IU reveals she “didn’t hesitate” to cut songs from ‘LILAC’

She wanted to make sure that the tracks were “the right fit for this album’s tone”

IU has revealed that a number of songs she wrote for her upcoming ‘LILAC’ were left off the tracklist because they didn’t fit the album’s tone.

The 27-year-old singer said that she “didn’t hesitate” to remove some tracks from her highly anticipated fifth studio album, despite having composed them herself. IU explained that she created ‘LILAC’ with the perspective of a producer rather than a singer-songwriter, which made her realise that she didn’t need to write every song just because it was her record.

“When I looked at it from the perspective of a producer, I came to the conclusion that there’s no need for there to be a self-composed song by IU just because it’s an IU album,” she told W Korea, per Soompi. “I’ve mainly written calm songs that tell personal stories so far. I decided that that wasn’t the right fit for this album’s tone, so I didn’t hesitate to remove those.”

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The singer added that the decision to cut songs also stemmed from the experience she’s gained over her 13-year-long career, in which she’s learned to tell the potential of a track. “Sometimes I’ve made albums where, even though I know what I know, I’ve thought, ‘Still, I need to put this song on the album’ or ‘I have to include this because it’s a self-composed song that shows who I am’,” she said. “That wasn’t the case with this album.”

Later in the interview, IU also acknowledged that she had felt “overwhelmed” while working on ‘LILAC’, which she described as “a big project”. She attributed this to working with new producers and collaborators, as well as trying her hand at a number of genres for the first time.

“There was a lot that needed to be accomplished during the production of this album,” she said. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to get it done. But I got that [‘cool’] feeling when I eventually completed something that I was pleased with. I thought, ‘I’m pretty awesome’.”

‘LILAC’ is IU’s fifth studio album, dropping later today (March 25) via EDAM Entertainment. The record was preceded by the single ‘Celebrity’ – which received four stars in a glowing review from NME’s Sofiana Ramli – and will feature the previously teased songs ‘Coin’, ‘Flu’ and title track ‘LILAC’, plus a collaboration with DEAN called ‘TROLL’.

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