SEVENTEEN Share Meaning of New Single “Darl+ing” and Reflect on Contract Renewal (Teen Vogue)

Not even six months after the release of their ninth mini-album Attacca, SEVENTEEN (made up of members S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The8, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino) are back with a new digital single and concept. “Darl+ing,” released on April 15, is the start of something new for the K-pop group — in more ways than one.

“Darl+ing” is SEVENTEEN’s first-ever group all-English single and a long time coming for the band. “We've been wanting to release [a song in English] sooner, but we were trying to match the time,” Joshua told the press during a meet and greet event ahead of the single’s release. “We always want to thank our global CARATs for all the love that they send to us and [for] loving our songs, even though they don't understand Korean."

They teased the song with a slew of pastel photos, which hinted at a more mellow song akin to the soft pop route of 2021’s Your Choice rather than the rock vein the group introduced during Attacca. “Darl+ing” delivered — though SEVENTEEN do have a few aces up their sleeves. 

The summery track opens up with Vernon’s airy vocals, later backed by a line of mesmerizing synths and subdued guitar strums. Slightly distorted vocals by main producer Woozi introduce the somewhat muted yet instantly catchy chorus line. Though used sparingly, this slight distortion continues throughout the track. “Darling is the keyword for the song, so I wanted to make a song that is very easy to listen to and a song that is very comforting," Woozi says. "[For that], I focused a lot on voicing work. If you listen to the song, you will notice that our voice pops a lot, it's like an instrument in a lot of parts. We've tried this technique before, but never to this extent,” he further explains, namechecking You Made My Dawn’s “Home” as a previous example.

Aside from the vocal work, one of the indisputable highlights of the song is the guitar line introduced in DK’s verse during the very last chorus, after a slight beat change ushered in by Chinese members The8 and Jun in the bridge.

From the title to the lyrics, “Darl+ing” is meant as an ode to the idea of togetherness. "'Darl+ing' has a plus sign in the middle and it symbolizes SEVENTEEN and everyone who listens to our music coming together and becoming one,” DK says. “Darling is a word that you use for your significant other, someone that you really, really love and really, really appreciate. We just want our CARATs to know that they're loved by us and they're that significant to us,” Joshua adds.

If you have a look at the credits for “Darl+ing,” a couple of names might seem familiar. The song's lyrics are penned by Woozi in tandem with longtime collaborator Bumzu and Shannon Bae — the same lyricists that helped with his debut solo mixtape “Ruby,” released in January. “‘Ruby’ was my first time writing lyrics in English. The three of us worked really well together and now I feel like maybe it was fate [that we] worked together on ‘Ruby’ so that we could work together on ‘Darl+ing,’” Woozi says. “Our teamwork improved even more. We were able to come up with our lyrics very quickly and easily.”

Even though the team is the same, the process has been quite different, Woozi admits, sharing that he started by envisioning the 13 members of SEVENTEEN singing what would become this song. “If ‘Darl+ing’ were to be my solo song, of course, I wouldn't have said the word tequila in the lyrics,” he quips, referring to Mingyu's part in the song's first verse. “Mingyu is tequila and Woozi is Zero Coke,” Hoshi immediately one-ups him. (Some might argue those are perfect combinations.)

Though rife with flirtatious innuendos, if you only listen to the song, “Darl+ing” seems chaste enough. However, the music video tells a different story. First set in Ghibli-esque idyllic settings, like fields of wheat in which the members roam around and play freely, and a cave kitchen where they gleefully share food, there is a sudden vibe change introduced with the song’s bridge.

After more than a handful of visual references to shadows and growth, the video turns from innocent to intense, like day turning into night. Towards the end, SEVENTEEN’s pastel outfits are also replaced with almost all-black ensembles as the lighting becomes dusky — maybe a hint of what’s to come next. “This song marks our new beginning,” Mingyu told the press about the upcoming album. “I think the story could be best understood and the most quickly understood through our music video.”

“Darl+ing” serves as the starting point for TEAM SEVENTEEN, a project the act unveiled in March after their sixth Caratland fan meeting. It is also the prelude for SEVENTEEN’s long-anticipated fourth full-length album, set to release in May. In a press release, the forthcoming album was touted as “a new, heartfelt chapter in the band’s story.” As is tradition when SEVENTEEN releases a new full-length album, that chapter is marked by the unveiling of their new team rings. “This ring actually means that much more to us because it's our first new ring after our contract renewals,” Joshua shares. 

“It'd be a lie if I said that the contract renewal didn't affect us or have an impact on us [but] we're going to continue to work really hard together,” Dino adds later. “I hope that through our future albums, SEVENTEEN will be able to continue to surpass what we have done before.” “Darl+ing” is the first stepping stone in that journey.

Originally posted on "Teen Vogue" by Sara Delgado.