See Ya Returns with Album 2

Three ladies dressed in colorful spring clothes. The 3-member female group “See Ya“ released its second album, “Lovely Sweetheart,” on May 25. Although the group grabbed the limelight and earned the nickname, “Female SG Wannabe,” with their debut album which enjoyed strong sales of some 100,000 copies a year ago, it came under harsh criticism from listeners who complained, “All the songs are similar,” or “It’s too bland.” One thing that seemed quite certain was that they would no longer sing sad songs in the future. The following are their answers to five key words that are as much distinctive as their appearances.

1. Change: “You have now released your second album. How is it different from releasing your first album last year?”

“People often say a 1-year career in the entertainment industry is equivalent to a regular 3-year career. So many things occurred during the short period of time (breast exposure, the convulsion of a background dancer, etc.). As I am no longer a rookie, even small mistakes cannot be tolerated. But I am now more mentally prepared for difficulties.” (Nam Gyu-ri, 22)

2. Criticism: “There was criticism that there were too many medium-tempo ballads in the first album.”

“It just happened to be a trendy genre among many other genres. The only concern was that my life might begin to resemble those sad songs.” (Kim Yeon-jin, 21)

See Ya sampled Edward Elgar’s “Salut D`amour,” for their title track, “Love’s Greeting.” Also, the song is completely different from their previous ones. They even tried not to sing it with too many techniques or dramatic pitch changes to lighten up the atmosphere of the song. “Shall We Marry?” with a reggae rhythm is also a new attempt. They say it makes them blush as if they have become brides. Other songs include trots, “You Are My Man,” and “Pure Love, and the dance track “Dirty Dancing,” reminiscent of Jennifer Lopez. Although the tracks lack depth, they illustrate See Ya’s attempts to pursue a wide range of music genres. So how would they grade their new album? Lee Bo-ram, 21, confidently said, “100.” And then she quickly added, “Actually, I’ll give it 100 out of 200. It’s now up to listeners to grade the other half.”

3 Uniqueness: “Do you want to be called artists?”

“I think our music has a strong appeal to those in their 20s. We don’t want to rush anything. Although we are referred to as ‘Female SG Wannabe,’ I think we will make more changes than “SG Wannabe.” (Lee Bo-ram)

4. Identity: “Nam Gyu-ri’s individual activities. See Ya = Nam Gyu-ri?”

“I am sorry to the other members. I started to appear in entertainment programs because my management agency asked me to do so. But now I have almost become a regular guest in those programs. Although they encourage my show program appearances, I have to shoulder the burden of making an extra effort since I have to study something else than music.” (Nam Gyu-ri)

5. Desire: “Entertainer or Musician?”

“Some singers try every possible means to attract attention because people show less interest in music these days. Many songs are being poured into the market, but are not remembered. I think some singers’ extreme mentality of trying to do nothing but sing for the rest of their lives regardless of the circumstances can be poisonous.” (Kim Yeon-ji)

“Our aim is to not lose the balance. We want to unlock See Ya’s own color even if it means introducing a great deal of changes.” (Nam Gyu-ri)

bsism@donga.com