April heats up girl group battle
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Members of April perform “Tinker Bell” at Mecenapolis in Mapo-gu, western Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of DSP Media
By Kim Jae-heun
DSP Media’s new girl band April released its second extended play (EP) “Spring,” Wednesday, to join the girl group war with popular bands TWICE and Lovelyz, who also released their new songs this week.
April is composed of five members Chaewon, Hyunjoo, Naeun, Yena and Jinsol. The team debuted in August last year, taking on the company’s next girl band generation after KARA.
JYP Entertainment’s TWICE and Woollim Entertainment’s Lovelyz officially debuted during the same timeframe with April ― all in less than two years. It makes the competition more interesting to watch three girl bands introducing their second EPs.
“We are happy to perform on the same stage with Lovelyz and TWICE,” said Yena during the press conference at Mecenatpolis in Mapo-gu, western Seoul. “However we can show more lively and fresh stage moves as we are little bit younger.”
“Also, we have a more concrete (team) concept, which is our strength that differentiates us from other teams. We want to be nominated as the winning candidates for the title,” Chaewon said.
The theme of the girl band’s second EP is that each member represents a blooming flower. Jinsol is apricot blossom, Yena is peony, Hyunjoo is rose, Chaewon is island poppy and Naeun is lily and the first alphabet letter of each flower make the acronym of the team name “April.”
The girl group’s new album consists of five songs including the lead track “Tinker Bell,” which is composed by producer e.one, who wrote the lyrics and arranged the music. The song contains grand and colorful music of strings played by 14 musicians who mix well with the five members’ vocal sounds.
Other tracks are “Wake Up,” “M.F.B.F” (or “My Future Boy Friend”), “When I Wake Up,” “Jelly,” and “Tinker Bell, instrumental version.”
“Jelly is a whole new different song that we have never tried before. Our fans will find our strong but charming voices. We want to show our various sides and we are practicing many new genres,” said Jinsol.
April wore a cheerleader costume while performing Jelly, which is the same concept of TWICE’s new title song “Cheer Up.”