For LUN8, 'Off the Grid' means letting go

Freedom is not a word that comes naturally to K-pop.

The genre runs on precision — choreography drilled to the second, concepts mapped out albums in advance, camera angles rehearsed until nothing is left to chance.

Which is what makes LUN8's upcoming fourth mini album, "Off the Grid," something of a rarity.

The boy band under entertainment label Fantagio has built an entire release around the one thing the industry is least equipped to manufacture, and the members insist they mean it literally.

"It's an album that expresses the freedom of a youth choosing its own path," Yuuma said during an interview at The Korea Times headquarters in central Seoul, July 8.

"It carries the idea of stepping outside fixed standards and frames, and drawing a new starting line of our own." The six members, Jinsoo, Yuuma, Kael, Takuma, Junwoo and Ian, spent 10 months on the record, their first since last September's "LOST." That album, along with the single "Butterfly," leaned dark and controlled.

This one, set for release 6 p.m.

Wednesday, required the opposite discipline — letting go.

For Junwoo, the gr ...