Pop stardom at its highest level often means living under constant scrutiny. For many artists, the easiest way to survive is by building a wall of perfection around themselves while creating music. But with their second studio album, PUREFLOW pt.1, HYBE’s K-pop group LE SSERAFIM have chosen a different path. Instead of pretending to be fearless, they have embraced vulnerability. The album captures five women navigating the pressures of an industry that never slows down while learning to accept their imperfections.
The approach has clearly resonated worldwide, with PUREFLOW pt.1 debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, becoming their fifth Top 10 entry on the Billboard 200, and selling more than half a million physical copies in its first week. At the centre of this new era is ‘BOOMPALA’, a vibrant Latin house track that samples the iconic ‘Macarena’ while carrying a deeper message about confronting fear and finding joy in the process.
In their first editorial exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, members SAKURA, HUH YUNJIN, KAZUHA and HONG EUNCHAE speak about their creative evolution, learning to embrace vulnerability and stepping into their roles as creators rather than just performers. Group leader KIM CHAEWON did not participate in the interview as she is on a temporary hiatus after suffering a severe neck injury in May. However, their label Source Music confirmed on June 18 that she has recovered and will officially resume her scheduled activities from next week onwards.
Fear isn’t the enemy anymore
HT: The concept that fear is an ‘illusion created by thoughts’ can sound highly abstract on paper. Can you pinpoint a specific, concrete moment during the last three years where a daunting professional fear simply dissolved because you shifted your perspective? What did that mental transition actually feel like in your body?
HONG EUNCHAE: On my birthday in 2023, YUNJIN gave me a journal as a gift. Since then, whenever I’ve felt overwhelmed, scared, or uncertain, I’ve turned to writing in it. Whenever I open the journal to write, I often come across entries about emotions I felt in the past and realize that, with time, they weren’t as big as they seemed back then. It reminds me that the fear and hardship I’m experiencing now aren’t tangible things, nor are they permanent. They’re simply emotions that will eventually pass. I’ve grown to see fear not as a threat, but as a sign pointing toward something I truly desire.
HT: By subverting Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein line into “We are not fearless, and therefore powerful,” you have fundamentally redefined your group’s thesis. In an industry as K-pop, is absolute fearlessness even a desirable or sustainable goal for a human being?
SAKURA: I think it’s actually difficult for anyone in this world, not just people in K-pop, to say that they have no fears. I believe fear is made up of many different emotions beyond just being scared. The kind of fear we’re talking about in our music can come from the pressure of living up to expectations we have for ourselves. It can come from wanting to do even better at something we deeply love, which creates a sense of tension. It can also come from reflecting on what gives our existence meaning while working as part of a team.
That’s why I don’t think fear necessarily comes from purely negative thoughts. In many cases, it exists because something truly matters to us. Rather than trying to avoid it, I think the stronger person is someone who accepts that fear and continues to move forward despite it.
The art of storytelling
HT: There is a potential reading that sampling a ubiquitous pop culture artifact like the Macarena for your title track BOOMPALA is deeply ironic, almost a provocation daring critics to dismiss the song. Yet, your core message about facing fear is entirely sincere. How do you hold the earnestness of your message and the playful irony of your musical choices in perfect balance?
KAZUHA: I think we always choose music that can best convey the message we want to share. With our focus track BOOMPALA, the message we wanted to express was, “Even in the face of fear, we can let go and simply enjoy the moment together.”
Just like the dance for Macarena, we felt it was important to include elements that anyone could easily join in on. We also saw the simple act of letting go of stress through music and dance as part of the message itself. I don’t think sincerity and fun are opposites. They’re just different ways of expressing the same message. By sampling the Macarena, a song people love worldwide, I think the track delivers an even brighter and more uplifting energy. I hope BOOMPALA can bring a sense of positivity and comfort to people all around the world, and become a song that everyone can enjoy together.
HT: In Sonder, the overwhelming realization that every passing stranger is the main character of their own vivid, complex universe. What was the creative reasoning behind pairing such a massive philosophical concept with the rhythmic, circular, and comforting motion of a classic pop-waltz?
HUH YUNJIN: Sonder is when you realize you are not the only one in this world, that others have just as complex a universe inside them as you do. A waltz is a dance between two people. It is not a dance you can do alone. That sentiment of expanding your world lives in both the music and the philosophy, and it made sense for those two themes to meet. Sonically, too, it fit the message so well.
HT: The vocal production direction for PUREFLOW pt.1 pushed you to chant and declaim rather than use traditional melodic pop singing. How do you find nuanced emotional expression within a vocal style that is so inherently rhythmic, percussive, and rigid?
KAZUHA: Since many of the songs weren’t driven primarily by melody, we spent a lot of time thinking about how to express them effectively. We tried to approach the recordings almost like acting and paid close attention to the tone of our voices, our breathing, and even our pronunciation to convey the emotions and message of each song. Every member put their heart into bringing these tracks to life, so I hope people listen to them with an open heart and find something meaningful in them.
HT: PUREFLOW pt.1 spans Latin house, punk, funk, melodic techno, and hardstyle. Do you view this vast sonic palette as an evolution of your identity, or is genre simply an expression of a unified emotional state that requires different musical textures to fully breathe?
SAKURA: I think the message we want to share has always remained consistent. Since our debut, we’ve explored the idea of fear from many different perspectives, and when we’re creating music, the first thing we ask ourselves is always: ‘What kind of music will allow that message to shine the most?’ Even when the emotions and message we want to express are the same, choosing a genre feels a lot like an artist choosing between watercolors, oil paints, or pencils. The subject may be the same, but each medium brings out different qualities and conveys it in a different way.
Difficult conversations and letting go of perfection
HT: For the interlude Need Your Company, you write beautifully about navigating different emotional speeds within a group. Was there a specific moment of friction or realization within the team that made you feel this exact emotion needed to be documented on the album?
HUH YUNJIN: I think in any sort of relationship, there comes a time where you question where you are in terms of emotional transparency. Especially when you are in a team, you are constantly questioning if you are looking in the same direction. “Am I as important to you as you are to me?”; “I want us to be a true team. I want to lean on you, do you feel the same?” There were definitely some times when the members misunderstood one other.
We have had uncomfortable conversations like any close knit group of friends can have. We wanted to document that desire to understand each other despite our differences in this album that reflects our growth as a team, because that trust we built has been such a key part in us finding a safe place in one another and growing stronger as LE SSERAFIM.
HT: It feels like Need Your Company is the emotional zenith of the record, as the Korean subtitle translates to ‘How can we continue being together?’—a sobering question about the preservation of love rather than its euphoric beginning. After everything you have navigated collectively, did you ever genuinely ask each other this question? What was the answer?
HUH YUNJIN: The biggest answer was to respect each other’s pace and differences in lifestyle. You can never change another person. You can only positively influence each other’s mindsets and daily lives by living as authentically and kindly as possible. I think that has definitely helped us grow more compassionate, trusting, honest, and supportive people.
HT: In Irony, you sing about the immense liberation that arrived only after letting go of a long-pursued image: “The more I try to grasp it, the more it slips… My heart feels strangely lighter.” What was the specific image you were fighting so hard to maintain, and what did that strangely lighter reality feel like when you finally let it slip away?
SAKURA: I think there was always a lot of pressure to constantly show our best selves. And as idols, I also felt that we were expected to only show positive sides of ourselves. But through our behind-the-scenes contents and the process of making music, we’ve had more opportunities to share the more human sides of ourselves—the parts that aren’t always easy to show.
When fans see that, they often tell us, “LE SSERAFIM worry, cry, and laugh just like I do. But they keep getting back up and moving forward.” Hearing that they’ve found courage through our stories has meant a lot to us. We may never be perfect, but I hope we can continue to be a team that encourages people to embrace and love themselves as they are.
Slowing down in a world that never stops
HT: Trust Exercise feels like wanting to approach a relationship slowly, asking, “Can you wait for me at the slow pace of my heart?” In an industry where everything moves at a breakneck, hyper-kinetic speed, when did you last feel you desperately needed that “slow pace” just to preserve your own well-being?
HONG EUNCHAE: There are definitely times when, in a world that moves so fast, I feel anxious—as if I’m constantly being chased by something. But in those moments, I try to ground myself by looking at the people around me and reminding myself that it’s okay to move at our own pace. Even if we’re a little slower than others, what matters is continuing forward together, in our own way. That’s the mindset I try to hold onto.
HT: The album closes with Liminal Space, a skit featuring a raw, unedited conversation recorded inside a moving car during your actual schedule. Why was it vital for you to include the literal acoustic atmosphere of a vehicle in transit on a studio album?
SAKURA: Since PUREFLOW pt.1is an album that opens a new chapter for us, we felt that ending it with a track that feels like it’s leading into the next story was more fitting than ending with a traditional outro that brings everything to a close. In a way, that felt very similar to our own journey right now. I also think that incorporating real sounds while we’re in transit makes the song feel even more personal. It allows listeners to feel closer to LE SSERAFIM beyond the stage, and makes it one of the songs that most clearly captures our real story.
HT: Creatures plays like the sound of five women trying to survive hyper-exposure and public scrutiny by turning the ambient pressure into pure, distorted noise. The lyric “I wanna make your head bang” feels less like an invitation to a party and more like an exorcism of accumulated frustration. Was there a specific moment during this album’s creation where you felt less like polished idols and more like desperate “creatures”?
HUH YUNJIN: Of course. I think the act of even bringing out your honest story is an act of rebellion against perfection. Honesty itself is not polished. From the start, especially with this album, but even when we debuted, we accepted that we are flawed “creatures.” But these flaws exist in everyone. By accepting them, we are able to see that you and I are the same. That solidarity is something that is unattainable without vulnerability.
HT: In an environment of immense professional pressure, is it sometimes significantly harder to admit to the small, irrational fears than the profound, existential ones?
SAKURA: This album, in particular, featured so many different genres and so many songs that at first I was unsure whether I could record all of them. But it really pushed me to think deeply about how I could approach each song and express its emotions in a unique way. Through that process, I was able to discover new aspects of my voice that I didn’t even know existed.
Looking back, I think all the time I spent challenging myself became an opportunity for growth. In a way, it’s similar to the message of BOOMPALA, which is that the fear you’re feeling today can become tomorrow’s joy. Our music often ends up giving us courage as well. We draw strength from the messages we share just as much as the people who listen to them do.
From performers to creators
HT: Looking back at your debut with FEARLESS, your role was primarily to interpret a highly sophisticated, predetermined concept. Four years later on PUREFLOW pt.1, your names are all over the credits—with Yunjin establishing herself as a core conceptualist and songwriter, and Chaewon, Sakura, Kazuha, and Eunchae deeply involved in writing tracks. What has been the learning curve in shifting from being performers who execute a vision to creators who construct an album from the ground up?
KAZUHA: As we’ve come to work on many albums, I’ve developed a deeper interest in and passion for the creative side of the process. I’m still far from perfect, but I try to approach it with the mindset of learning step by step through experience and continuing to challenge myself along the way. Because these songs tell our story, I also feel a strong sense of responsibility to express them as authentically and thoughtfully as possible.
A global era and a message for Indian FEARNOT
While the 2026 PUREFLOW World Tour expands beautifully into North America and marks your highly anticipated debut across Europe, India is not yet on the routing map. Knowing how passionately the Indian FEARNOT community has grown, especially with recent major HYBE India pop-ups in cities like Mumbai, if you were to design a dream stadium show for India in the future, what specific energy would a LE SSERAFIM concert there absolutely need to have?
HONG EUNCHAE: I’ve heard that FEARNOT in India are incredibly passionate. I think our performances are truly brought to life with the audience, so I’m especially looking forward to experiencing Indian FEARNOT’s energy firsthand. I hope we’ll have the chance to meet them very soon!
HT: If your debut era was the thesis “No fear equals strength” and PUREFLOW is the antithesis “Fear faced equals strength”, what does the final synthesis look like for LE SSERAFIM’s third act? Once you have fully embraced and processed your vulnerabilities, what is the ultimate definition of power for this group?
HUH YUNJIN: That is such a heavy question so I’m not quite sure how to respond… but once you face fear, you will struggle with fear again. You can forget fear, you can love fear. You can become fear. But in the end, I think the ultimate definition of power for LE SSERAFIM has always been, and will always be, resilience: the ability to keep getting back up and believing in yourself.
LE SSERAFIM will kick off their 2026 PUREFLOW World Tour at the Incheon Inspire Arena on July 11 and 12 before heading worldwide.
