story / Jovita Tedja
photos / Adam Franzino
In the ever-shifting landscape of the Korean music industry, where trends rise and fall like tides, three voices have chosen to rise again stronger, wiser, and more resolute. Like blossoms that return each spring, ARAN, SAENA, and SIO emerge as ablume—a name that symbolizes both personal growth and a blossoming, speaking not only to their shared past, but to their collective rebirth.
Previously part of the breakout group FIFTY FIFTY, ARAN, SAENA, and SIO recently opened up about their journey in the six-episode docuseries The Story of ablume. Now, they’re stepping into the spotlight on their own terms with their debut single album, “Echo,” a project that transforms their experiences into a sound that’s both resilient and radiant.
On your journey as artists, what is the significance of “Echo” to you?
SAENA: ”Echo” is a song that announces our first beginning as a team, so it’s very special to us. When we first heard the demo of this song, we instantly realized that this was our song, so we were really looking forward to how we could express it into ablume’s own color.
Also, the song “Echo” includes messages of our personal stories and narratives. The song sings about going through rough times and being able to get back up again. And I think it’s because of the love and passion towards music that we all already have, so we were able to include that messaging into the song. Hopefully our fans and people around the world will listen to our music and feel our sincerity.
The title “Echo” evokes themes of reflection and resonance. How do these concepts relate to your personal experiences and the message you wish to convey through this song?
ARAN: To be honest—it’s a little story—but before we heard this song, “Echo,” personally, I felt a bit of loneliness, and at that moment—for the past year—I was bit frightened because I sometimes felt alone and that everyone had turned their backs on me. Those feelings really made me feel afraid to sing and make music again.
But after we heard this song, “Echo”, things changed. (Through the song) We connected with each other a lot and we got our confidence again. And Echo’s energy, we got the energy from our song and we really wanna share what we felt. And I just want to share that feeling with those who are feeling alone as well. If there’s someone who’s feeling lonely right now, just like how we felt at the moment, we want to say that you’re not alone. We are here with you, and remember our story and our song if you are lonely.
What was the creative process behind “Echo” like?
ARAN: When we recorded our song Echo, I cried a lot because I think I had too much passion in me. I wanted to be perfect with this song and I just wanted to put everything into it because this is a really, really precious chance for us. I don’t want to lose this.
That feeling motivated me a lot and people might also feel that emotion through our song “Echo.” We all really put a lot of effort into this song, from the choreography to the live performances. We had a lot of meetings together with our team and we discussed a lot of things like the visuals, the music video, the scenarios and also the documentary.
SAENA: We’ve in general participated a lot throughout the album preparation process—one part is the recording session. In the beginning of the song, there’s like this laughing part.
In the beginning, we were very awkward, so we had some awkward laughs, but the producer was like, ‘Oh, you guys should be a little bit more genuine about it, laugh it out.’ We had a lot of fun recording that laughing part.
SIO: I think LA was the most beautiful part of this journey. LA was very healing and comfortable. It was such a challenging process of preparing for the album—shooting music videos and photo shoots and whatnot. But we were able to endure that because of LA’s beautiful landscape and environment. The desert and the ocean was the most memorable part to me.
About LA, ablume shot the album cover and visuals for “Echo” at the beach, could you share more about the visual aesthetics behind this album?
ARAN: For the photo shoot, all three of us felt that it was a really unique experience. Our photographer had suggested many kinds of different poses. There was one guy who was just working out on the sand and our photographer told him, ‘Could you just lift this one lady?’ And then he picked me up and I was just lifted up by that guy. That’s the photo—it was a really fun experience.
SIO: About our album cover, I think ‘sunflower’ is the most important keyword about our album, and ‘sunflower’ is in our lyrics too. And actually sunflowers are my favorite flower.
You know how sunflowers look at the sun? It has a lot of meaning to us. Hopefully, in the future, we will continue following the light—the sunlight—and we’d also like to continue showing the brighter side of ourselves, and deliver that positive energy to our fans.
Touching on the concept of flowers, your group name ablume is derived from the German word “blume,” which symbolises growth and blossoming. How does this name reflect your evolution as artists, and as individuals, as you step into this new journey?
SAENA: The name ablume really emphasizes how we went through a lot of changes, and in the end, realize our own colors—and life’s meaning afterwards. Our life motto and core values are really just about being ourselves honestly.
I believe that following our true selves, we are able to continue making music, and our careers. And that way, I think it shows a very close resemblance with our team name ablume. Moving forward, we would love to show music that reflects our individually true selves and individuality. Hopefully, our fans could look forward to the various changes that we hope to express through our music.
You also shared a very raw and authentic version of yourself in the docuseries The Story of ablume, and you got very real and raw. What made you decide to produce this docuseries?
SAENA: We really thought a lot about producing this docuseries. We really discussed it a lot before actually doing it. But we did think about this spot—where a lot of our fans would be curious about us during the transitional phase. And after careful consideration, we came to the decision to show our candid, raw moments to our fans.
Before we are artists, we are also an individual—a person. So, we wanted to show all those very honest, and very casual moments, to very in-depth emotions as well.
I think the documentary really showcases how you are very supportive of each other, like sisters basically. And you definitely went through so much together as a group. When times are tough, how do you support each other?
SAENA: In real life, we are also like sisters. Even if we don’t discuss it out loud, we know exactly what kind of feelings and emotions we’re going through. As a result, we got to understand each other even better. And because there are many opportunities for us to spend time together again, we naturally became like real family members.
How does each member’s unique strengths or charms contribute to ablume’s group dynamic?
SAENA: We all have different voices, vocal tones, vocal ranges, and we all have different personalities—and we’re all just very different people. It’s very difficult to find similarities between each other, but I think that’s what makes us continue to move forward. It’s like our motivation to help complement each other or help each other with the areas that we need further improvements on.
When it comes to music, we all really thought about the specifics on how we could come together as one, and blend in as a harmony. So, we have really in-depth discussions together, as a team. I think it’s a consistent process of discussing together, and continuing to move forward, that makes this whole group dynamic that completes ablume.
2025 marks a new beginning for ablume, and we still have half the year to go. What are some goals you would like to achieve as ablume in 2025?
SAENA: It’s very important for us to continue doing music for a long time, hopefully. So, we always joke around saying, ‘Let’s do music until we grow old as grandmas, right?’ We experienced our teenage years together, and now we’re continuing into our twenties together. We would like to continue growing and maturing, and hopefully we could end up as a team that many people remember.
With that, are there any particular themes or messages that you wish to explore in your future projects?
SAENA: Given that we will be doing music for a long period of time together, we would like to come up with music that would give comfort and courage to our fans, and provide positive influence to them. And that would be our ultimate, final goal.
Also, rather than just seeing where we are at—where we are right now, we would like to make that big step towards a longer journey. So, that’s why we like to come up with music that kind of encapsulates all of our emotions and feelings—music that enables us to further amplify and express our feelings with our fans. We also really hope that people will remember us as a brave team, and as a team that spreads a great mindset.
Any final thoughts you want to share with your fans and readers of LADYGUNN?
SAENA: We’d like to give a bit of a hope to people who are going through rough times, similar to what we’ve gone through. Especially for our fans, I believe they waited for us for a long period of time, so we would like to thank them for their unconditional love and support. Hopefully, in the future we’ll be able to show more happy moments of ourselves through our music. I hope you can look forward to it!
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