Every time Onewe release an album, it feels like a Onewe year. However, 2025 has a special feeling already — and it is only March.
Although Planet Nine: Isotropy was released almost a year ago and the band released two single albums in the final three months of 2024, this past year has honestly felt incredibly long. However, it is time to celebrate Onewe: Kanghyun and Yonghoon have successfully completed their military service; Giuk changed his stage name from CyA (plus he released two solo EPs in 2023); and the band is gearing up to host concerts in Vietnam and North America for the first time. After six-plus years as Onewe, the five members finally have the opportunity to share their music with international fans — and in person, too!
With all of these exciting developments for Onewe, it is no wonder their newest album is called WE : Dream Chaser. Released on March 5, the 11-track project is a culmination of the years Onewe have dedicated to creating their distinct sound and to challenging their artistry. The foundations of WE : Dream Chaser are rooted in what listeners have historically heard in Onewe’s music. Ballads and heart-crushing lyrics still make notable appearances. However, the band’s second full-length album pushes their sound the furthest, so far.
Since they are Onewe, of course they hang out among the stars, but there is a particular groundedness found in their storytelling in this album. In WE : Dream Chaser, the five focus on the painful moments of romantic relationships and the painful moments of chasing your dreams to the point that you lose yourself. Production-wise, Onewe emphasize experimenting. Each member contributed at least one track — and listeners can tell. Despite Yonghoon, Kanghyun, Harin, Dongmyeong, and Giuk all having special songwriting flavors, these differences simply add layers to Onewe’s story. In addition, this aspect only serves the meaning behind their band name: There are many individuals and many colors in this “we,” yet they still remain “one.”
From the very first line of the album, Onewe pull no punches. “Where are you running to so fast / Leaving everything behind on the road?” Yonghoon questions. Onewe understand the allure of dreams, but they probably know from first-hand experience that it is not worth it to lose yourself in the midst of chasing after what you want.
Throughout the 11-track album (an actual full-length album! With three-minute-plus songs! Which are all new!), Onewe explore this idea of “dreams” through romantic relationships and through their relationship with themselves. Poetic, vulnerable, and sometimes piercingly simple, the lyrics also shine as bright as the varied production found in the 40-minute project.
Onewe open WE : Dream Chaser with a reference to one of the most famous written works related to dreams. If “Veronica” is about Guik’s cute childhood crush, “Alice” goes for a darker, more sinister and existential side of the band’s lyricism. Taking Alice In Wonderland and putting a Onewe spin on it, a world out of control surrounds them. What can you do, though, but face it with a smile on your face?
As Giuk raps,
Hi Alice, escaping your world painted red
‘You can stay here longer’
Falling deeper into this labyrinth (Please, Cheshire) Facing my slump once again
Welcome, 364 days a year
Let’s throw a party every day and enjoy
My Underland in an illusion
Enemies all around, killing my baddies
Celebrating even though it’s not my birthday, Alice
Onewe are surrounded by chaos — both inside themselves and outside — and the instrumental reflects this. Kanghyun first plucks his electric guitar, starting with a lower note before rising gently. However, the notes always fall before the bass and drums kick in. Then they launch into the gripping chorus, which features a healthy amount of guitar reverb, crashing drums, and belted voices.
Through this stunning album opener, the band bring uncertainty (and even fear) to the forefront of their usually hopeful discography. Despite this chaos and this questioning, Onewe still chase their dreams in the face of challenges hurdling their way. By the end of “Alice,” it feels like Onewe have captured this Alice In Wonderland quote:
“For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.” — Chapter 1, Down the Rabbit-Hole
“Alice” launches the side of the album that investigates dreams in relation to the self. Driven by the vocalists’ falsettos and a boom whap of a drum, Onewe experiment with the production and the lyrics in “EVILDOER.” Written by Giuk, (and complete with a long title that translates to “The villain waits for the hero’s transformation”) the track feels like an offshoot of his solo work. But, from the opening lines “I’m not the person / You think I am,” the band look you in the eye and challenge your perception of them.
In this story, the band is unexpectedly the villain — or rather, seen as the villain. Told from this perspective, Giuk and the vocalists alternate in the chorus: “Everyone must die for a happy end / I don’t want to be / The villain in this drama.”
If “EVILDOER” plays with outside perception and the impact on how you view yourself, Onewe cheer themselves up in “Rise Again.” Written by Giuk and Harin, the group almost shouts lines like “Who am I?” in the chorus. Then they turn around and shout with equal amounts of energy, “Don’t give up!” As they do so, the instruments also rise again, both sound-wise and energy-wise.
In “Rise Again,” the five members break from boredom, from being a “machine,” from “liv[ing] in a daze.” The thing that shakes them out of the daze? Music. However, having music literally be your career is no sunshine and rainbows. Maybe this track is also for Yonghoon, Kanghyun, Harin, Dongmyeong, and Giuk (the latter alone has “394 files of lyrics”) for when they need a little cheering up.
Nothing beats the feeling of finding melodies, lyrics, and your music once again — a stark contrast to the slump they sing about in opener “Alice.” Just as they express in the hook of “Rise Again:” “Turn on light, who we are / A melody and the stories of us.”
The last track in this introspection thread is the Dongmyeong-penned “All the Things I Love.” If you have been a Weve for a few years, you could probably tell this song has Dongmyeong literally written all over it. From the jazzy feel to the no-fuss lyrics that share resonant truths, “All the things I love” brings Onewe’s vocalist and pianist’s thoughts to the forefront.
There is no complicated story found in this track. A little swing and pretty piano lines form the foundation for the production. Dongmyeong sings,
The simple dream I have,
Just an ordinary, quiet day
A woody scent and jazz
Filled with things I love
Onewe ask listeners to think about how time itself can be a gift and a dream. What if having time to know yourself and the simplest things you want is also a worthy dream? In response to the question posed in “All the things I love” — “Why is it so hard to live brilliantly” — maybe this brilliance comes with living your own life. And more importantly, living it the way you want to live it.
Onewe then focus their attention on romance-inspired stories. Through “Traffic love,” “Coincidence,” “Endless,” and “Dreamcatcher,” the band captures playful songs and classic Onewe ballads about dreams. In “Traffic Love,” the band are truly having fun. Harin keeps a frantic beat on the drums, for example, while the track opens with an amping up aux and an alarm-like sound.
The lyrics, meanwhile, unexpectedly compare traffic with a frustrating romance. This love is full of rules that don’t make sense, emphasized by Yonghoon’s line: “No matter how much I study your traffic rules / My mind keeps freezing up / One-sided notice is making another mess.” The members get traffic tickets and halt at red lights, but they are “walking” on the “one-way street” at the end of the day.
“Coincidence,” penned by Yonghoon, slows down the chaotic energy of “Traffic Love.” Nestled halfway through WE : Dream Chaser, Onewe return to their ballad roots with this track full of a swaying rhythm and elegant harmony. Beneath the surface of the romantic instrumentals are very angsty lyrics. (But what else do we expect…this is Onewe after all, where you can be headbanging one moment and then crying the next.) The aching desire in lines such as “All I ever wanted was to meet you / Under the excuse of breathing the same air / Disguising confidence as fate” leans into the “Dream Chaser” angle of the project.
The juxtaposition between vulnerable dreams and gentle production also makes its way into the Kanghyun-written and produced song, “Endless.” Soft electric guitar moments and playfulness woven into the track fool listeners. “Endless” takes a breakup story and strengthens the heartbreaking lyrics with the gentleness surrounding it.
In “Endless,” where only Yonghoon and Dongmyeong’s voices appear, the “we” of the album title might refer to a one-way love. But there are still hopeful dreams attached to this romance — and so Onewe try to chase it and try again once more. As Dongmyeong sings,
If you let go of us
We would shatter in an instant,
Impossible to pick up
And disappear just like that
Yet, disappearing is not the most painful part. It is remembering and thinking about what you had before. Onewe attempt to convince themselves to finally let go of this dream. But it is not easy to let go of the person you created your world around: “I should forget, I have to forget / You and I, who burned so brightly. ”
Giuk brings “running” and “chasing” themes into his self-penned song, “Dreamcatcher.” In fact, his first lyrics are “Run away, run away, I run away into your arms.” The hook also digs deeper into their “dream” concept, including referencing Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
No matter how much I chase, I can never reach you
Under the same sky, yet in different places
We were just a midsummer night’s dream
Truly yummy little bass slaps complement the sharp melody. This very Giuk-esque production puts the young rapper’s stamp all over the track. The individual songwriting colors of each member are all over this album, more so than past projects. Although they are working with similar themes and concepts, there are distinctive pieces that cause listeners to think, “That’s for sure a _____ song.” Together, however, they make Onewe — an experimenting Onewe, who consistently push themselves to play with new sounds and new structures.
The remaining three tracks on WE : Dream Chaser meet at the intersection of the two main themes. Dreams with regard to the self (internal) and dreams in the context of romance (external), along with Onewe’s love of the stars, meld into what became “Starry Night.” The title track of their second full-length album, “Starry Night” is different enough from past lead singles, but still possesses a Onewe B-side sound. (Think “Veronica” and “Meteor Shower,” for example.)
Onewe divert from the pop ballad title track sound they have tended to highlight. “Starry Night,” meanwhile, is a song which leads with a playful rising-and-falling synth-based hook. The band weave together memories, time, and the universe into a story driven by energetic drums and a love now gone. Their “little star,” the guiding light in their life, is only in their memories. A hint of tragedy bleeds into the lyrics:
Travel back in time and look back on my memories
All I would see are the paths that I took with you
We run across the starry night
I look at you coming after me from far away
It makes sense why “Starry Night” was chosen as the lead single, with strength underscoring both the romantic and dream side of WE : Dream Chaser. In addition, it is well-situated to continue Onewe’s musical universe. However, there are so many gems in this 11-track project that need to be listened to, including the four and half minute “Indelible.”
A word meaning a pen or ink mark that cannot be removed, “Indelible” makes a subtle connection to the band’s Memory: Illusion EP. (More veteran Weves might remember that there is a track named “Eraser” on the project too — do what you wish with this information.) Soft, tragic romantics return in this new song, penned by Harin and Yonghoon. “Indelible” could be viewed from a romantic angle, but the lyrics could also be a conversation between your old self and your present self — maybe even your future self.
With a light drum beat and gently soaring vocals, Onewe ask unanswerable questions: “Will I be able to meet you in the mirror that reflects my memories? / Would I recognize you? Would I hesitate?” Despite these fears that pose challenges to their dreams, the memories still linger. The body remembers, even if the brain does not. As Dongmyeong and Yonghoon sing, tag-teaming the outro, “Even if the memory fades / I’ll come find you again / That scene will remain as the memory I can’t forget.”
On the flip side, Onewe close their album by remembering in “Sole Star.” A fan song that will probably make their North American tour set list, the band compares their fans to “the brightest star,” which is “clear and sparkling.” Yet, it was not easy to find this star because they had to search for it “Among countless stars and the vast world.”
It is difficult to listen to this track and not think about where Onewe started with their universe series: “Regulus.” In our universe, Regulus is one of the brightest stars; now in Onewe’s universe, their fans are their Regulus. In this final song, Onewe forgo a pop ballad route. Instead, Kanghyun and his electric guitar are back with full force. A hint of strings make an appearance, and so do some well-earned “woahs,” to conclude WE : Dream Chaser with a signature Onewe flourish.
One thing Onewe truly excel at is pushing their sound to new heights (no pun intended) with every release. They are not afraid to experiment with genre, with structure, with lyrical inspiration. The five members refuse to get too comfortable in the tried-and-true — and successful — sound they have built over these past five-plus years. This is probably why it is genuinely difficult to spot the title track in WE : Dream Chaser (I dove into this album without even looking up the lead single). I would rather wait a year or more for Onewe’s new albums because the wait is so worth it: Yonghoon, Kanghyun, Harin, Dongmyeong, and Giuk then have time to collect stories, sounds, and ideas.
In 2019, Seoulbeats wrote about “Regulus,” asserting that Onewe are “stars in the making.” Well, what a full-circle moment it is to realize that these stars are making their way over to North America next month! They did not have to sacrifice their band’s identity or sound to achieve this dream. As Onewe do, they are still chasing their dreams and still encouraging others to do the same.
On a personal note, it is such a privilege and an honor to write about Onewe and their artistry. Five years truly fly by. As listeners soak in WE : Dream Chasers, make sure to remember where they came from, where they are now, and where they are heading. It is truly wonderful to be back in the Onewe universe.
(YouTube. Lyrics via Genius and Lyricsfa. Images via RBW Entertainment.)
