Songwriter For IVE’s”ELEVEN” Teases What The Song Originally Sounded Like Before IVE Recorded It

Now we need her original version of Taemin’s “Criminal” too!

IVE burst explosively onto the scene with their hit debut song “ELEVEN” in December 2021, breaking records and firmly establishing themselves as one of the K-Pop groups to watch. Now, songwriter and composer Lauren Aquilina, who has worked on songs such as Taemin‘s mega-hit “Criminal,” has given a peek at what the song sounded like before IVE recorded it.

IVE not only did set a new record for fastest music show win since debut for a girl group (it took them 7 days to win, beating ITZY‘s record of 9 days), but they also recently surpassed 100 million views on the “ELEVEN” music video, which is no mean feat.

IVE were so successful with their debut song that they were even named as one of the 14 groups with the most explosive debut songs of all time, a list that includes industry titans such as BLACKPINK and NCT.

Now, one of the songwriters who worked on the song has given a special glimpse into how it originally sounded. Lauren Aquilina, who has worked not only on Taemin’s “Criminal,” but also on songs for artists such as TXT and Demi Lovato, responded to a fan on TikTok who was curious about what the original demo for “ELEVEN” sounded like. She explained that, unfortunately, she was unable to release the demo…but she’d try giving fans a peek at what the song sounded like before it was translated from English into Korean.

So, I’m not sure if I’m allowed to actually show you the demo…but I will sing some of the original English lyrics just for you

— Lauren Aquilina

She went on to give a beautiful piano rendition of “ELEVEN,” and while the melody is instantly recognizable, it’s definitely exciting to see what the lyrics sounded like before being translated!

@lauren_aquilina

Reply to @robinlarsen i can’t sing the pre chorus like the IVE girls can but hope u like this anyway lol <3 #songwriter #iveeleven

♬ original sound – Lauren Aquilina

The sections that Lauren Aquilina chose to demonstrate are the pre-chorus and the chorus, which, though they ended up having a slightly different meaning in Korean, sound equally amazing in both languages.

Lauren Aquilina’s take on the song made us want to hear more, so hopefully the original demo will one day be made available for fans to listen to!

Source: Genius

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