TVXQ, the Godfathers of K-Pop, on Returning After a Three-Year Break With a New Album, a New Look, and New Instagram Accounts

On a recent Tuesday afternoon in Seoul, South Korea, a chorus of flashbulbs began to go off in a packed auditorium in the Zaha Hadid–designed Dongdaemun Design Plaza, where the men’s wear brand Caruso was slated to present its fall 2018 collection as part of Seoul Fashion Week. The target of the cluster of photographers gathering at the front row: Shim “Max” Changmin and Jung “U-Know” Yunho, the musician duo who comprise the group TVXQ—which, after it was conjured into being 15 years ago by S.M. Entertainment, the label behind Girls’ Generation, Shinee, f(x), and Red Velvet, was quickly swept into the upper reaches of K-pop stardom. (TVXQ, which stands for Tong Vfang Xien Qi, roughly translates to “rising gods of the east”; in Japan, where they are nearly as famous as they are at home, they record as Tohoshinki.)

On the evening of the Caruso show, three years had passed since TVXQ’s previous studio album, 2015’s Rise As God, was released. Just a week after the show, they were slated to release their ninth full-length effort, New Chapter #1: The Chance of Love. Though it’s far from a debut, New Chapter #1 is, in some ways, exactly what the title suggests: a fresh start for a band that has reigned over the K-pop scene both at home and abroad for a decade and a half. It eschews the dense production of their previous records in favor of something a bit sparser; their belted choruses give way to silky falsettos. Jung began conceptualizing the narrative—which charts the rise and fall of a relationship in 11 parts, beginning with the synth-driven “Love Line”—last year, though he and Shim only started working together in earnest on the record two months ago.

Singer Max Changmin of the K-pop group TVXQ in Seoul, South Korea, during Seoul Fashion Week 2018. Photo by Yeongmo Lee for W Magazine. LeeYeongMo

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