The vocalist spoke candidly about being permitted to explore personal themes in his songwriting during a press conference held in advance of the release of his most recent album.

The idol, who penned four of the album's 11 tracks, continued, "I wrote lyrics about the anguish of life, and SM [Entertainment] didn't hold me back from doing it this time.

\Key explained that he "experienced a shortage of songs" while recording "Gasoline," which constrained his options for a title track, during the press conference's second half. The title track eventually came to fruition after Key approached SM Entertainment’s longtime producer, Kenzie, to write "Gasoline."

“I had to wait, and thankfully, she wrote this song for me while she wrote Girls’ Generation’s 'Forever 1’,” Key said of the production process behind the title track, per The Korea Herald.

Earlier this week, Key dropped his second full-length album, "Gasoline," alongside a music video and a theatrical music video for its namesake title track. Prior to this, the idol debuted "Gasoline" at SM Entertainment’s SMTOWN LIVE concert on August 20.

The idol donned a gold bejewelled outfit, also featured in its music video, and performed the song and its choreography in its entirety.