Deep inside Girls’ Generation chief and Ok-pop veteran Taeyeon’s third full-length album ‘INVU’, the vocal powerhouse finds herself plunging right into a harrowing, brutally trustworthy world of uncooked, turbulent feelings, leaving no room for hesitation or disgrace. From desperation and envy to obsession and longing, she dives into the ugliest, most weak depths of the emotional spectrum on the 13-track report, making it one of the crucial genuinely, and nicely, painfully human of her profession up to now.

‘INVU’ seems to be a pivotal level within the idol’s profession, seven years after her debut solo mini-album ‘I’. The depth of the report turns into much more important once we keep in mind that, regardless of proving herself a proficient lyricist, the star has famously been guarded along with her emotions and largely reluctant to put in writing her personal songs. “I’m nonetheless difficult myself, and attempting to be higher at expressing myself,” Taeyeon tells NME.

Her effort shines by way of on the rock-infused pop ballad ‘Can’t Management Myself’, which was the one tune on the report she co-wrote. “Repeating unhealthy days / I really feel depressing, emotions are operating out / It simply retains spinning like a unfastened ring / It doesn’t matter, I suppose that is how love is,” Taeyeon sings, resigning herself to a relationship that solely brings distress.

“I felt extra comfy expressing my feelings freely,” the singer says of her new report, which she reveals was curated along with her previous experiences and recollections in thoughts. Taeyeon provides that she had taken her time on this launch, meticulously reflecting on her emotions in nice depth and element. “From then on, tales got here collectively naturally […] which accomplished the album.”

With a profession as lengthy and illustrious as Taeyeon’s, the idol has tasted success in nearly each kind, reaching a degree the place awards and accolades are now not essential. That’s to not say that she has stopped successful them (that is the Taeyeon we’re speaking about, in any case), however her hope for this new period, she shares with NME, is straightforward: “I would love every individual to discover a tune that pertains to their present self.”

However even earlier than the discharge of ‘INVU’, Taeyeon had already confirmed that, for her, 2022 is all about venturing into uncharted territory. The singer kicked off the year as a member of GOT The Beat, a sub-unit of the newly minted SM Leisure supergroup Girls On Top that paired her with Ok-pop icon BoA, Women’ Era bandmate Hyoyeon, Red Velvet members Seulgi and Wendy, together with Karina and Winter of aespa.

“I might need not had the chance to get nearer to such nice individuals if it weren’t for [the group],” she remarks. “Working towards and performing with GOT The Beat members jogged my memory of my days as Women’ Era and the way enjoyable it was performing as a gaggle.” Whereas she was one of many extra seasoned members of the group, Taeyeon confesses that she was shocked by the skills of her youthful counterparts. “I used to be amazed by their ardour and power,” she provides, later singling out aespa as a gaggle she is “excited” to observe develop over as “superb artists” within the coming years.

Exterior of SM Entertainment, Taeyeon and Women’ Era have been and stay one of many best inspirations for aspiring idols and teams throughout the Ok-pop trade and, arguably, past. “I’m grateful, however on the identical time there’s a little little bit of strain as a result of it takes effort to at all times current one of the best model of myself,” she admits of the sheer variety of trade hopefuls who’ve named her as their function mannequin.

“Nonetheless, it does really feel good to obtain such compliments, and it motivates me to grow to be one of the best model of myself.” The star goes on to share her personal phrases of encouragement for future stars within the more and more cutthroat Ok-pop world: “Keep robust.”

“I don’t need them to do something unwillingly,” she elaborates. “I hope they really feel assured in expressing themselves in order that they will grow to be [the] distinctive artists that they’re.”

But the Ok-pop trade isn’t at all times as ruthless because it appears; generally a silver lining may be present in between the relentless schedules and intense competitors. Taeyeon brings up her tight friendship with the members of Women’ Era, even if the group have been on an indefinite hiatus since 2017, when the completely different members embark on their very own solo careers.

She shares that the members of Women’ Era stay nearer than ever, sometimes catching each other up on their solo endeavours over “a drink or two” or spontaneously crashing one another’s dwell broadcasts on Instagram. “We might additionally reminisce concerning the previous and share recollections,” she provides fondly of the lady group’s gatherings. “We all know one another higher than anybody else, so it at all times appears like house once we’re all collectively.”

Taeyeon’s newest studio album ‘INVU’ is out now.