Wonder Girls Returns Home All Grown Up with 2nd Album

Starting with an appearance on a KBS music program on Friday, Wonder Girls are marking its return to Korea with a big splash after 18 months spent working overseas.

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The five-member girl band is set to release its second album, "Wonder World", which the members described as an intensely personal statement of their recent journey, during which time they also made inroads into the U.S.

"Although we have been performing in the U.S. for a while, we missed our Korean fans a lot", said one of the members. "Since this [new] album contains all of our ideas from the last two years, we feel more attached to it than to any of our previous releases".

Wonder Girls

The girls told the Chosun Ilbo last Friday that they were looking to produce a more sophisticated album this time around -- one showcasing their full range of vocal skills and experience, while also conveying a more soulful sound,

The title track "Be My Baby" takes elements of soul music and adds a faster tempo. It was produced by J.Y. Park, head of JYP Entertainment, the K-pop group's agency. Departing from its former retro style, Wonder Girls have now adopted a more modern and trendy look, a member of the band explained.

The band, which gained immense popularity here with songs such as "Tell Me" and "Nobody", will continue to perform in Korea for one month before putting on shows in other Asian destinations.

It also plans to release its first full-length album in the U.S. in January and a made-for-TV film called "Wonder Girls at the Apollo", which shows the girls preparing for a concert as well as their behind-the-scenes friendship.