While many may choose to spend their birthdays giving themselves a well-earned break, Jaehyun wrote a song. “It was really sunny outside, so we had very positive thoughts in our head, and I think that’s why the mood and the vibe and the sound came out really bright and happy”, the 26-year-old NCT member says about his new single ‘Horizon’. It’s the latest song to come out under the NCT LAB project, where members of the K-pop boyband release standalone solo or unit tracks.
Like 2022’s ‘Forever Only’, his last ‘NCT LAB’ single, Jaehyun’s oaky baritone moulds to the bouncy R&B stylings of ‘Horizon’, a breezy and light song about piercing the clouds and finding the serenity above them. “I thought of horizontal moments, like when views are really calm and peaceful,” he says about ‘Horizon’, which he co-composed with regular NCT collaborator DEEZ and producer SoulFish. “The day that I mostly thought about while writing the song was a day that was really cloudy and gloomy. I was on a schedule to another place, so I rode an airplane and once I went up beyond the clouds, it was really calm and bright. And at that moment I thought that, even at the same time or in the same place, how you think is the easiest but biggest change you can make to feel different.”
There’s a sense of intentionality that runs through the core of Jaehyun, almost like the strong and stable slice of a skyline. It makes sense when you consider that his time, or sometimes the lack thereof, is such a commodity as he balances everything from music – in the shape of NCT at large, his homegroup NCT 127 and the recent debut of the sub-unit NCT DOJAEJUNG to acting to a partnership with Prada which, among other things, recently took him to Italy where he filmed the music video for ‘Horizon’. Deciding the course of his own mindset is just one of the ways that purposeful drive filters into his life.
His notes app is a precious trove of lyrics and half-songs that he tinkers with in scarce moments of downtime. He prefers to master a new craft or hobby before sharing it with the world and he approaches his own musical inspirations like a study session. “If I have an artist that I like, I like to listen to the album and then I watch some interviews. Then, if they talk about the music or the older songs that they like, then I search for those songs,” he says, continuing the cycle ad infinitum. “Then I take a look at those artists and find the artists that they like.” For those curious, the current favourites on his playlist are Kaytraminé’s debut album, Kool & The Gang and “all the ’90s.”
Even in moments that call for improvisation, like rare days without a schedule or two to tie him up, he plans his planlessness. Usually, it involves deciding not to set an alarm, even if that means waking up in the afternoon, but recently, he’s filled the blank canvas of his free days with exploring more of his own music. “I have lots of work, but when I’m composing or writing, like in the moments that I spend time in the recording room or working on a song, that’s one of the happiest and most satisfying parts of doing this job.”
2023 marks seven years since the official introduction of Jaehyun to the world, first as a part of the rotational unit NCT U with the single ‘The 7th Sense’ in April 2016, and then soon after in July with the debut of NCT 127. “That first year, the first thing that comes to my mind is our debut moment. For NCT, actually, it was in China, our first actual performance stage, and I really remember that atmosphere, the flashes of the cameras and just the crowd of people,” he says, a smile brightly hitting the tone of his words.
“And also, for 127, I remember wearing clothes that felt really young and unique, very ‘neo’. It was really ‘neo style’,” he says, referencing the maximalist styling for the group’s first single ‘Fire Truck’. “We had some long dresses over our pants, and our hair was really crazy and I remember doing this jump move with our legs up? There’s a move where we just keep jumping on the same spot.” He laughs, those seven years ago seeming much further back in time than they are.
Still, going from the final crest of teenagerdom to your mid-twenties can feel like experiencing three entirely different phases of life, especially when it comes with the pressure of work and the watchful gaze of adoring fans and a curious public. But while time has enveloped and shaped Jaehyun, he feels fairly unchanged by its current. “When I meet my school friends, they always say that I look so similar to our school days, and that my attitude and personality and my looks haven’t changed a lot. They always talk about that”, he reflects, turning the observation to be more introspective.
“But for me, I think I like the base is really the same, there’s nothing really different, but I think I got older. Lots of experiences and events happened that made me get older, but I still do feel like I’m 20 years old.” Reflecting on what he would tell his younger self given all those hardening moments of transformation, he simply says: “feel it all”. “Every up and down, feel it 100 per cent. When you feel happy, feel it 100 per cent, when you feel bad and are having a hard time, feel it 100 per cent.”
Like the horizon his sophomore solo ‘NCT LAB’ single is named after, Jaehyun’s path keeps heading out into the distance. There’s an imminent NCT comeback (which he coyly describes as “really good” after pondering over how much he can reveal) as well as a return to acting in the film You Willl Die In 6 Hours, which he just finished shooting. Before the end of the year, he also wants to go snowboarding and make progress on the surfing he learned while in LA last year with bandmates Johnny, Taeyong and Taeil: “That was my first and last time surfing. But I want to try it again because I really want to stay standing for a longer time.” Mostly, he just wants to release more music, the goods of his notes app heavy in his pocket. “I really want to share more.”
Jaehyun’s new ‘NCT LAB’ single ‘Horizon’ is out now