aespa opened a glamorous comeback prelude by sweeping global music charts with the lead pre-release single "WDA (Whole Different Animal)."
The new song, unveiled on the 11th, proved explosively popular by ranking in the top 10 on the iTunes Top Songs charts in 17 regions worldwide, including Thailand, Portugal, Singapore and Brazil, immediately after its release. In particular, on China's largest music platform QQ Music it surpassed 250,000 yuan in sales and earned "gold album" certification, and it also dominated digital album sales and music video charts and Tencent Music's integrated K-pop chart, once again confirming aespa's global reach. In particular, this new song drew attention as it featured Big Bang member G-Dragon.
The "WDA" music video drew attention for portraying aespa's narrative of reaffirming their existence amid an era of confusion where proving what is "real" has become difficult, using experimental direction and striking visuals.
Above all, this work is musically significant in that aespa organically connected and expanded the virtual self world of "ae-aespa" that they built from their debut to the current technological environment. Beyond simply using AI imagery, it is viewed as an attempt to more vividly imprint a distinctive concept only aespa can present by combining the team's long-accumulated narrative with today's complex digital ecosystem.
Having successfully opened a new chapter of their world through the pre-release single, aespa will release their second full-length album LEMONADE, which contains 10 tracks including the title track, at 1 p.m. on the 29th and begin full-scale activities.
[Photo] SM Entertainment
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