'Armageddon' is aespa's take on the AI era

aespa embraces its unique style in its first full-length album 'Armageddon' as it prepares for its second world tour.

aespa performs ″Armageddon,″ the title track for its first full-length album, during a press showcase held Monday afternoon at Blue Square’s Mastercard Hall in Yongsan District, central Seoul, ahead of the 6 p.m. release. [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

AI seems to be replacing everyone these days — but not aespa. The quartet faces the technology head-on in its first full-length album, “Armageddon,” proving that keeping your own unique color is the key to survival in the new era.

“As we prepared for our first full-length album, we, alongside our producers, came to the conclusion that we should do what aespa would do,” group member Winter said during a press showcase Monday afternoon at Blue Square’s Mastercard Hall in Yongsan District, central Seoul, ahead of the 6 p.m. release of “Armageddon.” The album comes six months after the release of its fifth EP, “Drama.”

aespa, since its debut in late 2020, was at the forefront of mixing technology with K-pop. The girl group merged metaverse and AI technology into its fictional universe and even introduced itself as a group of eight: four real aespa members plus four ae-aespa, or virtual counterparts.

aespa poses for the camera during a press showcase held Monday afternoon at Blue Square’s Mastercard Hall in Yongsan District, central Seoul, ahead of the 6 p.m. release of “Armageddon.” [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

The music video for prerelease track “Supernova” saw the members physically breaking a Captcha — a tool used to distinguish humans and bots —and featured still photos of the four, with only their mouths moving, using AI-photoshop tools. Fans' reactions ran the gamut: Some found the video weird and creepy, others new and imaginative.

“I was so worried; while it matched our concept, I wasn’t sure if people would see it positively,” Karina said. “We kept on asking, ‘Is this really the completed version?’ when we saw the completed scene ourselves.” Nevertheless, the group's leader was “pleasantly surprised” to see listeners' positive reactions.

“I actually laughed so much when I saw that AI scene; it’s not something you expect,” Ningning said. “But if you think again and think deeper, I realized, even in a world where AI covers and AI-anything are so popular, AI won’t be able to replicate our expressions and the temperatures of humans.”

aespa poses for the camera during a press showcase held Monday afternoon at Blue Square’s Mastercard Hall in Yongsan District, central Seoul, ahead of the 6 p.m. release of “Armageddon.” [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

“Armageddon” features 10 total tracks: the title track and “Supernova” followed by “Set The Tone,” “Mine,” “Licorice,” “Bahama,” “Long Chat,” “Prologue” “Live My Life” and “Melody.”

“Supernova” and “Armageddon,” the two lead tracks, are deeply representative of aespa’s uniquely hard-hitting music, also known as “iron-flavored” music in Korea.

“I think aespa’s ‘iron-flavored’ music comes from the clear vocal signatures that we have,” Winter said. “That blazing vocal almost ‘tastes’ like metal, hence the nickname.”

“Our vocals added to the music — like the hard-hitting sounds in ‘Savage’ — all add up to our distinct ‘iron flavor,’” Giselle said, adding that the unique fictional universe that “feels like a game” adds to the picture.

aespa poses for the camera during a press showcase held Monday afternoon at Blue Square’s Mastercard Hall in Yongsan District, central Seoul, ahead of the 6 p.m. release of “Armageddon.” [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

Members also had good feelings about “Armageddon,” which calls back, in Karina's words, aespa's “old-school hip-hop side.”

“We are very honest people and we can’t hide it — ‘Armageddon’ is such a good song,” Karina said.

“I heard people saying that ‘Supernova’ tastes like a tin can. If that’s true, ‘Armageddon’ would taste like soil. It might feel dry and difficult at first, but you’ll soon end up loving it.”

The album's B-side tracks showcase the girl group venturing into new and diverse genres, expressing refreshing, ballad and even cute musical styles.

aespa during a press showcase held Monday afternoon at Blue Square’s Mastercard Hall in Yongsan District, central Seoul, ahead of the 6 p.m. release of “Armageddon.” [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

Such calming material masks just how much has been going on behind the scenes of the album's production. The release was meant to come earlier: It was rumored last year that aespa had delayed its first full-length album, originally set for an early 2023 release, after SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man ordered the group to sing songs about “sustainability” and “planting trees.” More recently, aespa was dragged into the legal battle between HYBE and NewJeans’ agency, ADOR, after the conglomerate's chairman, Bang Si-hyuk, asked ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin whether her girl group could “take down aespa” in publicized text messages.

The quartet didn't shy away from the matter when prodded at the showcase, answering in a poised and moderate tone. Karina emphasized that fans “need not worry about” the relationship between the two artists.

“When we met NewJeans, we sent each other hearts of support,” the leader said.

The group denied claims that the two groups were in competition.

“Music is all about preferences,” Ningning said. “We are competing with ourselves, with our previous releases. And because we have our own unique colors, nothing can replace us.”

Following “Armageddon” promotions, aespa will kick off its second world tour, “Synk: Parallel Line,” with performances in Seoul in June.

aespa members are eager to show off their live skills.

“We were trained to sing and dance with hand mics and no backing tracks during our trainee days,” Winter said.

“If anything, I hope we get an opportunity in the future to perform at Coachella again; we didn't have much time to prepare for our [2022] Coachella stage,” Karina said.

But in the meantime, the group will continue promoting its album, complete with the futuristic, anthemic vibes for which it rose to fame.

“Anything that aespa members do, that’s quintessentially aespa,” Ningning said.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]