aespa escapes Kwangya and drama in latest release 'My World'

Putting all the hostile takeover, merger and “planting trees” talk aside, SM Entertainment’s girl group aespa is back with its third EP, “My World,” 10 months after its last release ..

GIrl group aespa at a press showcase Monday held at the InterContinental Hotel COEX in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.[SM ENTERTAINMENT]

Putting all the hostile takeover, merger and “planting trees” talk aside, SM Entertainment’s girl group aespa is back with its third EP, “My World,” 10 months after its last release, “Girls.”

“We really want to thank our fans for waiting for us […] Even though there was a 10-month break, we had a fruitful time preparing for the album, and we are full of passion and confidence,” member Karina said at a press showcase Monday held at the InterContinental Hotel COEX in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.

aespa is commonly regarded as one of the first fourth-generation girl groups — a term that typically describes girl groups that debuted after 2019 — and one of the strongest such groups in terms of album sales.

Its previous album “Girls” had recorded 1.61 million pre-orders and sold over 1.1 million units in the first week of its release, at the time making it the most-sold girl group album in the first week of its release. Pre-orders figure for “My World” peaked at 1.8 million copies, and the first day sales surpassed 1.19 million copies, making it the most sold K-pop girl group album on the first day of its release.

“To be honest, I was only just notified of the album pre-orders number,” member Winter said. “We were very grateful for the love we received with ‘Girls,’ and it feels good that our upcoming album is receiving a good reception as well. We plan on returning all the love we have received.”

Winter, who had been absent from aespa’s Japanese concert tour “Synk: Hyper Line” due to health issues, said she has fully recovered and is "feeling great" now.

The new album also marked the debut of naevis, an artificial intelligence-generated virtual singer from SM Entertainment, that appears in the girl group’s fictional universe.

“While we danced and shot music videos with naevis, it was our first time singing with her, and we were really surprised at how natural she was without any technical glitches or awkwardness. She moved just as smoothly as the other members did,” Karina said.

“The track was originally meant to be naevis' solo track, but we decided to sing with her because we loved the track so much," member Giselle said.

GIrl group aespa performs lead track "Spicy" at a press showcase Monday held at the InterContinental Hotel COEX in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.[SM ENTERTAINMENT]

The girl group’s lead track, “Spicy,” being a bright, summer-themed track with strong synthesizer sounds, is a departure from aespa’s previous releases that focused on being warriors, battling the AI.

“We were so craving for a bright song because we only pulled off dark themes," Winter said, laughing.

"We wanted to quench that thirst as if we're resolving a grudge.”

Karina explained that while their lead track, “Spicy” aims to be a more approachable summer-themed track, it also acts as an extension to its fictional universe, being the first album to depart from Kwangya, a fictional universe in which aespa and other artists under the label exist.

Other B-Side tracks in the EP include “Salty & Sweet,” “Thirsty,” “I’m Unhappy” and “’Til We Meet Again,” which were first unveiled in “Synk: Hyper Line,” the girl group’s first concert in February.

But some other songs, including the four member’s solo tracks that were first released during the concert, were notably missing from “My World.”

GIrl group aespa at a press showcase Monday held at the InterContinental Hotel COEX in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

“The solo songs may be in included in our full-length album in the future. Or maybe not!" Karina said. "But we do want to include them in the album."

“There indeed is a full-length album in the works, and we filled the album with songs that we’ve been saving for a full-length album, which we’ve been preparing for a long time. You may look forward to them,” Giselle and Winter said. The members were quick to admit for the first time that they have already started preparing for a follow-up album.

aespa's 10-month break was far from intentional.

The relatively long period of time it took to release the latest EP, especially compared to other fourth-generation girl groups such as IVE, Le Sserafim and NewJeans, wasn’t common for the band either.

In fact, aespa debuted in November 2020 with the digital single “Black Mamba,” followed by releases “Next Level” in May 2021, “Savage” in October 2021 and “Girls” in July 2022, adhering to the typical six-month time frame between album releases.

It was the management dispute between Lee Soo-man, founder of SM Entertainment and HYBE, and the board of directors of SM Entertainment and Kakao Entertainment, that pushed the album back further than anticipated.

“aespa’s new album release was originally scheduled for Feb. 20, 2023,” Lee Sung-su, then co-CEO of SM Entertainment, said in a YouTube video in February condemning his uncle, Lee Soo-man’s attempt to re-take over the agency with the help of HYBE.

“[Lee Soo-man] ordered aespa, whose concept is so well laid-out and clear, to sing a song with the idea of planting trees […] with lyrics containing words such as 'Just sustainability, bringing down the temperature, co-habitation, Greenism,' which made aespa members so sad that they filled up with tears," he said, explaining he had no choice but to cancel aespa’s planned album release.

The video was taken down from YouTube after the dispute was settled in early March, with HYBE giving up its efforts to acquire stocks of SM Entertainment.

GIrl group aespa at a press showcase Monday held at the InterContinental Hotel COEX in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.[SM ENTERTAINMENT]

“The restructured company actually didn’t affect us directly, but it feels like we now have a team that is fully dedicated to us. To be honest, we were more worried about the confusion and misunderstandings that the fans experienced. We always remain unchanged, and we’re always thinking about our next music,” Winter said.

“[The 10-month break] gave us time to restructure ourselves, by things like working out, practicing or talking to the members for improvements,” Karina said, adding that now is the time for the group to focus on the album release and pull off everything the group can do.

“We don't think this is a matter of competition. We think the more people that spread K-pop in the world, the better it is for all of us,” Winter said, noting that the fierce competition coming from fellow fourth-generation groups is no big deal for aespa.

“Rather than competing with other people, our goal is to just keep improving and presenting our improvements.”

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