Tempest is back with its third EP "ON and ON" after a three-month break. The boy band held a showcase on Tuesday at Sungshin Women's University Woonjung Green Campus Auditorium in Gangbuk District, northern Seoul.

The seven-member boy band consists of Hanbin, Hyeongseop, Hyuk, LEW, Hwarang, Eunchan and Taerae. After debuting in March with the EP "It's ME, It's WE," the boy band has had a busy year, dropping "Shining UP" in August and now releasing "ON and ON" as its third EP.

"Tempest has come back so fast with our new third EP," said the group's leader LEW. "I couldn't sleep last night because I was so excited. I'm happy thinking that this showcase will kickstart our new activities. We practiced hard with the hope that people see us and say, 'Tempest is good indeed.'"

"We were confident enough to want to show ourselves as soon as possible, because we prepared so hard for the EP and stage performance," said Hyuk, "Especially since this EP is about not staying complacent and continuing to fly higher."

Tempest won Male Idol Rookie of the Year at the 2022 Brand of the Year Awards in September and Best Male Rookie at the 2022 Genie Music Awards earlier this month.

"We're so happy that we won two new artist awards shortly after debuting," said Eunchan. "It's the kind of awards you can win only once in your career. We'll try hard as much as we feel thankful for it."

"Of course we're confident about this release," said Taerae. "The new lead track 'Dragon' is a song with a charismatic vibe that expresses our ambition to soar high like a dragon."

"Dragon" is a powerful dance number with a trap beat and sizzling electronic sounds. The highlight of the dance routine is members emulating the claws of a dragon, which the members demonstrated during the talk session.

"The movement expresses the way dragons fly with a magic pearl in their claws," said Hwarang. "We named it the 'yongyong dance' [ yong means dragon in Korean]."

The number is a contrast from Tempest's previous works that have emphasized a boyish, refreshing image.

"Our new album is much more charismatic and performance-focused than our previous releases," said Hyeongseop. "I did feel a little pressured about how the public would react toward this drastic change in image, and whether we could fully make it ours in order to appeal to the public."

"It was fun for me because I had practiced a lot of powerful concepts when I was on audition shows in the past," said Hanbin. He is the only international member of Tempest and is the first-ever K-pop star from Vietnam. He first became known to the public in 2020 as a contestant on the Mnet audition show "I-LAND" (2020).

"We want people to see us and think we can take on powerful concepts as well," said Hyuk, "that we managed to handle boyish and mature images at the same time."

K-pop has seen a spate of tiger or wolf-inspired concepts in the past years, but a dragon-themed release is a refreshing change. Members say the part they focused most on was conveying a dragon's charisma through the look in their eyes.

"We practiced making expressions with our eyes," said Taerae. "And we pondered on how we can look cool while expressing dragon claws in the choreography. I think among the members, Hwarang is best-suited to portray a dragon."

"I personally think the look in Hanbin's eyes is very energetic, and best conveys the energy of a dragon ascending," said Hyeongseop.

The EP has three other tracks "Taste The Feeling," "Loving Number" and "Raise Me UP." LEW and Hwarang participated in writing the lyrics for "Dragon" and "Loving Number." Hwarang, who has been an active lyricist for the team since its debut EP, also wrote the rap portion of "Raise Me Up."

"I usually get inspiration for my lyrics in everyday life," LEW said, "especially right before going to bed or while I'm in the shower."

He also thanked reading letters sent from Tempest's fandom iE (pronounced eye, as in 'eye of the storm' for Tempest) for lyric inspiration.

"So many thing have happened during our first year," said LEW wrapping up the showcase. "Our goal for the rest of this year is to go through our promotional activities for 'ON and ON' healthy and safely. We also want to participate in a lot of end-of-the-year awards ceremonies and events to show off Tempest's stage performances."

Tempest's new tracks will be available for streaming on music platforms from 6 p.m. Tuesday.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]