Vampires are usually depicted as cold, heartless creatures, but there’s something different about the vampires in the music video for ENHYPEN’s song “Brought The Heat Back” off their album ROMANCE: UNTOLD. Shown on a thermal camera, the ENHYPEN boys in vampire form are so red with jealousy (“Who’s that guy you just said hi to? Why were you smiling like that?”) that they look like volcanoes about to erupt. So what got them so fired up? Check out the interviews below, where we get a peek behind the curtain of the new music video courtesy of the ENHYPEN members themselves as well as head of BELIFT LAB’s VC team, Lee Gunhee.
What went into the decision to have the “Brought The Heat Back” music video lean so heavily into comedy when the song itself is about jealousy?
Lee Gunhee: Although ENHYPEN identity is closely tied to vampires, the group doesn’t always take a dark and serious approach to them. For instance, ROMANCE: UNTOLD, their second studio album, is centered around the theme of a vampire boyfriend, which forms the foundation on which they express, through song, a range of different emotions. While the lead single, “XO (Only If You Say Yes),” casts the vampire boyfriend in a romantic light as someone ready to “pluck the sun, the moon for you,” this other track sees the vampire as blinded by jealousy and going insane. The true starting point as we planned this new music video was figuring out how to depict these vampires who are blinded by jealousy. We feared that if we stuck with the same tone of a jealous, obsessed vampire, there wouldn’t be much to differentiate it from what we’ve already done. After a series of ideation meetings, we concluded that it was worth giving the comedy horror genre a shot—something the group members hadn’t done much of before. A significant amount of time went into figuring out the right approach. Instead of having them act all silly to make the viewer laugh, we chose to be a little cleverer and make the whole thing feel humorous by putting them in a series of ridiculous situations, all the while having them maintain a serious attitude and an air of cool to give it a twist of irony.
Why do the vampire characters look so hot whenever the group members are seen through the thermal camera throughout the video?
Lee Gunhee: You can best this song by listening closely to the lyrics: “my head’s spinning,” “like scorching, hotter hotter,” “jealousy gonna drive me crazy.” You can just imagine the insanity I was talking about taking over them in real time, as they flip out completely. You can think of the part where you see the members as seen through the lens of the thermal camera, so jealous that they completely lose their cool—like they’re saying, I’ve absolutely had it!—as showing how intense the situation is.
The cat makes several appearances, both in the music video and as a sound effect in the song. Who or what does it symbolize?
Lee Gunhee: We were captivated by the cat sounds in the demo version of “Brought The Heat Back” when we first heard it. And when we met up with the director of the music video for the first time, everyone was in agreement that the cat had to be a key part of the video, no question about it. The music video opens with SUNOO running away with the cat in his hands, leading to an endless chase scene where the group members are all trying to grab it for themselves. Within the plot, the cat represents something or someone you’d kill or even die for, just to call your own—something or someone every member of the group adores and doesn’t want to give up to anyone else. I bet ENGENE knows who it symbolizes.
What does ENHYPEN make of that cat?
JUNGWON: In the music video, we’re in a competition to see who can get the symbolic cat. In that case, maybe it’s something important to us that we want to hold onto—like ENGENE.
HEESEUNG: I’m pretty sure it’s JUNGWON! Not only does he look like a cat, but the way he’s so playful and always craving affection is also super cat-like.
JAY: When I think of a cat, I think of JUNGWON, ENHYPEN’s resident cutie. (laughs)
JAKE: I think the cat in the music video symbolizes ENGENE. It’s this funny story about how we’re all battling it out to be the one who gets ENGENE’s love. (laughs) I’m actually a dog person, but I like cats too. (laughs)
SUNGHOON: It’s definitely ENGENE. You see us fighting over a cat that metaphorically represents someone you love, so we must be fighting over ENGENE.
SUNOO: It shows how much I want and need whatever the cat represents that I even get hit by a car when I’m trying to get away with it in the video. (laughs) Given that, it’s definitely ENGENE!
NI-KI: What do we make of that cat …? It’s probably JUNGWON. (laughs) Cats are usually detached and aloof, but JUNGWON’s like a cat that’s got a dog’s personality!