Cosmic Girls continue without Chinese members
WJSN members pose before a media interview to promote their upcoming album “WJ Please?” in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Starship Entertainment
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Cosmic Girls, also known as WJSN, will release their fifth mini-album titled “WJ Please?”and its lead track “Save Me, Save You” on Wednesday, without three Chinese members who chose not to participate due to busy schedules.
Thus the originally 13-member girl group will return as 10 members this time, without Mei Qi, Xuan Yi and Cheng Xiao.
Earlier this year, Mei Qi and Xuan Yi finished first and second, respectively, on the Chinese version of “Produce 101.”
Although the two members left the show's project group, Rocket Girls, their Chinese label Yuehua Entertainment later confirmed the two would promote both as members of Rocket Girls and Cosmic Girls in the future.
But the two decided to take part in promoting Rocket Girls in China for now instead of joining Cosmic Girls. Meanwhile, Cheng Xiao could not participate in the album due to her preplanned schedule in China.
“Unfortunately three Chinese members won't be participating in promoting our upcoming album, but the rest of us will do our best to fill their void,” WJSN leader Exy told reporters during an interview prior to their album release. “We hope our fans understand our situation, and we promise we'll be back to 13 members very soon.”
The remaining members ― Bona, Seola, Luda, Dawon, Eunseo, Soobin, Exy, Yeoreum, Yeonjung and Dayoung ― took part in an interview to discuss their new album and promotional plans.
The new album contains six songs: “Save Me, Save You,” “You, You, You,” “I-Yah,” “Masquerade,” “Hurry Up” and “You & I.” This is the first release in seven months since “Dreams Come True” came out in February.
“The lead song is a warm, dreamy song that represents the entire album,” Yeoreum explained. “When we played the tracklist to others, many told us Save Me, Save You goes well with our image.”
“We'd like our fans to pay attention to the other tracks as well because all 13 members recorded Hurry Up and You & I,” Eunseo said. “You & I is a fan song written by Exy.”
The bubbly girls have mostly sung about love in their previous songs such as “Mo Mo Mo,” “Secret” and “I Wish,” but expressed their wish to sing about hopes and dreams in the future.
“We'd like to be known as dream-dol (a compound word made of dream and idol), meaning we want our fans' dreams to come true after listening to our songs,” Exy said. “Like Dreams Come True, the lead track of our latest album, we'd like to sing about hopes in times of uncertainty. That way, we could solidify our image as mystical idols with aspirations.”
With their previous album, the band adopted a “School of Wizardry” concept where the 13 members formed into units. The younger members Dayoung, Yeoreum and Yeonjung are in the first grade, acting as deliverers of dreams. Cheng Xiao, Xuan Yi, Soobin, Eunseo and Exy are in the second unit as collectors of dreams. Lastly, Seola, Bona, Dawon, Mei Qi and Luda, who are in their third year of the magic school, are achievers of dreams.
Along with their musical activities, the Cosmic Girls said they want to hold a solo concert and appear on many variety shows such as “Amazing Saturday,” “Battle Trip” and “Salty Tour.”