Enhypen's Dazzling Mini-Album Border: Carnival Is Verified Vamp Vibes

By Tássia Assis


Any time MTV News connects by means of the Zoom with Enhypen (stylized all-caps), the South Korean pop group’s seven members sit split into two neat rows: Heeseung, Jake, Jay, and Sunoo in the front, followed by Jungwon, Sunghoon, and Ni-ki right in back of them. Their outfits are cautiously coordinated in neutral hues, and their hair is styled with boyish side-parts, except for Ni-ki, whose forehead is covered by a precisely placed ash-blonde fringe. Ranging from 15 to 19 years old, it’s only been five months since they debuted with their first project, Border: Day One, the highest-selling release all of the work put out by last year’s rookies. Although despite their ages, the artists carry themselves with an air of poise — and maybe a little bit mystery.


Across their lavish music videos and allegorical lyrics, Enhypen have crafted a fancy universe filled with vampires and Shakespearian odes. They aren’t simply mystifying performers, sitting in this conference room to talk about their second mini-album, Border: Carnival, which is out today (April 26); they are both the creators of and creatures within a multidimensional fable that was laid out last year. Formed by Belift Lab, a joint venture between South Korean entertainment corporations CJ ENM and HYBE Agency (formerly referred to as Big Hit), Enhypen came with each other by way of the survival show I-Land. The program’s initial scene featured a quote from the German writer Hermann Hesse’s novel Demian that might also be applied to the group’s own story: “The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who could be place on Earth must first destroy a world.”


If Border: Day One cracked the shell, right now the artists are prepared to spread their wings. The six-track Border: Carnival tracks their arrival to the dazzling, dizzying world of fame in three distinct versions — “Up,” “Hype,” and “Down” — with distinct visuals filtered by means of the sugary highs and crashing lows of visiting such an eye catching festival. These themes are captured in the music video for the galloping pop-rock single “Drunk-Dazed,” where they throw a residence party that rapidly devolves into a chilling nightmare. The psychedelic “Intro: The Invitation” provides a deliciously dramatic first taste of this journey, while the hip-hop and rock sounds of “Mixed Up” reflect their weak experience growing up in the public eye. During, there really are symbols to be deciphered with seemingly endless interpretations — Victorian attire, crimson blood — however all signifying a global waiting to be discovered.


MTV News: Congrats on your second mini-album! Right now that you've crossed Border: Day One, how does it feel to step into this Carnival, as you’ve named it?


Jungwon: Border: Carnival is where we’re still group kind of confused, however these are sincere feelings of us attempting to appreciate this moment. We’re looking forward to [our fans] Engenes to also adore this new album, and we’re really excited about our new music and showing our performances.


MTV News: Your debut happened only five months prior, although how have you changed since then?


Jake: Like you mentioned, it’s only been five months, so I think we’re still at the very early stages of our careers. Although we feel like we have taken a large step as artists, and that we grew a lot as a team, especially on this album. We hope that our fans will have the ability to be able to see that chemistry on stage and also off stage.


MTV News: How do you feel when you look at your achievements for now? Is it hard to think you have so much responsibility at a young age?


Heeseung: I can’t really mention that we achieved a lot. There’s still a lot that we need to do, a lot that we need to learn, a lot that we need to grow. That’s something we’ll continue to build with each other, both with the members and with our fans. The support and the passion from Engenes are what drives us to keep achieving those things.


MTV News: The pandemic has been hard for each person, although groups like Enhypen, who debuted immediately after it all began, haven't had several possibilities to meet their fans. What are you learning from these trying times?


Sunghoon: Unfortunately, we haven’t had a lot of chances to meet our fans, however yet still, we have procured a lot of love plus a lot of support. That made us learn how precious our fans are, and we aspire to give back to them. We desire to keep on working hard so that someday we can meet face to face, perform, and sing. It just happens that we have to wait a little more.


MTV News: Your main concept for this comeback is "carnival," and your title track is named "Drunk-Dazed." Did you intend to capture these feelings of astonishment and excitement that you experience at a festival? 


Jay: Immediately after we debuted, what we experienced are things I never experienced before, and I believe it’s the opening time for all of the other members also. Everything seems really fancy, really glamorous, however also very unfamiliar. I think that’s what you would experience at a carnival, in regards to unfamiliarity, however also all of the fanciness, the glitter and glamour. It’s like all these emotions and feelings melted down into one song.


MTV News: Can you talk about the music video for "Drunk-Dazed" and share some memories of the shoot?


Heeseung: I remember practicing the chorus part on the set. There was this moment as soon as we were all in the center, and yes it was excellent. Then, we saw how it was turning out plus it was really astonishing. It was also the initial time we were doing the choreography outdoors of practice studio. All of the employees was giving us positive feedback, and that made us feel really wonderful. It was a wonderful experience.


MTV News: What are the tracks you most relate to in this album and why?


Jungwon: The song that resonated with me the most is the fourth track, “Mixed Up,” because it’s about things that I didn’t experience as a trainee. Immediately after I-Land and soon after our debut, I began to receive all this attention from a lot of people, so this is whenever the full environment changed for me and brought up these feelings of being mixed up.


Jake: For me, it has to be our title track, “Drunk-Dazed,” because it expresses the in general theme and message of the album really well. It’s one of my favorites.


MTV News: Engenes all over the world aspire to know: What's the relation between Enhypen and vampires?


Jay: Oh, that’s funny.


Heeseung: [To Jake:] What do you think?


Jake: Actually, we’re very curious about that. What do you think?


MTV News: For me, it seems like there really are two different stories happening simultaneously. One is Enhypen as you are right now, as idols, and the other is a more fantastical one. 


Jake: I think the theory you have is a really good one.


MTV News: Are you aware of the theories that Engenes create?


Jake: We do know that a lot of Engenes come up with their own theories, and it’s really exhilarating to look at them and all their ideas.


MTV News: So what’s the real story in back of it?


Jay: It’s open.


Jake: Yes, we wish to leave it for the fans to interpret it themselves.


Heeseung: in the event you interpret or attempt to divide the storyline using our title tracks because the center of it, I think it will be easier to discover more about our world.


MTV News: Jay, you love rock, so how do you feel about the sounds and visuals in this album?


Jay: The tracks “Mixed Up” and “Drunk-Dazed,” and also because the “Hype” version of the album, really express that rock sensibility. There really are a lot of new, fresh, and tough things that appeal to me. Those themes are similar to how I dress, the sort of clothes that I like, so I really enjoyed it.


MTV News: Heeseung, you once said, "The more time you spend on your work, the much less time there really is to invest in yourself." How do you separate your time between work and investing in yourself?


Heeseung: These days, I’m mostly spending time on work, yet focusing on work is segment of investing in myself. I don’t think those two are very different for me.


MTV News: Jake, where do you feel like you have grown the most for this comeback? 


Jake: Right now that we have spent more time with each other as a team, I think our chemistry has certainly improved, along with having a deeper understanding for one another. Nevertheless also, in terms of singing and dancing, and also facial expressions on stage, everything has gotten a lot better.


MTV News: Jungwon, you're the leader, nevertheless how do you stay focused?


Jungwon: I converse with the other members a lot and so they give me feedback about what I’m doing and why things are going. That permits me to take a goal view of myself, fix up what I’m doing, and keep on track.


MTV News: Sunoo, you could adapt to any concept with little effort. What is that process like for you?


Sunoo: there really are three concepts in this album, so I had to think a lot about how to modify [to each of them]. Although once we got on set and tried on the outfits, we did a lot of preparations, and I was able to conveniently adapt to the different atmospheres. Also, even for the “Up” version, me and the other members studied images and videos of outfits that were similar to that theme, so those efforts made up for it.





MTV News: Sunghoon, Jake, and Heeseung are introverts according to the MBTI personality test. Sunghoon, once do you know it's an advantage to be introverted?


Sunghoon: there really are good and bad things for both personalities, introverted and extroverted. The fact that we have both in Enhypen gives us an advantage, a synergy. I think it’s a good thing that we have a mix of different personalities.


MTV News: Ni-ki, coming from Japan and being the youngest member, how do you feel about growing up with Enhypen?


Ni-ki: The other members routinely look out for me, and if there’s something I don’t know or that I can’t figure out, they are usually right there. They really help me a lot. I feel like I have a family member here in Korea.


MTV News: Can you share something about Enhypen's next adventure, as foreshadowed in "Outro: The Wormhole"?


Ni-ki: I can’t spoil also several specifics, although I can tell you that we are going to be back again with wonderful music and good performances that all Engenes can look forward to. So please, look forward to that.