The new concept puzzled people at first, with many raising questions about the members’ identities. Leader Karina clarified the point during Aespa’s first-ever online press conference on Monday, May 17.

“We are an eight-piece group,” she said during the event, referring the digital entities as part of Aespa. “We took lessons for a long time to fully understand our concept and universe. Now, we know who we are. As the avatars were created based on the personal data of each member, all of us can easily keep in step with our digital selves.”

Giselle added, “We are planning to showcase diverse content with our avatars.”

During the session, the members also talked about their upcoming single Next Level, which hit multiple streaming charts on Monday. Next Level, a remake of a song featured in the soundtrack of 2019 action film Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, is a hip-hop dance song with groovy rap and catchy bass riffs.

“We tried to make our voices sound more powerful,” Karina said. “SM’s founder-producer Lee Soo-man helped us a lot to add our own distinctive colour to the song. In the case of choreography, we wanted to make it look more chic and relaxed.”

Winter elaborated, “The outfits for our performances look futuristic as well and they match well with the mood of Next Level.”

Chinese member Ningning explained that Next Level is a follow-up song to Aespa’s debut single Black Mamba, which was released last November. In Black Mamba, the members learn that an evil force in the form of a snake poses a threat to the world and will attempt to disconnect them from their avatars.

“In Next Level, we head for Kwangya to hunt down Black Mamba that estranged us from our avatars,” Ningning said. Kwangya is a Korean term meaning “a wide plain,” but in Aespa’s world, it is the place where the avatars live.

Winter added she loves the group’s concept and universe, which distinguish Aespa from other K-pop acts.

“I was bewildered and happy to hear all the good news,” Karina said. “We will strive to showcase a better version of us for our fans.”

So far, Aespa has not yet released any album – just two singles, Black Mamba and Forever. When asked about its plan for an album, Ningning hinted that it will come out soon.

“We have been enthusiastically gearing up for an album to offer diverse songs to our followers,” she said.

Wrapping up the event, Giselle disclosed the group’s goal.

“Being a rookie group, we want to continue to show our improvements,” she said.

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This article originally appeared on Korea Times