Girl's Day return with 'Ring My Bell'

By Kim Jae-heun

Popular girl band Girl’s Day released its second album “Love” on Monday comprising 14 tracks including “Ring My Bell.”

It has taken a year for the four-member group to finish the album and join the ongoing girl band battle in the K-pop chart.

“We always say our strength is our ability to change,” said Hyeri, the youngest member of Girl’s Day, when asked about the group’s abilities to compete with other girl bands at the KBS Sports World in western Seoul. “We try to show different concepts in every album we release. We also tried to make our second album somewhat different and new.”

All four members have changed their hair styles with different colors. The band’s leader Sojin dyed her hair gold, Yura changed her color to red, Minah to brown and Hyeri to black. Minah said it was her first time to bleach her hair since her debut five years ago.

Sojin, however, refused to use the word “compete” and said she has watched all the other girl idols return to TV screens and it will be an honor to perform alongside them.

Ring My Bell topped eight online charts on Tuesday morning after it was released at midnight.

Music producers Long Candy, Wuno and the channels composed the band’s new track, which is about a phone that rings when a girl meets her crush. Their ballad song “With Me” created by producer Duble Sidekick is also faring well in the charts in third place.

The girls have put a lot of effort and time into their new album, which delayed its release.

“We put a great amount of effort and worked hard with our staff that participated in our album. We kept making changes to our new concept, from hair to costumes, make-up and music video. Our CEO asked if we wanted to be art directors. We recorded our songs over and over again until we were fully satisfied,” said Sojin.

Girl’s Day’s return also marks their 5th anniversary since their debut in 2010 with their first album “Girl’s Day Party #1.” The girl band rose to stardom with their single “Twinkle Twinkle” on March 2011 and had two more hits with “Expectation,” and “Female president” in March and June 2013. In 2014, Girl’s Day popularity peaked with their mini album’s title track “Something” that reached one million online views in a day after its release on January 3. It became their highest-charting single, ranking second on Billboard’s Korea K-Pop Hot 100, topping the monthly Gaon Digital Chart in January, and staying in the top 10 of the K-Pop Hot 100 for eight weeks.

The group identified their teamwork as the driving force making them successful over the past five years.

“For sure, our strong relationship is the key and our effort to show improvement on the stage is second,” Sojin said. “We were always positive and never thought we failed at any point. We went through many experiences and they have become our cornerstone to come this far.”