[Exclusive] Gospel singer Sohyang collaborates with Swedish composer for upcoming release

Gospel singer Sohyang, who set an impressive winning record on MBC’s weekly music competition show “King of Masked Singer,” is collaborating with a Swedish composer for her upcoming release.

According to Sohyang’s manager Monday, the singer and Simon Petren, a Swedish composer, recently finished working on Sohyang’s two new songs.

“Sohyang and Petren have recently wrapped up producing two of her new songs, and they are now in the middle of mixing process,” the manager said.

“The upcoming new songs will be up-tempo K-pop numbers, which will be completely different from Sohyang’s previous soulful music style.” 

This is the first time that Sohyang, whose songs are usually self-written and self-composed, has partnered with another composer.

The manager said the gospel-influenced singer seeks to promote her music in the US and Europe in the future, which is why she decided to work with Petren and produce songs that can appeal to overseas audiences.

The 31-year-old composer is not new to the K-pop scene, as he has close ties with S.M. Entertainment, one of Korea’s major entertainment companies. He has worked with the label’s big name acts such as Red Velvet, SHINee and Pristin. Most recently, he worked on “Habit,” a track from Seventeen’s fourth EP “Al1.”

Petren was working with the label’s artists in Korea before he began collaborating with Sohyang, the manager said. 

While the manager didn’t elaborate on the songs, he said Sohyang would shoot the related music videos in Los Angeles and New York later this month.

Sohyang, who debuted as a gospel singer in 1996 with the track titled “MR,” became the first Korean artist to sing the American national anthem at an NBA game in 2014.

Recently, Sohyang made headlines with her impressive performance on “King of Masked Singer,” a TV show in which singers compete while hiding their identities behind masks. She won six consecutive victories before losing to another contestant Sunday.

By Hong Dam-young (lotus@heraldcorp.com)