Aespa drops sophomore mini-album ‘Girls’

K-pop quartet Aespa finally dropped their anticipated sophomore mini-album “Girls” and a music video for the lead track on Friday.

In addition to the song “Girls,” the album features eight other tracks. Newcomers “Lingo” and “ICU” are joined by pre-releases “Illusion” and “Life’s Too Short,” the group’s first English-language song which they debuted on Coachella’s main stage in April.

Their album also includes a Korean version of “Life’s Too Short” and three previous digital singles: the group’s debut “Black Mamba” and their cover songs “Dreams Come True” by girl group S.E.S and “Forever,” originally by Yoo Young-jin for SM’s holiday album “Winter Vacation In SMTown.com.”

Aespa’s latest mini-album has already shattered records for reaching the highest number of stock pre-orders of any K-pop girl group, surpassing previous record holder Blackpink for “The Album” in 2020. “Girls” garnered more than 1,610,517 in pre-orders while “The Album” recorded 1,028,888 in pre-orders. These albums are reportedly the only albums by girl groups that have surpassed a million stock pre-orders.

View post on X

Similar to Aespa’s first mini-album “Savage,” “Girls” also features a lead title track with an accompanying music video. But in a recent interview with Billboard, Aespa member Winter describes their new mini-album as different from “Savage” because of its lead track.

“I think our mini-album ‘Girls’ is the most powerful among all our previously released tracks. Both our performance and vocals showcase a dynamic charm, so we hope many people look forward to it,” she was quoted as saying.

On Wednesday, Aespa revealed during an interview with Audacy Music that “Girls” was supposed to release as early as March but was pushed back so it could be further refined.

In addition to releasing “Girls,” Aespa also debuted Friday on “Good Morning America” to kick off the show’s annual Summer Concert Series. Their performance on “Good Morning America” is reportedly part of a series of promotions in the U.S. that they have been doing since as early as Coachella in April.

On June 1, the group’s label SM Entertainment announced their new global partnership deal with Warner Records, which will help amplify their presence in both South Korea and the U.S. On June 26 and 27, they held their two-day showcase “Synk in LA” at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles. Following that, they made their first appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on June 30.

Most recently, they delivered a speech at this year’s United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development on Tuesday. They discussed the importance of sustainable development in the real world and advancement in the metaverse, a concept that Aespa are known for with their AI counterparts – it’s no wonder Time featured them on their list of Next Generation Leaders of 2022 in May.

Featured Image via SMTOWN

Share this Article