On April 15, KOZ Entertainment's BOYNEXTDOOR held their media showcase in commemoration of the release of their second mini-album 'HOW?'.

Taesan first stepped on stage for the photo session, followed by members Sungho, Jaehyun, Leehan, Riwoo, and Woonhak. The members expressed their excitement to finally be back with another record, six months after the release of their first mini-album 'WHY..,' completing the first love trilogy, which includes their debut single album 'WHO!'

"We will do our best to deliver a solid stage," said Taesan. The group's leader, Jaehyun, added. "We are back with a song that is uniquely BOYNEXTDOOR." Leehan then described this era to be "as fun and exciting as ever."

"We're happy that these vibes were blended into the concept photos and the music video perfectly," they said.

Joined by executive producer and artist ZICO, along with main producer Pop Time, 'HOW?' boasts a total of seven tracks, including "OUR," "Amnesia," "So let's go see the stars," the lead single "Earth, Wind & Fire," "l i f e i s c o o l," "Dear. My Darling," and the English version of the title track. Notably, Jaehyun, Taesan, and Woonhak contributed to "Earth, Wind & Fire"'s composition and lyrics.

'HOW?' is an album that bridges the gap between the band’s 'WHO!' and 'WHY...' That representation is also evident in 'HOW?'s album cover, which features a blue-orange-red gradient tint that appears to link all three albums when displayed together horizontally, with 'HOW?' placed in the middle.

Riwoo shared that he got a strong impression the moment he heard the track for the first time, describing it as an "electrifying track." "The song captures, in a kitsch way, the frustration through your mind when you're in love but nothing goes as planned," he added. "It's a track that is both fresh and catchy at the same time."

Jaehyun then went on to discuss their interpretation of the song in a bit more detailed way. "As we started working on the track, the very first thing that we did was to imagine the protagonist. We pictured someone who is confident and attractive, but strangely struggles with romance, and he's a little bit flustered."

"Each member had their own take on this attractive person. If you take me for an instance when I wrote the lyrics, I was inspired by the film 'Kingsman,' so I wanted to infuse the song with the touch of gentlemanly charm," he added.

For this album and the other albums, the members said that when they try to come up with a concept or a character, they watch a lot of TV series and movies, read books, and listen to music. Other than that, the boys said they also take inspiration from ONEDOOR, their fandom.

"My intention in the beginning was to write something that only Riwoo could pull off because he is excellent at both dance and vocals. To me, he gives incredible popstar vibes," said Taesan in writing Riwoo's part.

Woonhak added, "The song is very fast-paced, and the choreography is literally split into seconds. We practiced really hard to pull off every single move accurately. We have our own unique individualities, but it's really important to focus on how we synchronize."

Through this comeback, the members learned that practice makes perfect, indeed. They are satisfied with how the recording turned out smoothly as the members were all well-prepared.

Leehan assured that the listeners will enjoy the song, especially when performed live on a music show stage. "The sped-up section and the performance when brought to you live on music shows will definitely be something you would be able to enjoy."

Sungho also shared what he thinks the killer part of the song is, which is "the sped-up section and the chorus where we spit out the lyrics at a machine gun speed."

"To be honest, when we first started practicing this section, we were not really sure if we could perform this live," added. "But the performance earlier [at the media showcase] was flawless."

Jaehyun expressed, "We have to sing this part at a very speedy tempo, but it shouldn't be off-tune either. So, I practiced by hitting the notes on the piano to make sure I wasn't off tune despite the speed."

"I feel like our colors really came through," said Riwoo.

Woonhak emphasized that it is important to express a lot of emotions to be able to convey different stories in the songs, "so that's why the first love trilogy means so much to us." He stated, "We want to talk about what we feel in real life. We want to be boys next door. And we're going to have a very BOYNEXTDOOR kind of song for our next installment."

The sextet's first love trilogy that has come to an end with 'HOW?' musically journals stories of first love to first heartbreak. "We want to provide some diverse stories on how love can be," said Taesan. "We always want to talk about something relatable. When you think of BOYNEXTDOOR, you think of songs that are relatable."

For this comeback, Jaehyun personally wishes for the group to win on music shows, especially on 'M Countdown,' where he is currently assigned as one of the MCs, "to hand the trophy myself over to the members."

Photos courtesy of HYBE/KOZ Entertainment