Yunho：I wanted to include songs that will stay in everyone’s heart forever.
Q: This album’s title is “WITH” so it does not start with the letter “T” (laugh)
Yunho: Tomoni (it means together/with in Japanese) (laugh)
Q: Oh, I did not realize that it starts with T in Japanese (laugh).
Yunho: If I am allowed to say so (it does start with T). This time, we wanted to chose a title with a deeper meaning such as “Tomoni/WITH everyone” and “Tomoni/WITH Tohoshinki”.
Changmin: While listening to this album, I hope that people will feel that they are together with TOHOSHINKI. Therefore…We sing songs WITH our fans.. something along the line that I tried to express my thoughts and feelings through songs in this album.
Yunho: Yes, indeed, so we were a lot more careful/serious to select songs this time. I wanted to include songs that will stay in everyone’s heart forever. So overall, rather than songs in the trendy genre, we selected songs that make you feel a bit nostalgic.. we chose songs in the genre that will never become outdated even after time has passed.
Q: In the new album, I do not find many aggressive dance numbers featuring synthesizer sounds. I think your vocals are not too sharp but you added songs in softer tones, and your vocals have more elasticity and flexibility.
Changmin: TOHOSHINKI is known for the hard dance songs. However, we did include ballads where we thought “Oh, we like this song.” into our previous albums. Personally, I wish to show the side of us more. I thought that it is easier to convey our thoughts of “WITH” through ballads than through dance songs.
Q: I see. That is why the overall this album left me a mellow impression. I also felt dandyism, your kindness/warmth to embrace the one you love, and your ability in understanding others.
Yunho: Somehow I felt that we have matured. Or I should say the character of TOHOSHINKI has matured? When we were young, because we were young, we were much more edgy. But in this album, I think that we were able to reflect ourselves being matured.
Q: What do the two of you think about the ability of a man to understand others? For example, let’s think about that one of your female friends is broken hearted. So the man who is very understanding, what do you think that he would say to the female friend?
Yunho: Well, on contrary, I think he would not say anything to her. I think it is a man’s kindness not to say anything. Instead of saying something, I think if he just stays beside her, it will make her feel better/secure.
Changmin: I think I will talk bad about the person who broke her heart with her.
Yunho: I guess, that may be good too (laugh).
Changmin: Oh, he is terrible. Forget about him. “All men are the same. They are all terrible. Well, I am one of them too (laugh).” Something like that. I will try to make her feel better by being silly and acting like a fool.
Q: Wow, the two of you really have completely different characters/personalities (laugh)
Changmin: Yes, we do (laugh)
Q: The album starts with very powerful “REFUSE TO LOSE ~ INTRODUCTION”. It is a song that leads listeners heroically.
Yunho: Behind this song, there is our wish to become legendary artists that people will talk about from generation to generation. It means also, we will lead our stage performance that has just started, so please watch out! This is TOHOSHINKI, something like that.
Changmin: I think it is the best intro song. I can image easily that this is the first song at our live concerts. It expresses our feelings/emotions that we won’t lose. I think it’s a great song featuring us with great drive/showing how powerful we are.
Q: The sound of this song is close to the image of TOHOSHINKI in your previous albums.
Changmin: Yes it is.
Changmin: If someone tells me “OKA-ERI in JAPANESE (means Welcome home!)” I would feel very touched.
Q: The following song “SPINNING” features loud horn sounds which make us feel uplifted.
Changmin: Yes it is. It is most suited to be the follow-up song of “REFUSE TO LOSE~ INTRODUCTION”. The horn in the introduction connects this song to the first song.
Yunho: When I first heard the chorus part of this song, I was so thrilled. I thought the horn section was so cool ..much more than the melody.
Q: The lyrics is about.. you get caught in a whirlpool filled with lust.
Yunho: I think it talks about a man who became a fool for love with a woman. I think the character that I played in a drama “Yawang” was like that.
Changmin: Certainly. The female lead character opposed to Yunho is just like the woman in the lyrics of this song.
Q: So I guess he is fooled by a woman.. that means the person is not so cool as a man?
Yunho: Not like that. I think the woman is really an ideal woman.
Changmin: Yes. I think it means that the woman is really attractive. If I think about it from my prospective, I want to be fooled by a woman. I wanna be spanned… Wow… (laugh)
Q: For “SPINNING”, the horn section is impressive, but you also have “SURISURI(SPELLBOUND)”, “TIME WORKS WONDERS”, and “SWEAT”. This album includes these songs featuring horn. I guess, this album has flairs/tastes of jaz, soul, and disco and perhaps horn sound is one of the elements that makes this album to have such flairs and characters.
Yunho: We started A soul/disco song with the single “SURISURI(SPELLBOUND)”. There is a genre of music that will never become outdated, right? I think it is, “SURISURI(SPELLBOUND)”. This song is in the genre. I think the song became so unique to us because we also added performance of TOHOSHINKI.
Q: I thought “TIME WORKS WONDERS” is the gem with a neo-classic soul taste. In a good sense, it overturned the general perception/image of TOHOSHINKI.
Yunho: I love this type of soul music.
Changmin: The music is totally different from those that we used to sing. It is a calm/gentle song, therefore I thought the song is adult-contemporary (R&B)..like in between Eric Benet and Maxwell. I had a image like that.
Q: The lyrics of “TIME WORKS WONDERS” is bittersweet but also somewhat heartwarming.
Yunho: The title has a meaning of “Time makes miracles” At first, you thought it is so difficult, painful, and perhaps you got lost in anger.. but eventually.. time has passed and you look back … and found yourself thinking, “Oh, it was actually great back then.” Hardships turn into good memories by passing of time..it’s a song about that.
Q: The lead song, “CHANDELIER” is also a bittersweet and heartwarming song.
Yunho: I really love this song. We made the song so that people would think it is a love song, but it is a song about the relationship between us and listeners. We are so happy to see you all so far. There is heartwarming feeling in this song but I also feel bittersweetness even stronger. I think because there is warm atmosphere that this song provides, the more I feel bittersweetness.
Q: The last chorus part, your vocals are really emotional. I could feel that you pour your souls into this song.
Yunho: Yes, we did. I think this is a very much TOHOSHINKI-like ballad.
Q: “Tada-ima (means I am home!)” and “Oka-eri (means Welcome home!)” are the theme of this song. Changmin, how did you feel about this song?
Changmin: I think it is really heartwarming if there is a place that i can come home to. I envy that. Because I live alone right now. After work, I come home.. and I feel very lonely while stepping into the dark living room. I wish to hear the voice saying “Oka-eri (Welcome home!)” in response to my voice saying “Tada-ima (I am home!)”
Yunho: “Oka-eri!” (laugh)
Changmin: No no no! It is not like that. (laugh) We do not have direct translation of Oka-eri (Welcome home!) in Korean. In Japanese movies, there is often a scene where a man came home looking completely worn out, “Oh.. I am so exhausted.. I am home!” then a woman greets him saying, “Oka-eri ♡(Welcome home!)” in super gentle tone of voice. When I first heard it, I was in shock. So, if someone tells me, “Oka-eri (Welcome home!)” in Japanese, i feel very touched.
Yunho: I wish to make everyone excited and impressed, and think “Ahh, I am so glad to be a fan of TOHOSHINKI.”
Q:“DIRT” and “I JUST CAN’T QUIT MYSELF” are unique songs with a new scope. The former is like a 90s alternative rock song and the latter is a Rockabilly song.
Changmin: “DIRT” features my rap part and I was very happy. I enjoyed singing this song very much.
Yunho: The last phrasing of the rap part sounds like Jay-Z and it’s so new. Changmin has been doing some rap parts but I felt that finally Changmin has established his unique rap style. I told Changmin, “this is Yabai (means this is so cool/crazy/dangerous) yabai, yabai.” during the recording of this song.
Q:“JUST CAN’T QUIT MYSELF”, it is a humorous/funny song about a man who once sets his mind to do something, he just has to do it. (gung-ho)
Yunho: Yes, the song sounds a bit mischievous/naughty. The man does not learn a lesson.. or he is pretty confident about himself. He keeps his pace. He also acts like Casanova. I love the tone of music as it is like a musical. It is difficult to sing this song rhythmically, but I love this song because it shows the new side of us.
Q: In contrast, “CALLING” is the ballad of TOHOSHINKI.
Yunho: I felt, the dramatic music that I wanted to sing for a long time has returned to me. I guess songs like “SHIAWASE-IRO-NO-HANA” and “TREE OF LIFE” are similar. But “CALLING” needed more vocal skills/abilities. I was happy that we could demonstrate our power as vocalists through this song.
Q: It is a love song but also a song about a much bigger scale love. For example, it could be about parental love to children.
Yunho: This song is about a really large scale love/affection. To be honest with you, I still have not been able to fully understand the meanings of the lyrics. But some day, as a man, I will understand the feeling in depth.
Changmin: We just talked about the ability of a man to understand things..I think this is the song more than that.. it was a song about a mission of a man, or his ability. I want to protect someone special to me. no I have to. A little bit gentle but mostly strongly mannish. I like this song as much as I want this to be released as a single.
Q: Your second Five Dome Tour will kick off in February. Can you tell us about your enthusiasm for the upcoming tour at last?
Yunho: We have not really decided about the details yet. I wish to make everyone excited and impressed, and after the end of show, I hope everyone thinks “Ahh, I am so glad to be a fan of TOHOSHINKI.”
Changmin: I wanna make the stage where all our fans feel that they are connected to us TOHOSHINKI through our songs to the extent much more than in our previous concerts. I want to proof the existence of the bond between our fans and TOHOSHINKI through our songs.
Q: It has become a routine for you that you give a JAPANESE quick one-liner joke during your MC time. Have you found one for this concert?
Yunho: Recently our staff taught us, “Dame-yo~ Dame~ Dame~” (laugh) Dame= no
Changmin: Most likely we will do it at the tour. “Dame-yo~ Dame~ Dame~” is the joke that for the first time in a while that I wanted to do it.
Yunho: Changmin says “Dame-yo~ Dame~ Dame~” all the time. But for him being able to say that, his partner needs to keep telling him about something (for him to reject/deny)! I am his partner! (laugh). It is going to be really hard for me, so I am going to find a different gag (laugh).
Credit: EXCITE MUSIC
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