BOYNEXTDOOR is taking a giant leap forward. It’s no wonder that their latest mini-album is named The Action because nothing is truly stopping them now.
The six-member boy group, formed under HYBE and Zico’s label KOZ Entertainment, had quite a busy year with their first tour, Knock On Vol.1 Tour, and performing at Lollapalooza. Despite their tight schedules, the members—SUNGHO, RIWOO, JAEHYUN, TAESAN, LEEHAN, and WOONHAK— all managed to channel their songwriting skills in their free time and conceptualized their new release in a short amount of time. “All six of us really collaborated to make this music and album richer and fuller,” leader JAEHYUN says.
All five songs on The Action are enticing, bold, and vivacious. Just the first couple of seconds of “Live in Paris” are equipped with the familiar nostalgic tone that rings true to the BOYNEXTDOOR sound. “Hollywood Action” sonically transports you to an old-time film while also embracing a modern flair and kick. The same can be said about the music video for the song, where the members put their acting skills to the test and move and groove through a red carpet.
Below, we talked to the members about making the mini-album, collaborating with each other, and what to expect from them in the future.
Congratulations on your Lollapalooza performance a couple of months ago! I wanted to ask how that performance has impacted this release and your mindset in your music?
JAEHYUN: Lollapalooza was a stage that we were all dreaming of. We received so much energy performing there, and because it’s such a big stage, it motivated us in many ways and propelled us forward. So we thought of different ways to show ourselves in the future, and we really want to do our best in our future endeavors.
You just came out with No Genre not long ago, in May. What was it like conceptualizing, recording, and launching The Action in a short amount of time since then?
WOONHAK: We worked on our new album, The Action, and recorded it while we were promoting for No Genre. It definitely was a tight schedule, but we wanted to make sure that the quality was high up there, so we put all of our available time into this album. I believe that you can trust us with the quality of this album, and I hope you enjoy!
For the album trailer, many fans praised your acting! How has intersecting those two disciplines (acting and music) been like when creating the album’s concept?
TAESAN: On the outside, it seems like music and acting are two different disciplines, but I think they share the common thread that it’s all about expressing your emotions and your stories. So in that sense, they were similar.
For me, the lead single “Hollywood Action” has a big nostalgic feeling, and it feels like you’re in one of those old-timey movies since it had those silent film swing motifs in the music. You’ve visited the city lots of times for KCON and promotions. What were some memories or general inspirations you took away from the city or films that you wanted to convey in the song?
LEEHAN: LA is a very vibrant city. It’s very cinematic, too. So, I think those aspects of LA are incorporated into our song and album. And it’s not just LA, but all the different places and experiences that we have accumulated so far have been put into this album.
BOYNEXTDOOR has a pretty distinct sound in K-pop, and The Action still explores a variety of sounds and lyrics that ring true to your uniqueness. What has helped you become confident in your sound for this album?
TAESAN: When we’re on concerts and tours, we really felt the need for a track that would really hype up the audience and make them go crazy and jump. That’s what led to the lead single “Hollywood Action” for this album. Sometimes we want to go a little bit 90s, R&B-ish, and that’s why we came up with the song “As Time Goes By.” Depending on the moment and the feelings that we have, we work on that sound and that message and conveying that message to the audience. That’s how we create the very unique BOYNEXTDOOR sound.
Are there any lyrics or production features in The Action you want ONEDOOR to pay attention to closely? What do you want them to take away from the album as a whole?
RIWOO: When I heard the hook for the lead single, I really loved it. So, I hope people take a good listen to that. I think the big message of our new album, The Action is all about challenging yourself and putting yourself out there for new experiences. And just by the word “action,” you can feel that that was exactly the message that we wanted to put across as BOYNEXTDOOR. Every step of our journey is a challenge. Creating this album was a challenge too, but we were fearless and we wanted to go into it. For everyone who hears the song, I hope they would feel fearless and want to try new things.
What were some fun memories you had when making this mini-album?
LEEHAN: For the song “JAM!,” there was actually a moment when we were working on the same beat, but with a different message. We were working on a different song, basically with the same beat. I remember it was very late in the night. JAEHYUN and I were laughing, joking around, and having a lot of fun. We were exchanging ideas and sharing feedback. So, I remember that moment. I think the our team got even closer together.
Was there anything that creatively challenged you when making this mini-album?
JAEHYUN: I think releasing an album in and of itself is a challenge for us, because we never know if people are going to like it or if people are going to resonate with the message that we want to put across. We’re always a bit nervous to release a new album, but we also have high anticipation and expectations because we work really hard on the album.
SUNGHO: I guess the biggest challenge is communication because it’s always important to align ourselves into one message and something that we want to do together. Performance-wise and stage-wise, we had a lot of talks about what we wanted to do. Because as we have more singles and more albums, we want to do something that’s even more grand. It’s something that we would really love to etch into the memories of the fans. It’s also a very positive challenge that we were trying to talk amongst ourselves and share feedback amongst each other.
With it being your 5th mini-album, how has each member personally evolved with each release, and what aspect of your creativity do you want to continuously work on?
LEEHAN: It was my first time being on the album credits, and I had a lot of fun exchanging ideas with the members. I think it was a steep learning curve for me. Going forward, I want to put my name on the credits for the B-side tracks.
SUNGHO: Compared to when I was a trainee or when I just debuted, I now have a better grasp of the entire creative process and how we should perform and create our songs. I think it’s not just me, but it goes for all of the members; we matured as artists, and we’ve really gotten the hang of it. I think going forward, our ambition is to do better. Whether it be playing another musical instrument, composing, or writing songs, we want to push ourselves forward and grow as artists.
TAESAN: I’ve grown as an artist creating this album and working on this album. In the future, I want to really be better at all sorts of facets of our music, including composing, performance, and everything there.
RIWOO: As we were working on our album, we also had a lot of different shows, including being on Lollapalooza, the final show in Seoul, and the encore concert in Japan. I think all of those shows really served as a foundation for growth for us as performers I think performance is of utmost importance when it comes to me, so I want to make sure that all of our performances are really cool and can steal the hearts of our fans.
JAEHYUN: We’ve definitely matured as artists. I want to stack up all our experiences and put them in my music so we can have an even bigger scope.
WOONHAK: With every release, I feel that we have better teamwork, and then each one of us really knows what the role is there for them to play. That is leading to a lot of growth personally and artistically. We want to really maximize that, so we can be a team that could really, you know, win the hearts of many.
Since it’s almost the end of 2025, what can fans look forward to for BOYNEXTDOOR in 2026?
TAESAN: We’ll be back with a new album.
WOONHAK: 2025 was filled with so many promotions, albums, and shows for us, which means it will all feed back into our loop of growth. I believe that in 2026, you’ll be able to see a more mature BOYNEXTDOOR.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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