Riize shows youthful groove through 1st EP ‘Riizing’

Riize performs "Boom Boom Bass," the lead track of its 1st EP, "Riizing," for the first time on stage during a press conference in Seoul on Monday. (Hwang Youn-ha/ The Korea Herald)

K-pop boy group Riize took its signature genre, "emotional pop," to the next level in its first mini album, “Riizing,” released on Monday.

“Our first mini album carries eight tracks to offer a full experience of our signature genre, emotional pop. The title of the album shows our desire to continue moving forward,” said Sungchan of Riize during a press conference in Seoul on Monday held to mark the album's release.

Riize describes “emotional pop” as a fusion genre of punk rock and pop accompanied by lyrics that people can relate to emotionally.

The group's first mini album is led by the lead track, “Boom Boom Bass.”

“The lead track is a funky disco number anchored by a groovy bass line that portrays the excitement of youth and freedom through bass guitar performances,” said Wonbin of Riize.

“We tried to show the group’s chemistry in the song by, for example, including a 'pair rap' of Shotaro and Sungchan. It’s an energetic song so we tried to enjoy and have fun when recording to pour our positive energy into it,” said Sohee of Riize.

The group hopes to prove that it's gotten better both vocally and performance-wise through this new album.

“Our ultimate goal is to continue rising. We want people to think we’ve become better artists than when we were promoting ‘Get A Guitar,'” said Eunseok of Riize.

Riize debuted in September last year with the debut single album, “Get A Guitar,” which sold over a million copies, a first for a K-pop debut album.

The six-member group is currently on fan concert tour “Riizing Day,” visiting fans in nine cities around the world, including Los Angeles, Tokyo and Bangkok.

“We’re really honored that we will be able to hold the finale of our fan concert tour at the KSPO Dome in September. We had a chance to perform at the venue as a guest performer at IU’s concert earlier this year, but now we get to hold our own concert there. It’s so surreal and we are looking forward to it,” said Anton of Riize.

By Hong Yoo(yoohong@heraldcorp.com)