VERIVERY Know Exactly Where They Are With New EP, ‘Lost And Found’

VERIVERY’s ‘Lost And Found’ Exclusive images for Forbes

JELLYFISH ENTERTAINMENT

It had been nearly three years since VERIVERY released new music until now, with their latest EP, Lost and Found.

During that time, the group – consisting of Dongheon, Hoyoung, Minchan, Gyehyeon, Yeonho, Yongseung, and Kangmin – faced several members going on hiatus: leader Dongheon enlisted in August 2023 and was discharged earlier this year, and Minchan and Hoyoung are currently on leave due to health concerns. Four of the members continued with fan meetings for most of 2024, including a visit to the U.S. /

This year, with Dongheon’s return, the group reunited briefly before Dongheon, Gyehyeon, and Kangmin went to participate in Mnet’s BOYS II PLANET. The trio worked hard to remain in the competition, with Kangmin advancing to the Final 16 and finishing in ninth place. Though they did not make the newly formed group, they gained something much more: renewed contracts, a larger fanbase, and the return of VERIVERY.

Dongheon, Gyehyeon, Yeonho, Yongseung, and Kangmin were all cheerful, excited to talk about their new music over Zoom from Jellyfish Entertainment in Seoul. They’ve been working on the three tracks featured on the album: “Red (Beggin’),” a song that samples the classic Frank Valli and the Four Seasons’ 1967’s hit “Beggin,” but using VERIVERY’s sound; “empty,” a hyper pop-based track about the mind and complexity of emotions; and, “Blame Us,” a soft R&B dreamy ballad about falling in love, dedicated to their fans, VERRER.

“First of all, this comeback is after we participate in the survival program, BOYS II PLANET, and we are now able to enjoy this new promotion with even more fans and our existing fans who have been waiting for us,” Kangmin says, enthusiastically. “There are definitely some burdens and pressure coming with this new comeback, but more excitement. I’m really looking forward to it.”

The title of the EP captures the feeling the group had at one point: the obsession with losing or letting go of something, and the desperate struggle to find it. Then, when it is found, it symbolizes the group reclaiming everything they’ve lost.

“The phrase ‘Lost and Found’ definition is the place where you go to find your lost item,” Yongseung explains. “But we wanted to put a little bit of a witty twist to that. We define [the idea of LOST] for us as the time that we weren’t able to communicate or connect closely with our fans for the last two and a half years during our hiatus. FOUND [is us] getting over that time of hiatus and looking forward to memories with our fans moving forward. That is something we are willing to find from this album.”

The last two and a half years were a time of reflection and growth for the members, which Yongseung compares to a pupa stage before becoming a butterfly. “We are always looking forward to challenges and growth in ourselves, and that motivation comes from this album too. We are also looking forward to the new VERIVERY that we will be able to show with this new album and chapter. I’m sure our fans will look forward to that, and I’m looking forward to that as well.”

Below, VERIVERY talks about what they’ve learned during their hiatus, working on “Lost and Found,” and what their fans can expect from this new chapter.

Laura Sirikul: Though many of you were active these past two and a half years, how has that time prepared you for your new music?

Gyehyeon: During the hiatus, I took a lot of vocal lessons. I constantly thought about different ways I could improve as a vocalist. So I went back to the basics with lessons, and it reminded me of that time when we were trainees. It gave us another motivation to give our best again. It also made me realize, once again, how much I love dancing and singing — and how much I love this career. Being able to grow further as a vocalist – how I use my voice and the different vocal techniques – really helped me bring different and new aspects to this album too.

Sirikul: BOYS II PLANET is how I discovered you guys. After learning about you three, I wanted to know more about VERIVERY. How has being part of this competition prepared you for this comeback?

Dongheon: During my military service, I thought I had lost that sense of being an idol, or promoting as an idol. I felt quite distant from the stage that I used to be on. But thanks to BOYS II PLANET, I was able to find myself as an idol again. It was a great opportunity to reconnect with myself as an idol again.

Kangmin: It was a great opportunity for fans of BOYS II PLANET to learn more about me and the rest of VERIVERY and for [potential fans] to grow more interest in our activities. That’s why this album and promotion are very important: it’s a chance for us to imprint who we are on everyone.

Another big keyword for our new album is desperation. BOYS II PLANET was an opportunity for me to realize again how much I love the stage and how much we are grateful for our fans’ love and support. I’m so thankful for all the love and support for our stages and from our fans, and I’ll be able to really blend that gratitude, that emotion of gratitude, into our stages for this upcoming album.

Sirikul: How does it feel to bring in new fans who are introduced to you in this way?

Gyehyeon: First of all, I’m very proud of Kangmin. He’s the youngest member of our group. Seeing him compete in this program as an individual and go through so many different emotions – crying, laughing, and smiling with all the other trainees and artists – shows how much he’s grown as an artist. I was proud to see him, how loved he is, and how much progress he’s made on his own. As a big brother and member, I was proud of him. I want to thank Yeonho and Yongseung. Even though they didn’t participate in the program, they still watched the program via livestream [and supported us]. It also brought in more new fans for VERIVERY. It was a collective effort that we are being loved by so many people, and have more new fans now. We are grateful for all the love and support we’ve received from everyone, both new and existing fans.

Sirikul: Every album – whether in the name or the tracks – tells a story. What is the story you’re trying to say with Lost and Found?

Dongheon: Something that we always wanted to focus on is widening and broadening our musical range as VERIVERY for the album. We are ready to take on new challenges and confident [in our ability to do so]. From the three tracks in the album, we wanted to [declare] that we are always prepared to take on new challenges and new styles and genres. Even after seven years of activities together, we are never afraid to take those challenges.

I need to talk about “Red (Beggin’)”. The song originated with Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, but so many people have covered and sampled this song. What was the first version of the music you’ve heard that you remembered?

Dongheon: [laughs] Step Up 3D (2010)

Sirikul: I love it when younger artists cover or sample older artists’ music and adapt it to fit their style. What message did you guys want to convey in your version of this song?

Yeonho: With Lost and Found, we tried to encompass the message of our desperation and passion, and to reclaim the time that we lost. To us, “Beggin” is a strong word that asks for a favor, desperately asking for something. It encompasses our wish and determination to find out lost time and passion through this album and the title track. That’s the message we wanted to focus on.

Kangmin: It was a big challenge. The original song is very well known around the world, and there have been multiple covers. Reinterpreting and sampling this famous track was a big challenge for us, because we had our doubts about whether we could pull this off. Can we really make it into a VERIVERY track? But we have the ambition to turn it into a K-pop track that is very unique and will get more recognition and approval from the public and listeners if we do it well. We definitely wanted to take this on as a new challenge.

Sirikul: Are there other classic songs that you’d be interested in covering?

Yongseung: This just came to my mind, but it’s a very old track by Simon & Garfunkel, “The Sound of Silence.” It’s got a beautiful guitar melody. It’s very sentimental, and sometimes it has that lonesome life to it as well. It’ll be an interesting challenge for us to really make it our own into a VERIVERY track.

Dongheon: We are very humorous and funny. We are willing to take on new music. It would be interesting for us to reinterpret “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire. It’ll be a fun challenge for us to take on that funk-pop genre and make it our own.

Sirikul: Now, onto the other songs. Describe what “empty” means to you.

Gyehyeon: “empty” is the perfect song when you just want to empty your mind when you have too much going on or too many thoughts or schedules. It is a really nice track to listen to.

Kangmin: When we were recording this track, one of the directions from the director and producer was that it’s our job to be cool and show off that cool side, but to try not to think about it. Their direction was to try to really empty our brains and minds when recording the song. I really tried to do it, let go of all expectations and thoughts, and just enjoy the recording process. The same goes for the performance, too. I’m planning on just letting go of everything, emptying my mind, and just enjoying that moment.

Sirikul: Tell me about “Blame Us.” What does it mean?

Dongheon: This song came from the key phrase: “Blame on you,” and it’s a witty phrase about who is to blame when we fall in love. The beginning of the song might sound negative, but the narrator is blaming the other person for falling in love, but in the end, we realize we’re both at fault here. We are both in love. That was the backstory behind the song and its title.

Sirikul: Is there a song or lyric that really resonated with you?

Yeonho: I resonated with the title track, “Red (Beggin’).” This song has a special place in my heart because it expresses what we’ve been going through during our hiatus. We are ambitious and determined to reclaim or find the time we lost. The song does reference the emotion of love, but it speaks to something we aim to reclaim through this album. I really resonated with this. The song conveys where we are standing right now.

Sirikul: Two and a half years of hiatus. Now, a new album. Which era would you say VERIVERY is in?

Kangmin: This is my personal thought, but maybe our members could relate to this. It’s the time of feeling a little bit insecure and scared because we are about to make it into this new chapter. We are seeing more progress from here. There might be some things we are missing from now on, which gives a little bit of that insecurity and nervousness. That’s how I’d describe our current state as VERIVERY.

Yongseung: Since we had a long hiatus, I’d like to go back to my description earlier for the butterfly. We are now at the stage of drying our wings before blooming into the fly butterfly because we just gained our new set of wings with this album. We are heading into such big things in the future, and we have prepared so much for this moment. We are nervous but excited for this new chapter.

VERIVERY’s Lost and Found is available on every streaming platform. Physical copies are available at select retailers.