Girl band SPICA makes comeback after 3 years

Members of girl band SPICA poses during their new digital single “Secret Time” showcase at YES24 MUV Hall in Mapo, Seoul, Thursday. From left are Kim Boa, Park Si-hyun, Na Rae, Yang ji-won and Kim Bo-hyung. / Courtesy of CJ E&M Music-B2M Entertainment

By Kim Jae-heun

K-pop girl band SPICA of B2M Entertainment has returned with a new digital single “Secret Time,” Thursday. It is their official come back as a full group three years after they made their fourth digital single “You Don’t Love Me” in January 2014.

“It took us almost three years to return, I feel like I’m just making our debut,” said the group leader Kim Boa.

“Me too, our hiatus was longer than the time we spent singing on the stage. We feel like we are back to the basics. I am excited,” agreed another member Na Rae.

The new digital single consists of the title track “Secret Time” and a lead single “One Way.” The Swedish producers Andreas Oberg, Pontus Frisk and Graciela Chin A Loi produced the tunes while Kim participated in writing the lyrics. Oberg himself is a well-known producer on the K-pop scene for his songs like “July 7” of Red Velvet, SHINee’s “Romance,” and Girls Generation sub-group Taetiseo’s “Dear Santa.”

Andreas received inspiration for Secret Time from listening to British music in the 1990’s, and the mixed electronic synthesizing sound with funky guitar play, to produce an R&B track. Kim’s lyrics deliver a message to comfort for the young generation, like herself, and encourages them to break away from their tiring daily routines.

“While writing the lyrics, it was meaningful that all the members liked it. I hope students and office workers will get inspiration from listening to our songs and they will drive away their stress,” said Kim Boa.

“One Way” is an R&B styled ballad about the broken heart for one’s missing love. The guitar in the background adds heartrending feelings to the tune’s sad atmosphere created by its slow tempo.

“The songs match well with the SPICA style of music. The songs are R&B and ballads and we chose them for our comeback songs because we all liked them. We particularly spent a lot of time allocating the memberss singing parts to maximize each individual’s voice color,” said singer Kim Bo-hyung.

Although the group did not release the full-length album during their idle time, each member was active on TV shows and in acting scenes.

Singer Yang Ji-won appeared in SBS’s soap opera “Divorce Lawyer in Love,” last year, while Kim Boa and Bo-hyung starred in MBC’s popular singing competition show “Masked Singer.” Bo-hyung is currently participating in cable network JTBC’s singing competition show “Girl Spirit,” which aims to shed light on relatively low-profile K-pop singers.

“One of the toughest things we had to bear was our relatively low profile. We were becoming very loose and exhausted as our idle time was prolonged. We were getting old too and it became doubtful if we could do it again,” said Yang.

“We just needed good songs. Until then, like Ji-won says, we were tired. But when we finally found our songs we started to find our way, learning choreography and recording the songs,” said Boa.

Singer Park Si-hyun added that it has been five years since the group made its debut but they have not been seen on stage for three years and the group has yet to make a live performance.

“I want to hear from our fans that it was worth waiting for us to return,” said Park.