Half of Loona restarts as quintet Loossemble

K-pop group Loossemble poses for pictures during the band's debut press conference in Seoul on Tuesday. (CTD E&M)

Loona's Hyunjin, Yeojin, Vivi, Go Won and Hyeju are starting off afresh as Loossemble under a new label on Tuesday.

The quintet held a debut press showcase in Seoul on Tuesday afternoon, greeting local press for the first time since its self-titled debut album, "Loossemble," released Sept. 15.

"Half nervous, half excited," was how Vivi and the rest of the members said they felt as they set off from scratch again. "We look forward to our future as Loossemble," Hyunjin added.

The event comes three months since the five announced their relocation to CTD E&M in July after ending their legal battle with Loona's agency, Blockberry Creative, in victory.

Putting behind memories of the struggle, the five women have embarked on a new journey with the band's namesake debut album. Ahead of local promotions, the band traveled to 10 cities in the US with a debut showcase.

Loossemble, combining "Loona" and "assemble," brings together five bandmates of Loona, originally an 11-member girl group that debuted in August 2018 under Blockberry Creative. The group's activities came to a stop after some of them began a legal battle to suspend their exclusive contracts with the company.

In June, the court ruled in favor of the band, and Hyunjin, Yeojin, Vivi, Go Won and Hyeju signed under CTD E&M.

"We were afraid of a new start, but we all had the same goal to move forward. We met good people on our way and found comfort in each other," Hyeju said. "That's how we came this far."

An image for Loossemble's self-titled debut album (CTD E&M)

It was more than just being "afraid." Recovering from the fatigue of a long legal battle, forsaking everything they had achieved until now and starting again from the scratch is not easy for anyone.

"Personally, I hesitated a lot. It was simply for our fans," Hyeju continued.

Long discussions on their shared goals and love for their fans resulted in the formation of Loossemble.

In response to such earnest efforts, the quintet's debut album racked up over 75,000 copies sold in the first seven days, more in first-week album sales than that tallied by any Loona subunit album.

"Loossemble" is an eight-track package that includes lead track "Sensitive," its English version and six side tracks: "Intro: Searching for Their Friends," "Real World," "Colouring, "Newtopia," "Strawberry Soda" and "Day by Day."

In the sixth year in their careers as K-pop singers, the five all contributed to the making of the new album. They all took part in the writing of the lyrics -- Hyeju on "Real World," Vivi and Yeojin on "Colouring," Go Won in "Newtopia" and Hyunjin for "Day by Day."

"We participated more than usual in the album as this is our new start," Hyunjin said.

"I wanted to enjoy to my fullest so that I don't leave any regrets," Hyeju added about the album production.

"Sensitive" is an easy-listening track that represents the group's aim to reach a larger audience as Loossemble.

"We want to appeal to a more general audience than we had as Loona. The new lead song is an easy-to-listen track that the public could hear casually and we anticipate to come back with more new songs like that," Hyeju said.

Despite the troubled time they spent as Loona, the bandmates on Tuesday said they still maintain a good relationship with their former bandmates. Heejin, Haseul, Kim Lip, JinSoul and Choerry formed the new group Artms -- pronounced as "Artemis" -- under Modhaus in April, while Chuu signed exclusively with ATRP and is set to come out solo on Oct. 18.

Disbanded girl group Loona (Blockberry Creative)

"We're always open to a reunion. When we could make the time, we hope to make a full group comeback (as Loona) and meet our fans," Yeojin said.

As Loossemble, the band promised to show diverse concepts and music genres.

"Our strength is the ability to showcase various genres. We hope to attempt more as Loossemble," Hyeju said.

"We have a limitless list of goals that we want to achieve as Loossemble, like a No. 1 on a music show and new records on the charts. But more than anything, we wish the members could be happy and our fans and staff are satisfied. We believe that results will follow if we work hard," Yeojin said.

By Choi Ji-won(jwc@heraldcorp.com)