A shoutout to Tomorrow X Together's past five years of minisode

K-pop

Published: 01 Apr. 2024, 18:14 Updated: 01 Apr. 2024, 18:18

A shoutout to Tomorrow X Together's past five years of minisode

Members of boy band Tomorrow X Together pose for photos during a showcase held on Monday at the Hwajeong Gymnasium in Korea University, central Seoul, for the release of the band's sixth EP ″minisode 3: Tomorrow.″ [CELEB CONFIRMED]

Long forgotten promises are remembered again in Tomorrow X Together's newest album, encompassing the music and recalling the narrative of the band's past five years.

Tomorrow X Together released its sixth EP "minisode 3: Tomorrow" on Monday — its first new music since its third full-length album “The Name Chapter: Freefall” was released in October last year.

The new album is the third of the "minisode" series that the band began in October 2020 with "minisode 1: Blue Hour," and also a throwback to the five years of unique stories and messages that the quintet has been telling through music ever since its debut.

“The album is a compilation of everything that we’ve done so far,” Hueningkai told reporters in a showcase held Monday at the Hwajeong Gymnasium at Korea University in Seongbuk District, central Seoul, prior to the release of the album at 6 p.m.

“It’s even called ‘Tomorrow,’ which is why we wanted to include the messages we’ve been trying to send since our debut. It’s our killer move, in a way.”

Boy band Tomorrow X Together performs its new track "Deja Vu" during a showcase held on Monday at the Hwajeong Gymnasium in Korea University, central Seoul, for the release of the band's sixth EP "minisode 3: Tomorrow." [YONHAP]

The main idea of the album revolves around “remembering the forgotten promise of the past and venturing to see the you with whom I made the promise,” according to the band’s agency BigHit Music. Lead track “Déjà Vu” best embodies this theme, according to Beomgyu.

“The lead track 'Déjà Vu' is a song that sings about how the future, where I'll meet you again, feels like déjà vu,” he said. “It's a great mix of a touching story and sophisticated sounds.”

Six other tracks follow “Déjà Vu,” including the duet “The Killa (I Belong to You)” by Soobin and Yeonjun and “Quarter Life” by Beomgyu, Taehyun and Hueningkai. A special shout-out to the band’s debut lies in a track titled “- --- -- --- ·-· ·-· --- ·--” which is Morse code for “Tomorrow.”

Tomorrow X Together used Morse code for “Introduction Film,” “Questioning Film” and the beginning part of its first-ever lead track “Crown” (2019) for its debut, to name a few. Parts of the lyrics were taken from the band’s previous songs such as “Run Away” (2019) and “LO$ER=LO♡ER” (2021), which members said they hope will trigger a welcoming sense of nostalgia for the listeners.

“This story is about how a young boy makes a promise to meet someone again, forgets about it due to the difficulties of life that wear him down, and then pulls himself together to keep the promise from the past,” Hueningkai said.

“The lyrics made me realize that we’ve told so many stories in the past, and it brought back the memories we have of each song,” Soobin said.

The promise that the members made with each other ever since day one of their debut was to stay by each other’s side as Tomorrow X Together, happily and healthily, which members said they never forgot.

“It sounds cliché, but it’s actually so much easier said than done,” Taehyun said. “Even I thought that this promise was too obvious, but being together for five years made us realize that it’s not easy keeping five people all happy and healthy. It’s very energy-consuming, but we’re determined to make it work.”

“There is this one promise that I forgot,” Soobin said with a smile. “I told the casting team that I would buy them loads of coffee and snacks once I debut, but I never got to keep that promise — for five years now. I’ll definitely pop in with snacks after this album promotion.”

“I just remembered that I told a very dear teacher that I would buy them a car,” Yeonjun added. “I guess I’m going to have to work really hard now.”

Tomorrow X Together held meet and greets on March 2 and 3, titled "2024 TXT Fanlive Present X Together," to celebrate the quintet's fifth debut anniversary. The band performed some of its most popular songs including "Crown" (2019) and "Chasing That Feeling" (2023) and covered popular songs by other artists for each member's solo performances.

“It feels like the past five years went by so quickly for us,” Taehyun said. “Looking back on everything that we did and the things we told each other, I think everything that we experienced has become assets that helped us grow and become who we are today.”

Boy band Tomorrow X Together [BIGHIT MUSIC]

The quintet will kick off its third world tour, “Act: Promise,” with three concerts at the KSPO Dome from May 3 to 5. The U.S. leg of the tour will continue with a concert in Tacoma, Washington, on May 14, followed by shows in Oakland, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, New York, Rosemont and Washington, D.C. for a total of 11 concerts in eight cities.

In a major achievement for the band, Tomorrow X Together will hold a concert at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California, which can seat up to 63,000 patrons. The largest venue the band had performed at until now was the Philippine Arena and the Kyocera Dome Osaka, both of which have a capacity of 55,000.

“There are so many things that we’ve been, but some of the happiest memories that I have are definitely from the performances at domes and stadiums,” Soobin said. “Being able to perform at such large venues makes me happy and proud of myself, so I hope we get to keep on doing that in the future.”

“It’s embarrassing to say this, but I truly believe that there is no other band quite like Tomorrow X Together,” Soobin continued. “We have this sense of pride that there is no other group that tells stories like we do or that pulls off visuals like we do. We’ve been doing our best as Tomorrow X Together and we will keep on doing so to make sure that our music and sincerity touches more people.”

To find out more about Tomorrow X Together, visit Celeb Confirmed

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]