Nine months after the release of Us in the Summer (August 2023), cignature is back with their 5th EP, Sweetie but Saltie. With Sweetie but Saltie, cignature aims to share stories about the excitement of falling in love with signfan (the name for cignature’s fans). cignature is a seven-member K-pop girl group that debuted on February 4, 2020, under C9 Entertainment. The seven members are JEEWON, SEMI, CHAESOL, BELLE, SELINE, CHLOE, and DOHEE. C9 Entertainment also manages groups and artists like CIX, EPEX, YOUNHA, and LEESEOKHOON. In 2022, they won the Blooming Star Award at the Hanteo Music Awards. They currently have two music videos that have garnered over 10M views on YouTube, “AURORA” and “Boyfriend.”

As of July 2023, cignature is continuing the promotions as a six-member group as BELLE is currently promoting as the leader of project girl group UNIS, from SBS’ audition program Universe Ticket. CHAESOL, a member of cignature said:

“Our new title track, “풍덩 (Poongdung),” represents summer’s young yet maturing love. I instantly liked the melody when I heard it, so I was counting down the days we could share with everyone. Thank you to all the fans who have waited for our comeback for about nine months, and we cannot wait to show a good performance. “Smooth Sailing,” which was released last summer, talked about a girl who is excited for her first love or crush. Our new title track sings the story of a more mature girl falling deeply in love as if she’s diving into love with a splash or poongdung. We hope to showcase a mature, improved version of cignature with this song, so please keep your eyes on our activities!” 

Sweetie but Saltie includes four new songs. The title track, “풍덩 (Poongdung),” captures summer vibes while expressing the honest feelings of someone who is fearlessly trying to fall in love without holding anything back. “I like I like” has two versions on this album, each providing a different experience for listeners. “I like I like” is about wanting to confirm a person’s feelings of being in love, even when that confirmation is already obvious to others.

The Korean version focuses more on the cute and innocent part of the realization of being in love for the first time, while the English version aims to capture a more casual, conversational tone, with altered lyrics, in order to evoke an image of sharing one’s feelings with their friends while still containing the original essence of the Korean version. The final track on the EP, “Melody,” shares cignature’s raw sentiments about their history, with the lyrics specifically conveying the group’s reflections on their past, present, and future and their sincere resolutions regarding music. SELINE, member of signature said:

“We prepared another summer album just like last year, but the main difference lies in that while Us in the Summer had a feel-good mood, this year’s title track, “풍덩 (Poongdung),” is more refreshing with a sparkling vibe just like a carbonated soda. There were other candidates for the title track, but we gave a lot of thought to finalizing it, which is why I have even more affection for it! Also, we’re releasing Korean and English versions of one song for the first time. Sharing a song that will allow us to connect deeper with global signfans is very meaningful. We also included different lyrics for each version, so I hope you give them a lot of love and enjoy our performance with us. Since signfans have waited for a long time, we hope this album satisfies their expectations. cignature will be in charge of this year’s summer for our fans, so please listen to the new album a lot. We hope you like it!” 

Have you all heard cignature’s new album? Which song is your favorite? Tell us in the comments!