collaborate with Dynamic Duo’s GAEKO, who contributed to the lyrics. Out of all the performances and songs that we have showcased, this will leave the strongest impression.”
Ni-ki, whose favorite track is “Knife,” believes this song best expresses who they are as a group. He shares, “We have been trying many different genres until now, and that included easy listening songs and more. When I think about ENHYPEN, I think we’re really good at writing very intense, impactful songs. So when people see us, this is a genre that we can really pull off a great performance, rap, and so much more.”
Jungwon’s favorite track is “Stealer,” an alternative dance-pop track that bursts with energy, driven by an exotic, Latin-inspired groove. He admits it’s a genre he’s been wanting to try.
“This track, ‘Stealer,’ actually fits perfectly into the theme of our album,” Jungwon says. “Our overarching theme is lovers’ escape. ‘Stealer’ reminds you of stealing away with your lover. Some of the risky lyrics actually bring out that vibe very nicely.”
“The Voice” and “Witnesses” are narrative pieces and skits that discuss the consequences of breaking the rules and the impact of the group’s decision.
With “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” an urban pop track filled with kick drums and groovy guitar rhythms, the group immediately fell in love with the demo when they received it. Ni-ki recalls his first time hearing it, “It actually captivated our ears. It has such a refined melody, and it sounds so great. And if you look at the concept film, it was shot in a desert, and we were dressed in a cowboy look. That look really went well with this particular track. The song is going to be a great performance as well. It’s going to give a feel that is quite different from the lead single.”
“Lost Island” is an energetic pop track filled with addictive synth riffs and sub-bass, which Sunghoon says, “captures a romantic moment between two lovers who remain fully absorbed in one another, even while on a dangerous escape.”
In the final song, “Sleep Tight,” Jake’s first self-composed track with Heeseung contributing to the lyrics, is a soft R&B track that explores the delicate balance between joy and anxiety. Like “The Beginning,” the song was something he was building on, but didn’t really plan. He just added to the music as he worked on it and eventually put it on the album.
“It expresses the mixed emotions you might feel – happiness, but also anxious at the same time,” Jake explains. “It’s that mixed feeling [or] that mixed emotion, and it’s talking about the feeling that you get after the escape. The album is about how we’re trying to escape from this place, but the song is [after escaping.] It’s talking about the emotions you feel. It’s a pretty easy listening track.”
Photo Courtesy of BELIFT LAB
BELIFT LAB
The last narration, “The Beyond,” concludes the story, where the couple disappeared – hence, vanish. Jay hopes everyone will like it as they’re excited for the album release.
“We hope you all enjoy it,” says Jay. “For our title song, ‘Knife,’ we really had a [fun time] filming all the music videos, especially the action and stunt scenes.”
With all the new musical styles they explored on this album, Jay hopes to challenge themselves further on future albums. He would like to try funk, punk, or even country music.
“Maybe for our next album or next year, we would like to challenge ourselves with a lot more genres and music that people love or will love,” says Jay. “We are always open [when it comes to] music.”
Jake recalls the group’s time at Coachella in 2024, before they began working on The Sin: Vanish, when they discussed the music and genres they wanted to include in their albums. But for this album, their main focus was the message.
“This album is very well structured in terms of the story,” Jake says. “Everything is there for a reason. I hope fans looking at the album can really study it, not just the songs, but everything around the album. It’s very well made and has a deep meaning in a way.”
ENHYPEN’s The Sin : Vanish is out now on all streaming platforms. Physical albums are available through select retailers.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurasirikul/2026/01/16/enhypen-shares-details-on-new-album-the-sin–vanish/
