VIVIZ tells tale of self-discovery with 'VOYAGE'

Trio aims to recreate success of 'MANIAC'

By Lee Gyu-lee

About a year after achieving success with the song 'MANIAC,' which resurfaced on the music charts a month after its release, girl group VIVIZ dropped its new mini-album 'VOYAGE' on Wednesday.

The members — Umji, Eunha and SinB — shared their excitement for their long-awaited comeback with the fifth mini-album, sharing the high expectations and pressure set by their previous success.

"After the success of 'MANIAC,' I wanted to release the next album quickly as it seemed like many people were waiting for and anticipating it," Umji said in a statement through the group's agency, BPM Entertainment.

"Although it took a bit longer, I wanted to work hard and perfect it much more so I would have no regrets when sharing it with you."

SinB added, "Since it's the album after 'MANIAC,' we put in a lot more thoughts and the members' participation was higher. As it's an album we prepared for a very long time with great care, I hope it is the one that everyone can be satisfied with."

The new album will have five tracks: the title track "Shhh!," the brass-riff-based "Cliche," the upbeat drum and bass tune "Full Moon," the R&B enthused "Hypnotize" and the synth-pop song "Love & Tears."

"Shhh!" is a soul and R&B-based Latin pop number about finding one's true self.

"We captured both our journey up until now and our future journey in this album's title word, 'VOYAGE.' This album shares the process of VIVIZ finding our own unique identity that we will show you going forward," Eunha said as she explained the message of the new album.

The members shared that they carefully selected each track for the album.

"As always, we carefully selected each song, from the title track to every B-side track," Umji said. "The most important thing we focused on was putting in lots of passion and sincerity to make sure this album wouldn't disappoint, especially since fans had waited for it for so long.

SinB expressed confidence in the album's lead single, as they skillfully pulled off a Latin pop-style song.

"The company gave us three candidates for the title track, and I think this one was the most striking among them. It was a song where I could imagine the stage performance!" she said.

"While I was worried about 'whether we could bring out the song's flavor well,' all the members recorded it so well that those worries proved unnecessary."

The trio expressed hopes to make another impact as a group with the new album. "We want to be a group where people look forward to our next album. We want to show even more of each member's individual charms, as well as our chemistry and synergy as three," Umji said.

SinB added, "Though I say this for every album, I really want to receive comments like 'They do a good job in bringing out the best in this kind of performance and song!'"