Five years into their career, K-pop boyband CRAVITY are in an era of transformation. Returning six months after their last release with their second album Dare to Crave, the nine-member act chart new territory on the record, gaining more creative control over their sonic and lyrical exploration.
Led by the genre-mashing “SET NET G0?!”, an exhilarating mix of soaring pop melodies and electro-funk stylings, Dare to Crave is a statement of who CRAVITY is, member ALLEN tells us. And true enough, their fingerprints are all over the record. All nine members of the group wrote lyrics and music for the album, a first for the group. The album also sees them splitting up into units for the first time, with the group breaking into trios to tackle genres from dreamy, atmospheric pop to dark and sultry R&B.
Ahead of their return with Dare to Crave, we caught up with CRAVITY to discuss the meaning behind the new record, their favourite new tracks and their achievements over the past five years.
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Congratulations on your comeback with Dare to Crave! This record is about the courage to express desire—what do you desire the most from this release?
ALLEN: We wanted to make a statement out of this album, which is why we dared to make a jump up [to try something new]. We wanted to show the world what CRAVITY is all about and be unapologetic about it.
The lead single “SET NET G0?!” is an anthem about moving forth—what motivates you to push forward in life?
TAEYOUNG: Our fans, LUVITY, our parents, family, close friends and also our members.
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Can you share your personal favourite tracks from the album, and why they are special to you?
MINHEE: My favourite is “Marionette”, it’s a sexy song! I love this song.
TAEYOUNG: “SWISH”, I think the choreography for it will be really great.
JUNGMO: My favourite is “Wish Upon A Star”, I like the song’s mood.
WOOBIN: My favourite song is “SET NET G0?!”.
SERIM: My favourite song is “Marionette’, because it’s a sexy song.
WONJIN: My favourite song is “Wish Upon A Star” because it’s my first self-made song.
SEONGMIN: My favourite is “SWISH”, because I love the lyrics.
HYEONGJUN: My favourite song is “On My Way”, because it’s very emotional.
ALLEN: And my favourite is “Underdog”, because it was given to us by our hyung, Joohoney from MONSTA X, and it’s such a good song, and I think our fans will really love that song.
You're also releasing your first-ever unit tracks—tell us about the songs and how the members were chosen to perform them.
ALLEN: We were given the chance to write lyrics for these unit songs, and the members were chosen to perform each track based on our image, I suppose. You can sort of tell [based on] the units what each song will be like, and the kind of performances we’re going to do with them.
How has your teamwork evolved over time, and how do you make sure everyone’s desires and voices are heard?
ALLEN: I feel like we take into consideration each other’s thoughts and feelings, and yeah, we just communicate well with each other all the time. So there’s really no conflict where some members might feel unheard. We’re all pretty open with each other about our desires.
So much of your music is about devoting yourself to achieving your ambitions. That being said, what are the most meaningful achievements you have accomplished in the past five years?
WOOBIN: [It’s meaningful] how we’ve been able to gradually increase our participation in each album.
TAEYOUNG: I would say CRAVITY’s world tour. Our first world tour was a really happy [moment]. Accomplishing the world tour.
ALLEN: We won Road to Kingdom.
JUNGMO: And winning first place on Music Bank.
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What is the next achievement CRAVITY would like to accomplish before the end of 2025?
ALLEN: I want to see you in person! Hopefully, we'll get the opportunity to perform in Singapore. We haven't been to Singapore since our debut, so it would be lovely. We know we have a lot of fans waiting for us there. And hopefully, we'll be able to make a [tour] stop. I'm manifesting.
Finally, what do you hope fans will take away from this album?
ALLEN: Just as the title of the album, Dare to Crave, suggests, we hope our fans won't be afraid to reach for their dreams and [have the courage to] desire what they want. We want them to be bold, to go forward and dive into their dreams face on. Hopefully, they can feel as empowered as we were while preparing for this album. And we also hope to make tons of memories together while we promote the album.
WONJIN: Since all the members participated in writing and composing for this album, we put a lot of thought into LUVITY while working on the lyrics. We hope you'll listen closely to the messages CRAVITY wants to share with LUVITY through the songs.
*This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.