NEXZ brings its own flavor to new mini album 'SAUCIN'
Summary
NEXZ returns Monday with the six-track mini album “SAUCIN’,” a release built around the group’s own evolving musical flavor. Member YU said the album is meant to draw listeners from curiosity into deeper immersion, while HARU and HYUI compared its taste to lemon and sour cream. The members also took part in writing and composing some tracks, including “APPETITE” and “20 NOW.”
Key Facts
- The mini album “SAUCIN’” has six tracks.
- TOMOYA, HARU and HYUI worked on “APPETITE,” which explores NEXZ’s hunger for music.
- TOMOYA also helped write and compose “20 NOW,” a song about the members entering their 20s and still learning and growing.
Members of NEXZ pose at KINTEX Exhibition Center 2 in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 9. Yonhap
NEXZ returns Monday with “SAUCIN’,” a six-track mini album built around the idea that the seven-member group has a flavor of its own and is still evolving.
Spanning different genres, the album seeks to pull listeners from a curious first taste into a deeper immersion in NEXZ’s music, according to member YU.
HARU, meanwhile, described the “taste” of the album as resembling a lemon, with refreshing tracks such as “SAUCIN’” and “APPETITE” balanced by songs with sharper, more addictive qualities.
For his part, HYUI said sour cream fits the title track because of its cool, summery energy and festival atmosphere.
The album also showcased some of the members own work. Members TOMOYA, HARU and HYUI worked on “APPETITE,” which explores NEXZ’s hunger for music.
For TOMOYA, the song expresses the group’s desire to keep making music that listeners want to hear again, while also reflecting its ambition to reach greater goals.
While working on the song, HARU said he brought his interest in fast-tempo hip-hop house music to the track and that the members built on one another’s ideas during the writing process.
While the members have different musical tastes, HYUI said, they still share a clear understanding of the kind of group they want NEXZ to become.
Aside from “APPETITE,” TOMOYA also helped write and compose “20 NOW,” which he said captures the members’ experience of entering their 20s, when they are still learning and growing while trying to move forward in their own way.
He said he wanted the lyrics to preserve the emotions he felt at 20 so the members could someday listen again and remember how they saw the world at that age.
Asked how fans can best experience the group's new album, HARU recommended listening to “APPETITE,” “SAUCIN’,” “UPGRADE,” “LOCO,” “ALIENS” and “20 NOW” in that order.
YUKI said the opening choreography of “SAUCIN’,” which represents sauce through the movements of all seven members, is another detail worth watching.
Like YUKI, member SO GEON also believes performance is the group’s biggest appeal, while HYUI pointed to the group's passion and energy. YUKI and SEITA, for their part, highlighted the chemistry among the members.
Asked to look back on how NEXZ has changed since it began its career, YU said the group has evolved from a sweet flavor at debut to an umami flavor in 2026, while YUKI and SEITA compared its current intensity to salt.
What does the group hope to achieve with this comeback? TOMOYA expressed hope that listeners will recognize NEXZ as a group that performs exceptionally well and has a musical identity that only it can deliver.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
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