cignature on Their Long-Awaited Comeback, My Little Aurora
The seven members of cignature—CHAESOL, JEEWON, SELINE, CHLOE, BELLE, SEMI, and DOHEE—can be likened to the mysticism of a glittering aurora: an infrequent sighting to most, but consistently beautiful, and almost unfathomable to the naked eye.
On Jan. 17, cignature made their long-awaited comeback with their third EP, My Little Aurora. The mini-album comes nearly two years after their sophomore project, Dear Diary Moment. Despite the K-pop septet's 14-month hiatus, the budding starlets continue to hold their own, taking challenging yet triumphant efforts to show "various sides" of themselves.
In this four-track mini-album, cignature return to their roots with a cute, feminine concept, offset with their first venture into rock, paying homage to their C9 Entertainment labelmate, YOUNHA: "One of our senior artists I look up to released many songs in the rock genre, so I wanted to give it a try too," said the group's leader, CHAESOL. It's a refreshing homecoming from their mature offering on Dear Diary Moment—one that feels truer to the girls' charming, youthful personalities.
Shortly after the release of My Little Aurora, cignature sat down with Sweety High to discuss the anticipated comeback, exploring new genres and their endearing relationship with their fanbase, SignFan. Read the full interview below.
(Image Courtesy of C9 Entertainment)
Sweety High: My Little Aurora is your first release since November 2021. Why did this feel like the right time to make a comeback?
JEEWON: Right now is the best time to see the actual aurora in line with the title track, "AURORA," and we wanted to make a new start in 2023 with our fans, SignFan.
DOHEE: The intimacy with the members has grown so much that we were looking forward to this promotion even before the comeback.
Also read about: MOONBIN&SANHA of ASTRO Reveal the Meaning of New Mini-Album, INCENSE
SH: How has cignature changed since the last comeback? What has stayed consistent?
BELLE: The biggest change would be that we can now show more of a cute and refreshing side of ourselves compared to our previous album, which had more of a mature concept. What hasn't changed is that we are still energetic!
SEMI: We think two things have changed from the previous comeback: we have a very lively and powerful image for this promotion and improved a lot while preparing and practicing hard. I agree that our high tension is still the same.
SH: What does the concept of "AURORA" mean to you?
SELINE: We prepared a pure image that is distinct from our last title track, "Boyfriend." We want to show that we can work well with any concept whenever we release a new album.
JEEWON: "AURORA" has a concept that we prepared with a lot of care since it's a song that we've been working on for a long time. That's why it's precious to us. It makes our hearts overflow with emotions whenever we listen to it.
(Image Courtesy of C9 Entertainment)
SH: Do you have any fun memories from filming the music video for "AURORA?"
BELLE: For my individual scene, the other members were standing still as if the world had stopped. I was the only one moving. When I noticed, I had to hold back my laughter very hard! I had so much fun the whole time we were filming.
CHLOE: I think the most fun memory was when we filmed the scene of us watching television together at the hideout and leaving to see the aurora. I can also remember holding back my laughter while acting.
DOHEE: It was my first time climbing up a chroma key column for filming, and I remember it being scarier than I thought. I was really nervous during the scene!
Also read about: MONSTA X on Their Relationship With Monbebe, Loving Fearlessly and Growing Closer to One Another
SH: The B-side "I'm Okay" is one of the first pop-rock tracks in your discography. What inspired you to try this genre?
CHLOE: We like to challenge ourselves and frequently show new sides of us, so we decided to try a song in the pop-rock genre. We think you'll enjoy listening to it because its lyrics are a continuation of "Boyfriend," from our previous album, Dear Diary Moment.
DOHEE: Rock music was a genre we really wanted to try, so we decided to challenge ourselves. I think all members fit this track well.
CHAESOL: "I'm Okay" is a really satisfying song. One of our senior artists I look up to, YOUNHA, released many songs in the rock genre, so I wanted to give it a try too. YOUNHA has listened to the song and really liked it. It was so much fun working on it! We hope to try even more genres in the future.
(Image Courtesy of C9 Entertainment)
SH: "I'm Okay" is stylized differently than the other tracks, not using the all-caps stylization that "AURORA," "PALACE" and "PARADE" all share. Is there something separate you want to represent with "I'm Okay?"
SELINE: "I'm Okay" is the sub-title track of this album. We wanted to emphasize that fact by differentiating how "I'm Okay" is written.
SH: Overall, what do you hope fans take away from this era?
SEMI: We hope you feel a lot of positive energy. Also, in our title track, there's a line—"we are together forever"—and we want to convey the message to our fans that we should also stay together forever.
SELINE: As we cherish our title song, we'll be happy if the listeners like the song as much as we do.
Also read about: SHAUN Discusses His Continued Journey in Omnibus, Pt.2: Inside Out and Teases His U.S. Tour
SH: You're still at the very beginning of your career. What are some accomplishments that you're hoping to achieve?
CHLOE: In the future, we want to show many sides of cignature through more activities and promotions. We also want to make memories with our precious fans for a long time.
CHAESOL: We want to become a group who shares good influence on many people with our music. In the future, we hope to meet our fans more often while doing various activities.
(Image Courtesy of C9 Entertainment)
SH: Is there anything else you want to share?
BELLE: We will work hard with the "AURORA" promotions, so please show us a lot of support! Thank you for everything.
SEMI: We plan to show more good sides of us moving forward, so please keep your eyes on what's to come. Thank you SignFan for always supporting us! We love you.
CHAESOL: We will continue to work hard and show you improved sides of us through our various activities. SignFan, let's be together for a long time. We'll do our best while enjoying our "AURORA" promotion. Thank you!
DOHEE: SignFan! Thank you so much for your patience while waiting for our comeback. We will do our best to show you a great side of us that lives up to your expectations, so please look forward to our activities. We love you!
For more on our favorite artists in K-pop, click HERE to read our tour interview with P1Harmony.