 |
The “Here at the Beach Again” jacket photo features Ssak 3. (MBC) |
Ssak 3 released the group’s newest song, “Here at the Beach Again” at 6 p.m. on Saturday and rocketed to the top of various music charts, including Melon, Flo, Bugs and Genie Music, among others, Sunday.
Entertainer Yoo Jae-seok, singers Lee Hyo-ri and Rain came together on MBC’s “Hangout With Yoo” as a trio -- Ssak 3 -- in early June, forming a new powerhouse in the online music charts scene. The trio announced that it would release dance music for the summer based on music reminiscent of the 1990s.
Although the process of making the songs and learning the dance moves took a couple weeks, seeing viewership ratings for the program slip somewhat, interest in the group was revived with the release of the music on Saturday.
“Here at the Beach Again” became the first original song released by Ssak 3, composed by Lee’s husband Lee Sang-soon with lyrics seemingly from the ‘90s by Lee Hyo-ri. On Saturday’s program, the trio showed off dance moves for the #HereAtTheBeachAgain TikTok dance challenge, inviting viewers to follow along.
The first song by Ssak 3, a cover of Deux’s “In Summer,” was released July 11 and also reached the top 10 of various music charts. Lee Hyun-do of Deux commented the same day that all proceeds from “In Summer” by Ssak 3 would be donated to charity group People in Need.
The trio makes its debut for MBC’s “Show! Music Core” on Saturday with “Here at the Beach.” The full music video, directed by Lumpens -- also behind multiple BTS music videos -- and their next song, “Turn on that Summer,” will be released the same day. In the following week in August, solo pieces by each of the three will be released online, giving fans plenty of tunes to look forward to.
With their appearance on “Hangout With Yoo,” Lee and Rain are experiencing renewed fame. Lee has become a spokesperson for sports brand Puma and Rain, who featured in Zico’s latest song “Summer Hate,” landed an advertising deal for a shrimp cracker snack after his music video for “Gang” went viral.
The two stars have expressed sorrow at having only a few days left together as a group.
“I am sad that the end is getting near, but I am thankful that we can offer smiles to people during these hard times,” Rain said on Instagram on Saturday. Lee also expressed similar feelings on the program the same day.
Meanwhile, with heightened attention to ‘90s music, the longest surviving coed group Koyote was to release a remake of ‘90s hit song “Sea” by group Up on Sunday evening.
By Lim Jang-won (
ljw@heraldcorp.com)
