cignature are Ready to Show the World Who They Are Through “Smooth Sailing”

After a break lasting more than a year, cignature returned with their second project of 2023 with their fourth EP Us in the Summer. The seven-member girl group under C9 Entertainment met fans in the heart of the summer on August 29, with their latest title track “Smooth Sailing.” The brass-infused, pop track hears the members sing about how smooth sailing it is to love their person, and how fated their relationship feels when they’re with them.

cignature welcomed media outlets to sit down and get to know them more through a roundtable talk, with courtesy of Helix Publicity, allowing them to open up more during their “Smooth Sailing” promotions! We were greeted by six of the seven members, Chaesol, Jeewon, Seline, Chloe, Semi, and Dohee, as member Belle is currently participating as a contestant on Universe Ticket.

In Conversation with cignature

“Smooth Sailing” and Us in the Summer as a whole marks the start of cignature’s summer releases, with the title track providing a refreshing new greeting to the group. Member Seline shares, “We aimed for a bright and energetic vibe (for this album). In contrast, this is a seasonal summer song, and we tried to capture the cool, refreshing, yet laid-back feeling of summer.”

Us in the Summer exudes both summer and first love vibes through their light melodies and sweet lyrics that question why they feel the way they feel. “어젯밤 이야기 (Mess With My Mind)” expresses the members’ confusion and frustration through receiving mixed signals from their lover, which flows in similar bars in other tracks on the EP. “Smooth Sailing,” in contrast, provides a melodious summer beat while expressing similar feelings. Fans have coined the track to be either-or, but member Chloe clarifies, “I think we tried to capture the first love in the summer, so it would be both. It's really hard to choose…so I think both definitions would be correct!”

The members’ hard work that was put into the album can be felt as Jeewon talks further about Us in the Summer: “This album marks our first attempt to capture the feeling of confusion. We believe that everyone goes through similar moments of confusion in their lives, and by witnessing our confidence in handling it, we hope our listeners can find empathy and solace[….] Furthermore, we've put a lot of effort into creating this album with the intention of being a source of energy and positivity. We hope that, as they listen to this album, our audience can sense and draw inspiration from that energy.” 

The group’s signature bright image follows them within the music video for “Smooth Sailing,” which has been praised amongst fans for its cinematic look through its color grading and split-screen shots. When asked about the process of filming the music video, Jeewon answered, “This was our first time collaborating with this director, and he was incredibly thorough in his approach, meticulous with monitoring, and often initiating meetings himself.

“We initially received the story concept for the music video, and it was evident that he really understood our individual characteristics and incorporated them into the video. Moreover, he skillfully orchestrated scenes where the members with great chemistry appeared together. It seems clear that having the story concept before shooting, after multiple meetings and discussions, resulted in a much better final product. I felt very proud in the finished music video and thought it would be an excellent idea to continue working with the same director.”

It often takes groups months, even years, to gain chemistry and to figure out what their color is, but Jeewon shares that through this comeback, the members have developed a deeper understanding for one another: “Now, just by looking into each other's eyes, we can sense what the others want. We've also become more supportive and empowering, even when there are a few shortcomings, the moments when we can uplift each other on stage are when I truly feel our growth as a group.” However, recording the album still proved to have challenges that they had to overcome. “During the recording of “Smooth Sailing,’ conveying the innocent excitement and capturing lyrics like ‘모찌 같은 표정 (mochi-like expression)’ posed a bit of a challenge,” expressed Chaesol. “However, all the members did a fantastic job, and we understood the task quickly. I'm very pleased with how it turned out.”

The overall album conveys the experiences that many young women go through in their youth, their own life experiences. When asked how they would describe their own youth in one word, Chloe speaks out first by choosing the word ‘treadmill.’ “Without stopping, I just ran through whatever was in front of me. So before I became a part of (the group) cignature, I only studied. I studied in the U.S. and I knew nothing about K-Pop, but I still chose and chased my dream of becoming a K-Pop idol so I would choose the word, ‘treadmill.’”

cignature are one of the groups in K-Pop who debuted just before the global pandemic first struck, making their debut and idol experience different to many of their peers. Chloe shares, “From me, personally, from ‘Aurora’ (the group’s third EP title track released January 2023) we were able to meet our fans in Korea but we never flew out to meet fans from out of Korea. So I'd like to visit them and perform all over the world and share who cignature are.” 

Us in the Summer marks cignature’s fourth EP album, following soon after the third EP album My Little Aurora back in January 2023, and it has seen them experiencing many of their ‘firsts’ in the industry. Dohee shares, “This year, we had the privilege of attending an awards ceremony! It was an incredible experience as we got to perform in front of a large audience and industry professionals.

“What made it even more special was the presence of our parents, who had previously only seen me perform in videos. It was the first time they witnessed my live performance, and at that moment, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride, knowing I was showing my parents that I had achieved my dream.”

While sharing small fond memories of their childhood, Seline shared the memory of her running to greet her parents whenever they’d pick her up from daycare as a child, while Chaesol reminisced on her childhood apartment that sat facing a stream that she and her friends would play in. The members’ youths played a big part in tapping into the emotions they wanted to express through Us in the Summer, holding them at the center point of their creativity. 

The girls dedicating a song to their inner childs comes as no surprise, as “Little Me” closes off the album. When asked what advice they’d give their younger self, Semi responded, “It is something very common, but I'd still like to tell my younger self, ‘You're doing great, so don't give up. Keep following this path.’ It's the same advice that led me to become a member of cignature, and I want to share that encouragement with my younger self.”

The creative process for this release was revealed to have been taken from a different approach than their previous works. Chaesol shared that the members focused on getting the emotions right by engaging in extensive discussions amongst themselves, similar to the approach that the creative director took when creating the visuals and direction of their “Smooth Sailing” music video. Throughout this process, they managed to adjust the lyrics to better fit the song. Chloe adds, “Compared to other albums, in this album we tried to convey different types of emotions so every time we’d go in and record the songs we tried to bring out the best mood of the song.

“Compared to ‘PALACE,’ ‘VILLAIN,’ or ‘Climax,’ [from past albums] which are very fun and fast-paced, for this one- ‘Sorry So Sorry’ we had to keep it down. For ‘Little Me’ we had to express our inner self, inner emotions, and for ‘Smooth Sailing’ it was like [being] a shy girl, we had to express that kind of vibe. For ‘Mess With My Mind,’ it is like talking to a friend about [the] hardship of love so, I think that is the most different part while preparing for this album.”

The members' synergy with one another could truly be felt through their responses and how they’d bounce off of each other’s answers. One of the main attributes of cignature that the members wanted to be remembered by was their chemistry together. “We hope that both the public and our fans see cignature as a group that brings happiness just by watching us. That's the kind of group we aspire to be,” said Dohee.

When asked if there was a message they’d like to express through cignature’s image and sound, Jeewon shared: “We want our fans to feel a sense of happiness when they watch our performances and listen to our music. That's why we put a lot of effort into both our music and performance. We believe in consistently producing great songs that resonate with the public, so that people can trust that cignature's music is always worth listening to. This is the path we aim to follow.”

What’s to Come From cignature in 2023

2023 has served as being a monumental year for the group, with the release of two new EPs for fans to enjoy after the group’s absence in the K-Pop scene in 2022, to achieving new first week sales for Us in the Summer. Jeewon conveyed the group’s feelings: “We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to our fans. It's your support that enables us to continually evolve and improve. We're committed to showcasing even better versions of ourselves, so please look forward to our future music endeavors. Thank you!”

Chaesol expressed that as 2023 reaches its final quarter, that they want to spend the last part of the year connecting with their fans and delivering exceptional performances. “We're excited to showcase various aspects of ourselves and present an improved and more polished version of cignature.”

Jeewon wanted to leave a lasting special message for fans: “We strive to consistently deliver impeccable performances and music, always aiming to infuse cignature with a fresh and sincere charm[….] Please continue to follow our journey and show us your love and support as we grow as a group. I hope we can remain together and share happiness for a long time to come. Let's always stay together!”

cignature’s fourth EP Us in the Summer delves into the pure and innocent feelings of the different aspects of love, challenging the group to work in a different way from the music video down to lyrics of the tracks. The six members showed incredible teamwork, and their motivation as a group to put their name out there on a global front is admirable—there is no doubt that their determination will steer them in the right direction.

Thank you to C9 Entertainment and Helix Publicity for the opportunity to participate in the roundtable talk, and to our fellow media outlet colleagues who participated in the talk who unraveled and unveiled many interesting conversations through their questions. 

Us in the Summer is available now on Spotify and all streaming platforms.