EVNNE splashes into 2025 with their colorful and quirky fourth mini-album HOT MESS. The seven members, Keita, Park Hanbin, Lee Jeonghyeon, Yoo Seungeon, Ji Yunseo, Mun Junghyun, and Park Jihoo, have spent the past few months preparing a vibrant new side of themselves for their fans, known as ENNVE. EVNNE has previously displayed their powerhouse performance abilities on tracks like “UGLY” while showing more refreshing and youthful concepts on “Badder Love.” With six new songs, HOT MESS aims to show fans an eccentric new side of the septet: free-spirited young men who can overcome any obstacle. At a recent media roundtable to promote the EP’s release, the members joked that Yunseo, as the tidiest member, would overcome the messes of his group in a literal sense. They also delved into the mini-album’s message of being able to savor all sorts of experiences.
HOT MESS includes the two main concepts: “Splatter” and “Sowing.” The concept photos for “Splatter” show the group having fun with paint in a colorful room reminiscent of Jackson Pollock’s works. “Sowing” sees the members literally sowing fruits and vegetables on a farm-like set wearing work boots, bolo ties, and cowboy hats.
“For our last album, we were all about the visuals, like finding the best angle for us, but this album is quite different,” Jihoo expressed. “The theme and mindset are more like, ‘No worries, as long as we have fun together everything’s fine.’ So enjoying the music and stage with our fans is the whole point of this album.”
The EP includes six new songs: “HOT MESS,” “Birthday,” “Love Like That,” “CROWN,” “Youth,” and a Korean version of their previously released Japanese single “景色 (KESHIKI).”
Junghyun shared his feelings that “HOT MESS,” the eponymous title track, might surprise fans the most out of all the album. The pop-rock, guitar-heavy song is a departure from their previous dance and EDM-inspired title tracks. The song doesn’t take itself too seriously, with meme-inspired lyrics proclaiming that even if one is on the verge of crashing out, “delulu is the solulu.”
“I don’t think we released any title track quite like this, so it’s something new they would find. I think it goes really well with our style!” Junghyun said with a big smile on his face, eyes crinkled in happiness.
The music video for “HOT MESS,” encompasses the whimsical, fun nature that Jihoo described. The group is seen working in the fuzzy-floored “Delulu Cake Shop,” brushing their teeth with cake frosting, and turning into humanoid cherries, essentially blurring the lines between reality and the absurd. At some points, EVNNE performs the choreography on the cakes they’ve made, becoming a part of the decor.
Jeonghyeon recalled that the EVNNE members enjoyed every moment of preparing for the album, especially when filming the music video. “Our fans really love our goofy and playful side, when we joke with each other. I’m so glad that we are finally releasing an album and title track that can truly convey our nature and characteristics,” he explained.
Yunseo emphasized how the EP highlighted each member’s strengths and abilities. “All our members are very playful and love to have fun while performing. A few of the keywords of this album are joy and dopamine, so I think this album’s concept is perfect for everyone’s characteristics and strengths.”
“I would say Hanbin fits the concept of this album the most because this song has to bring out our cheeky and playful side,” Jeonghyeon added, shouting out his group member. “I think he did a wonderful job with great expressions, especially his facial expressions.”
Hanbin praised the rest of the group’s continued development while preparing for the EP. “I would say that our expressions have become freer and bolder, and our stage presence has gotten stronger especially while touring. I think we definitely improved a lot as a group and noticed our own growth.”
EVNNE recently concluded their first showcase tour, EVNNE SHOW[K]ASE TOUR IN AMERICAS ‘RIDE WITH EVNNE, traveling across North and South America and meeting overseas ENNVE for the first time. Seungeon reflected on the tour, recalling how meeting international ENNVE influenced the message of this comeback.
“After seeing a lot of international fans during our tour, we were encouraged to study foreign languages. Performing so many stages and having more stage experience helped us prepare our title track and album more naturally and gain more confidence in expressing the song,” he noted.
The confidence the group gained is present in their eager involvement in the production process for the EP. Keita, Seungeon, Yunseo, and Jihoo all boast writing credits on HOT MESS, adding to the group’s ever-growing roster of composition involvement.
Jihoo revealed that writing for the album allowed him to grow as an artist. “I always think about different ways to express my inner artist, and one way is definitely songwriting and composing.”
Seungeon reflected on his lyrical contributions to tracks “HOT MESS” and “Youth.” “This album is very memorable to me because I participated in writing the lyrics for the title song for the first time, as well as for the B-side track in the album. It’s very meaningful to know that my own story and lyrics that I wrote can be delivered to our fans, so I cannot wait to share them.”
“Youth” is a stand out of the mini-album, combining a rock-based guitar and Wobble synth to create an emotional number that tells a personal story written entirely by Seungeon. The impassioned lyrics express the unpredictable journey of being young while trying to achieve your dreams. Seungeon and Yunseo (along with their fellow members) are no strangers to this journey, as they have been on it together from the beginning– as trainees, as contestants on the survival show “Boys Planet,” and now: as members of EVNNE.
Yunseo took the time to praise his friend. “I felt proud of Seungeon. We spent a lot of time together since our trainee days, and we were both passionately learning and working hard on songwriting and composing. In our album, he was, for the first time, in charge of the full lyrics for the song ‘Youth.’ It’s such a cool achievement. The song delivers a beautiful story about youth and essentially EVNNE, so seeing his progress and work makes me incredibly proud. I truly want to give him a big round of applause for his hard work!”
As EVNNE’s writing and composition credits rack up with each release, other members have expressed their desire to be more involved in the production process and learn from each other. “I want to learn Keita’s songwriting and composition skills. I recently got interested and started composing, and since Keita is good at composing, I would love to gain that ability,” Junghyun declared.
EVNNE explores different genres and sounds on HOT MESS’s tracklist, including Pop-Rock, Pop-R&B, Brazilian Phonk, and EDM in the spirit of expanding their horizons. “We were able to express music of various genres in a fun way with our own unique colors,” Yunseo explained.
Jihoo added his desire to delve into more unique musical ventures in the future, saying, “I want to try Synth Pop because I love the rhythm of that genre, and I think it’ll be fun to experience it.”
The energetic track “CROWN,” showcases the unique Brazillian Phonk genre with its heavy bass and fiery electric sound, a departure from the other laid-back and playful tunes of the EP but reminiscent of tracks off their second mini-album UN:Seen.
“I think ‘CROWN’ suits us the most. It is a very powerful and bold song, so I think it fits the characteristics that we want to portray well,” Hanbin shared.
EVNNE expressed their hope to carry their momentum from 2024 into 2025. A year after their first music show win for “UGLY,” the members shared the aspiration of reaching similar goals. “Since we are making a comeback after 8 months, we hope to win first place on a music show again, and we also want to appear on variety shows together as a group,” Seungeon declared.
Yunseo continued, “As EVNNE, I think one common dream for our future is continuing to have fun on stage and keep making music together. We are always eager to learn more and improve ourselves, so please look forward to our growth over the years as well.”
EVNNE has a big year ahead of them in addition to their comeback. The group is set to hold the two-day concert SET N’ GO on April 5 and 6 at Yes24 Live Hall in Seoul and recently announced the SET N’ GO Concert Tour that will be held across Asia and Australia later in the year. They will also appear as special guests at JAMMYCON in Edmonton, Canada on April 26.
The group also assured that fans will have a lot to be excited about for their upcoming appearances. “For our concert, we are preparing hard and diligently. We are also preparing many new performances, so please look forward to it,” Jihoo promised.
The members also expressed their hope to meet more ENNVE around the world. “We cannot share a lot right now, but we know we have many fans in Europe, and we’d love to visit and meet them. We’re working hard to make it happen, so please stay tuned and wait for us!” Jeonghyeon assured.
The members shared one last heartfelt message to ENNVE at the conclusion of the roundtable.
“We are always motivated and determined, all thanks to our fans who believe in, support, and love us. Because it has been a long time since we made a comeback, we were even more passionate about working on this album,” Seungeon professed. “All of our members participated a lot in producing the album. In addition, we are trying new things that we’ve never done before, so our music video was pretty experimental and we hope you look forward to it!”
EVNNE’s fourth mini-album HOT MESS is available now on all streaming platforms, be sure to listen to get all of the hot and none of the mess!