'Welcome to MY World': aespa invites people to 'real world'

The members of K-pop girl group aespa pose during a press event at the COEX Auditorium in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Yun Da-been

SM Entertainment group returns after 10 months

K-pop girl group aespa has returned to the "real world" after defeating its longtime enemy ― Black Mamba ― in the virtual world known as Kwangya.

The quartet, whose musical universe centers around digital avatars and the metaverse, looked like fearless warriors in their previous releases such as "Black Mamba" (2020) and "Girls" (2022), when they were fighting against an evil force. However, in their third mini-album, "Welcome to MY World," aespa members return to reality and spend their time like ordinary high school or college students.

"We were like warriors in the virtual world, but in this real world, we look just like our peers," leader Karina said during a press event at the COEX Auditorium in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, Monday. The event was held a few hours ahead of the EP's release.

Karina added, "We have tried to display our young and free-spirited side."

"Welcome to MY World" is fronted by "Spicy," a dance track weaved with powerful synth bass sounds and dynamic beats. According to member Giselle, it has a vibe that goes well with summer.

"It also brings out aespa's unexplored side," she explained.

But "Welcome to MY World" ― which carries five other tunes including, "Salty & Sweet" and "Thirsty" ― is not all about aespa's real world. It still has a link to its fictional universe, Karina says.

"Our musical universe is inseparable from us," she noted. "There is no villain in our real world, but after we invite Naevis, an 'anomaly' continues to occur there. We have not yet decided what will happen after that, but maybe we will start another battle or go to another world."

Naevis is an AI character supporting aespa in Kwangya. It also featured on one of the songs in its new EP ― "Welcome to MY World" ― unveiled on May 2.

"'Welcome to MY World' was actually a tune for Naevis, but we liked it so much," Karina said. "So we told our company SM Entertainment that we can handle it well. That's how it became our song … We danced and filmed music videos with AI characters in the past, but this was our first time to sing with it. At first, I thought it would be somewhat awkward, but Naevis' sound blended so smoothly with all of us."

Aespa was initially set to drop its first full-length album on Feb. 20, but the plan was delayed due to SM's management dispute with its founder Lee Soo-man. "Welcome to MY World" is aespa's first release after Lee ― who once led the entire process of music production ― terminated his contract with SM as chief producer.

Asked whether such a change has affected the group, Winter said it had no direct influence.

"We just focused on how to showcase 'Spicy,'" she said. "We were more anxious about our fans than about the things that were going on in our company. Honestly, nothing much has happened to us."

"Welcome to MY World" has just come out, but it already wrote new history in the K-pop scene. It sold more than 1.37 million copies on the first day of its release ― the highest-ever figure for any K-pop girl group. It has also reigned atop iTunes top album chart in 20 regions across the globe including Japan and Finland.

"We already have plans for our upcoming studio album," Giselle said. "We will again exhibit our never-before-seen side. Please look forward to it."