When Mino of boy band Winner teased a snippet of his return to the music scene in a visual film with “Mino 3rd Full Album,” little did fans know that the singer would be expanding solo.

After a year away from music, Mino hopped back into the pop scene during one of its most vibrant months with the solo release “To Infinity” on Wednesday evening.

The solo act said in an online press conference the same day that the album consists of 10 tracks spanning across genres and is peppered with various tunes brimming with the voices of A-listers. He added that the album shows he has expanded his musical presence unlimitedly.

Mino said his third LP is an album he has worked on since he dropped the second, “Take,” in November 2020. The musician described his album as “a lovely album, and an album that is a genre-fluid album brimming with experimental tunes that the public would enjoy.”

The singer added that his previous album marked the start of who he is as a musician, but his latest print goes beyond that. “I tried to be myself before, but now, Mino has no limit in music, and that is what I‘m trying to express through my third LP.”

Leading the album is “Tang!” -- a song that talks about how one is willing to gain love at all costs. “My title track is a story about a passionate lover. If you look at the lyrics, the lover tries to do all their best to gain love but fails to do so every time because they are unskilled and not good at love,” he said, reminiscing about how he first floated the idea.

Mino added that he melded a bright melody for his lead track because he didn’t want his song to sound heavy and dark.

The album also contains “Pyramid,” featuring rapper lil BOI of hip-hop duo Geeks and Gaeko of Dynamic Duo. The rapper teamed up with Bobby of boy band iKon for side track “Language.” Mino also paired his voice with two female singers, sogumm and Sunwoo Jung-a, for “Drunk Talk” and “Sad Walk,” respectively.

Talking about his collaboration, the singer said he paid attention to voices that would be the perfect fit for his songs and musicians he is into these days.

Also, the Korean hip-hop guru said that preparing for his album led him to push the envelope, which is why he could embark on a journey of tunes and songs for a year. And now, Mino says he is ready to talk about the stories that led him to “infinity” through his latest print by listing himself as a composer and lyricist once again.

The artist went on to say that the movie “Toy Story” was a big inspiration for him. He said Buzz Lightyear’s famous catchphrase, “To infinity, and beyond!” gave him a lot to think about. 

“The scene where an ordinary character dreamed of infinity made an indelible mark on my mind. I didn’t add the word ‘beyond’ for my title, but I’m planning to fill in that word with my fans,” Mino said.

Speaking about the music video to be released later, the 28-year-old said the temperature was frosty when he was shooting for the music video. He went on to say that the only scene that kept him warm was the ending scene of the clip, where he had to light a 4-meter-long teddy bear. “But overall, I had fun and was able to enjoy the grueling shoot,” he added.

The soloist went for a city cowboy theme for his album this time. Mino said he had decided to have a digital gunman concept tailored to him for his main track because he thought elements like his long braided hair and posing under neon lights could visually portray the words of his song.

He continued that he wanted to add a heart emoticon to the title -- “emoji can add emotions.”

When asked about the digital gunman character, Mino said he wanted to develop a character that could reflect himself. “After having several rounds of meetings for my album, I was looking for a simple and impactful name for the character. I wanted to add my touch on the cowboy, which eventually became ‘digital gunman.’”

The musician also spoke of his bandmates during the event when asked how they helped him on his solo journey. Mino said they told him all of his songs are bops and that the new tracks are better than his previous album. The singer also made fans abuzz with excitement by hinting that they would be able to see the four of them back on stage again, as Jinu and Seunghoon will be discharged from their compulsory military conscription next year.

At the end of the event, Mino said he hopes to hear that his album is well made with great songs instead of expressing high hopes.

“I hope to raise expectations and trigger people’s curiosity about what kind of music I will put out in the future,” he added.

The 10-track package was released at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

(junheee@heraldcorp.com)



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Mino poses during an online press conference Wednesday. (YG Entertainment)