If you’re a singer, your job is to sing – but that doesn’t mean all singers are necessarily good at their jobs. But recent variety shows (I Am A Singer, Immortal Song 2, have been pitting singers against each other in a battle of the vocals, and have finally been shining the spotlight on the voices, rather than the people.

Brown Eyed Girls first started off as a vocalist group, entering the K-Pop scene with Your Story in March of 2006. The group was to be the next Big Mama, another group with members known for their vocals, not for their looks, and was even promoted as the female counterpart to male vocalist group, Brown Eyed Soul.

But the one song that brought them actual fame was Abracadabra, a strong dance piece whose main charm was its accompanying hip dance. With this song and its ‘arrogant’ dance, Brown Eyed Girls was suddenly one of Korea’s top girl groups.

Now the group is coming back two years and two months after the release of Abracadabra, with its fourth album, Sixth Sense. Many may have expected the group to continue on with what brought them the most success, their sexy dance-centered music, but the members say that the concept of their new album is a return to their past days as a vocalist group.

Thus Brown Eyed Girls will be taking on the talentless saturated K-Pop stage, armed with something not many groups have nowadays – good music and good voices.

It’s been a long time since your last album. Why did this album take so long?

BEG: It took a long time because we were looking for music that would satisfy us. The more time it took to work on it, the more we wanted. We were going to make a comeback in January. Then it was delayed for eight more months, and we were afraid we would be forgotten, but our efforts toward better music were very interesting. We’re half anticipating and half dreading our comeback at the thought of our fans who will be surprised at our new performance.

Some say that you’ve gone back to the times when you were called the next Big Mama.

Narsha: When we first sang Sixth Sense I thought our vocals had gotten rusty. Only after continuous recordings and practice could we regain our vocal skills. It was great because it was an album that we could sing hard for. I even had a time of self-reflection because I felt that I had been neglecting music too much.

Jea: We couldn’t sing this song without strengthening ourselves. We ate a lot of meat, but I think we’ll continue eating like that during our promotions. (Laughs)

Gain: Some fans want to hear good music, but some fans want to see our strong performances. We concentrated mostly on our music this time, but we didn’t neglect our performances. You can look forward to it.

Why did you choose to go back to your past?

Miryo: We slowly became popular starting with L.O.V.E., so many don’t know that we are a vocalist group. All of the members are great singers, but I was sad to see the results of some singer polls. I wanted the song to show how well our members can sing.

Narsha: I wanted to work hard at singing. I wanted to use my vocals to their full extent with good music. Going back to our past with this album reminded me of the times when we would practice singing so diligently. The memory helped me a lot because it gave me the opportunity to practice more. We needed this change.


The song doesn’t have an addictive hook.

BEG: It doesn’t have an addictive hook but it will feature a variety of vocals. We had a hard time recording it because it was hard to convey the meaning of the lyrics and we had to sing until our throats were raw, but in the song you can feel the variety of vocals we have. Miryo also raps an amazing 2012-model rap. (Laugh) It was awesome when we were hearing it. We hope you listen for it.

Do you have a message you wish to convey through the song Sixth Sense?

Gain: It’s hard to say in words. (After some hesitance) There are many restrictions to conveying emotions through music and expression is very hard. We’re asking for a freedom of expression.

Narsha: Freedom?! More like a feeling of resistance. We didn’t target the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family but if the people who work there hear this song, I think they’ll target us.

Translation Credit: Misun Lee

Miryo: There are things you can only get through your five senses, but this is your sixth. Something that goes beyond the restriction of your five senses, things like that.

Are you pressured by your comeback, as you’re coming out for the first time in two years and two months?

Narsha: We’re feeling the pressure of our first comeback performance. People could say that they heard the song and say it’s bad. It’s true we’re pressured but we’ll have to swallow it and start spraying poison instead. The only thing we can do is work hard, because we haven’t been back for a long time.

Do you have any goals for this album?

Miryo: We just want to show that we are a group that can sing well. Going back to our days as a rookie, a group that can sing while they perform!

Jea: Miryo’s rapping was always good, but now I believe everyone will say it’s great. We’ve armed ourselves with the best vocals and rap, so I hope we’re loved as much as we worked hard for it.

Narsha: I want to see people say that our music refreshes by hitting a point.

Lastly, when will you start seeing someone?

Narsha: Seeing how we’re all not in relationships, I think we have a problem. I think no one knows the importance of love. (Laughs)

Gain: If at least three members were in relationships, the remaining one member would try to get into a relationship by any means possible, but we don’t even have that.