Temporary K-pop boy band JBJ leaves off on an evocative note with the synth-pop song “Call Your Name.” Released on Tuesday (April 17), the new song is the final of three singles released by the six-member act since their start last October.
With airy instrumentals and breathy vocals, “Call Your Name” is a final goodbye from the band to their fans just days before the act disbands. Offering up both sentimentality and effusive optimism, the single depicts fond feelings at the end of a relationship that they hope they won’t forget. It starts softly over a midtempo beat before eventually building to a dynamic, soaring chorus as the members of JBJ look back on their time reflectively, and with some hope. “We both knew the end/ But why did we give love to each other?/ I hope this is not the end,” sings Kim Sanggyun.
The accompanying music video is similarly tender and filled with nostalgia, showing the six men as they spend a day together at the beach and camping out. While it’s more about JBJ having fun with one another as they reminisce, a note in a bottle unites the whole day after it washes up on shore and is opened over the campfire and revealed to read “forget-me-not.”
Despite a rapid rise, JBJ will hold their final concert series in Seoul on April 21 and 22. The sextet was formed out of contestants on last year’s season of Produce 101, which also produced Wanna One. JBJ was put together as a short-lived team made up of up-and-coming stars in the K-pop industry, several of whom were already members of other boy bands. The group released their first EP on Oct. 18 of last year, their second in January, and today’s New Moon is their only LP; along with the tracks from their previous releases, it features three new songs, including “Call Your Name.” Each of their past albums charted on World Albums.
Ending on a high note, JBJ serves as an example of the changing state of K-pop, which has recently resulted in several temporary acts formed with artists signed to different labels based on their appearances in survival competition shows; other acts like Wanna One and UNB are also currently active groups that have planned end dates. The paradigm shift has proven difficult for many K-pop fans to deal with, and JBJ’s end comes after the boy band’s fandom, Joyful, hoped that the member’s individual labels would agree to extended activities from the six as a group. The act’s contract was not extended, however, and the six men will instead focus on their individual roles moving forward. Noh Taehyun will head back to Hotshot, Kim will return to Topp Dogg, and Jin Longuo will rejoin duo Longguo & Shihyun, while the other members are similarly expected to continue on in the K-pop industry upon the end of JBJ later this month.
Watch the music video for “Call Your Name” below: