Kang Daniel recently offered his insight on the creative process behind his recent release, ‘The Album’.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone India, the soloist talked about taking more creative liberties on his first-ever studio album ‘The Story’, which dropped earlier this week, instead of leaning toward mainstream trends with his work, following the release of his ‘Color’ trilogy in 2021 and 2020.

“I think that every artist who is appealing to mass culture comes across that dilemma every once in a while,” the singer explained. “I think it’s that intricate balance between creativity or the mainstream or the message of whatever the fans want, and what to give more weight to in terms of priority.”

The singer elaborated that, this time around, he followed his “gut feeling and just went with the flow” while working on the record. Notably, all 10 tracks on ‘The Story’ were co-written by Kang.

“I think if you think too much about it, if you dive too deep into it, that becomes another stress factor which is, in return, counterintuitive and it just backfires on you,” he adds. “So, [the trick is to] not dig too much into it but to go with your gut instinct.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Daniel talked about how the collaborations on ‘The Story’ “naturally” came together. “I didn’t really have any plans on having people being featured or adding artists or any contracts [for collaborations] or whatnot,” the singer explained. “It was more of a very natural process where acquaintances just got together and made music.”

He also extended his gratitude to his collaborators, which include Jessi, rapper Sokodomo and American-Korean singer-songwriter Chancellor. “I’m extremely grateful for them because they each have their own colors, which were imbued into the tracks, and their vibes really just exploded,” he enthused.