K-pop girl group Lightsum have made their comeback with the release of their first mini-album “Into The Light” on May 24.
Lightsum debuted under Cube Entertainment in June 2021. The members are Nayoung, Sangah, Chowon, Hina, Juhyeon, Yujeong, Huiyeon and Jian.
“Into The Light” contains five songs including the main track “Alive.” The album was released in two versions: “The Class” and “The Team.”
The music video for “Alive” has garnered four million views on YouTube in less than a day since it was released on May 24.
Lightsum held their online media showcase on May 24 to discuss their new album and excitement about seeing fans in person.
Among the songs in “Into The Light,” Jian said she would recommend “Bye Bye Love” to fans.
“It’s a new genre of song that Lightsum is presenting and the lyrics are very beautiful too. So it would be great if you pay close attention to the lyrics while listening to it,” said Jian.
For Hina, it is “I,” which she describes as “a dreamy song with a different vibe from “Alive” so I think we will be able to show another charming point.”
With the easing of social distancing rules, Lightsum will now be able to meet their fans in person. In the last year, Lightsum members have grown.
“I think we used to feel more nervous because everything was new and unfamiliar when we first debuted. However, I think that each member‟s individuality and expressiveness have become stronger on stage, so we want to show more diverse expressions through this promotion,” said Juhyeon.
Nayoung said that “now that the pandemic regulations have been eased, we can meet and perform in front of our fans. I want to perform on and enjoy the big stage while listening to Sumit’s cheers, sing-alongs and fan chants.”
When asked about their role models, Chowon mentioned label mate (G)I-DLE.
“There are so many respectable seniors but to choose one among them would be (G)I-DLE. I admire them for creating new trends and trying various concepts. Just like (G)I-DLE, we also want to try various concepts and find our own color so that many people can notice us,” she said.
About their goal for the album, Juhyeon said, “Rather than records or achievements, we want to let SUMIT listen to our various songs and also imprint our group name Lightsum in people‟s minds.”
“It is my personal goal to powerfully convey the message that our group wants to deliver,” said Jian.
About their edge compared to other girl groups, Sangah said, “Our competence would be our performance. I proudly think that we are making a stage that people would want to see again by showcasing our strong individual characteristics along with the synchronized dance moves together with our eight members.”
Since their debut with the song “Vanilla,” Lightsum’s performance has become more powerful.
According to Juhyeon, “We have wanted to impress people with a powerful performance starting with our debut track ‘Vanilla.’ When we were practicing for ‘Vivace,’ we used to say that this is harder than ‘Vanilla’ but when we started to practice ‘Alive,’ we thought this is the hardest performance ever. So we were worried if we could do it and sing the entire song live, but we made it again and thought, ‘We are actually very strong.’”
Chowon mentioned the dance break part in “Alive,” which, she said, “was included for the first time since there wasn’t one in the previous tracks. I thought the performances of our previous tracks were pretty difficult but we found it harder this time. However, we managed to focus more on the dance break part so that we can show the perfect performance to many people with our synchronized dance moves.”
To prepare for the album, Lightsum members practiced a lot.
Huiyeon said, “We worked on the choreography of ‘Alive’ for a long time. I think we all practiced for about two to three hours every night.”
“Adding to that, the group practice was three hours every night on average, and in the morning we practiced individually, so in total it was about eight hours a day,” said Sangah.
Juhyeon added, “Since we have many face-to-face opportunities this time, and also since there is the kind of energy that you can feel only when you‟re actually seeing the performance, we hope people think our performance feels very different in person and that our live sounds great as well.”
About the message they want to convey through their new album, Chown said, “While we wanted to show a more mature side of ours with ‘Vivace’ compared to ‘Vanilla,’ this time with ‘Alive,’ we want to present an honest and confident side which we had not shown with ‘Vanilla’ and ‘Vivace.’”
She added, “The difference from our previous singles is since our new album is an EP, it contains tracks of various genres filled with each of our member‟s charms and vocal colors, so I think you will enjoy this album more if you pay attention to those aspects.”
“The meaning behind our team name Lightsum is ‘8 LIGHTs coming together as one SUM to bring more positive energy to people.’ So just like this meaning, we hope to become a team that can deliver good energy to everyone,” said Jian.
Juhyeon said, “To add to that, the lyrics of ‘Alive’ are very honest and confident, so listeners will be able to relate to them. Also, simply listening to the song will boost their confidence and give them energy as well.”