By Hasan Beyaz
Kang Hayoon has been writing songs long enough to know they can scare him. Not the process – he loves that – but the honesty of it. "I sometimes fear myself too when I get too sincere," he says, and it's one of those admissions that reframes everything that follows. Because Unfold, his debut album as LU, is sincere in exactly that way. There's nowhere to hide in a record like this, and he knows it.
The album moves through longing, late-night obsession, and emotional knots that resist untangling – but it ends somewhere warm. "Night Night," the closing track, was written with a lullaby feeling in mind. After everything that came before it, he wanted to land somewhere calm, built around gratitude for the people we don't always say enough to. It works because the rest of the album earns it.
LU describes love as something mystical when it meets music, the kind of feeling that expands even when you're alone with it. "It makes me feel like I've become the Little Prince," he says of writing through emotion, and the image lands. There's something romantic about how he approaches songwriting: not as craft first, but as confession.
He's described this record as the version of himself he dreamed of becoming as a child. That's a lot to carry for a debut. But Unfold doesn't buckle under it. It simply opens – and on his own terms, finally.
Unfold is your first solo release. When you think about this album, what feeling comes to you first – excitement, nerves, or something else?
Since it’s my first solo album, I’ve experienced both: the excitement of expectation as well as nervousness. While making this album, the emotion that I felt the most personally was excitement, but at the same time, I kept thinking “Would people like this record?” and I guess that’s where the nervousness creeps in. I want the Unfold album to be the beginning of my career, a raw representation of what I am through music.
Every track on this album carries your name as a writer. What does it mean to you to release music that is fully yours like this?
I write my personal stories, as I am a singer-songwriter. I sometimes think, would people understand if I get too honest? I sometimes fear myself too when I get too sincere… However, moving forward, I want to write more sincere stories, and I have the confidence that people will enjoy it. I trust myself, and I am going to do it my way.
The album is called Unfold. What does that word mean to you personally?
Since Unfold marks the beginning of my journey, it feels like the start of opening myself up. I have so many things I want to showcase moving forward, expressing more of me, so I am really looking forward to what’s ahead.
"Red Flowers In My Garden" opens the album with a very visual idea – a misty forest that slowly grows into something bigger. When you write, do you usually start with a picture in your mind, or does the feeling come first?
I get inspired from so many different things when I write my music. Sometimes I experiment with various ideas until something clicks and I start building from that, and other times a melody comes to me first and I follow that instinct. For this track, “Red Flowers In My Garden” it came together after trying out different things until a strong image formed in my mind. So I tend to focus on both the emotional side and the imagery when I create.
“Got Me Freaking Lost Too" was written overnight – you started late at night and kept going until it was done. What does it feel like when a song takes over like that? Does it happen often?
To be honest, if it’s a song that feels good to me and I believe it has the values I want to convey, it doesn’t matter to me how long it takes, I just get immersed in it. I find it fun when I fully focus on it. It doesn’t happen very often, but I think it’s what makes the song more special.
"Behind the Door" was finished in two days with a producer. How is writing with someone else different from writing alone?
When I work alone, there are things I couldn’t quite bring out on my own, but working with producers and finding that synergy together made the process really enjoyable. So moving forward, I’d love to collaborate with more producers. You never really know what great things might come out of it. I’m always the kind of artist who wonders, “What’s something new and special? What could be a different direction?” So having someone to create with is honestly the best-case scenario.
"Tangled" started as a different song called "Tango" and changed as you worked on it. How do you know when a song has become what it needs to be?
That’s right. I originally planned to use ‘Tango’ instead of ‘Tangled’. However, the storyline of the song took a different turn that didn’t match the word ‘Tango’ anymore, but at the same time I didn’t want to lose the nuanced way that it’s pronounced. So I searched for a word that would have a similar pronunciation, and that’s how I ended up with ‘Tangled’. So I got another idea “Oh, then I can express something that feels tangled” and that’s how this song came about.
"Bite My Lips" is about wanting someone but not being able to say it out loud. Is it easier to express that kind of feeling through music than in real life?
You’re absolutely right. In fact, I’m so sincere about the emotion of love that I could easily fill all ten tracks of my album with songs about it. I believe love is something that so many people truly need. It’s also an emotion that allows you to have fun and imagine so many things, even when you're by yourself, so just imagine how mystical it becomes when it meets music. I enjoy that feeling. However, I find it much more comfortable to express myself through music. It’s fun, and when a melody is added, the sincerity feels twice as strong; it makes me feel like I’ve become the Little Prince.
"Night Night" feels warmer and softer than the rest of the album. What made you want to end on that note?
Even just listening to the music itself, I felt a sort of 'lullaby' vibe while writing the song. It’s the kind of track you’d listen to while looking at the stars at night. Because of that, I chose to infuse the song with the meaning of 'gratitude'. I believe that even if people don’t express it, everyone has at least one person in their heart they are thankful for. After a whirlwind of emotions, I wanted to close things out with a calm track. That’s why I decided it belonged at the very end of the album’s tracklist.
Unfold is your first chance to present yourself entirely on your own terms. What feels most different about this, compared to everything you did before it?
The biggest difference is that while I was simply a singer in my previous activities, I am now building my own identity through the music I write myself. This is the version of me that I’ve dreamed of since I was a child. That’s why I want to do an even better job.
You composed every track on this album. Is there a sound or a feeling in your music that you think is yours alone – something people will recognise as LU?
I think it would be my voice, regardless of what type of music I make. And honestly, it’s just the way I am. This is the essence of LU; it’s mine and mine alone. No matter what I do, it all stems from things that are uniquely me.
What do you hope someone feels after they listen to Unfold from start to finish?
It’s my hope, but I truly want people to feel that my music is good. I want them to see me as someone who makes them excited for what’s next, someone they want to keep coming back to see.