Vocal group V.O.S has released its first EP as a trio in six years, bringing back member Park Ji-hun to join Choi Hyun-joon and Kim Kyung-rok for the first time since his departure from the group in 2010.

According to Park, they owed their reunion to Lee Joo-won, the CEO of their agency HappyFace Entertainment.

“We had been apart for so long that it became uncomfortable to tell each other how we felt (about the reunion),” he told reporters at a media showcase at the Art Hall on Wednesday.

“He acted as a bridge between us, helping us understand each other. When we finally met in person, we knew it was right.”

Titled “Re:union, The Real,” the five-track EP has two lead ballad tracks titled “The Day” and “The Only One for Me.”

“Our debut record in 2004 was titled ‘The Real,’” explained Choi. “We titled this EP ‘Re:union, The Real’ to express that we wanted to go back to those happy days.”

That wish is also reflected in “The Day,” written and composed by Choi himself. The song is an ode to happy days of the past, with lyrics like “back then, the skies were so clear, with fragrant smiles everywhere, will I be able to go back.”

“The song was actually not a lead track, but just the first track on the album,” said Park. “Since we had been gone for so long, we thought it would be proper to start the EP with a song about how we felt during the break. We didn’t want to pretend like nothing had happened.” He acknowledged that his public departure from the group, and V.O.S’ performances as a duo, had spawned many “misunderstandings and rumors” among fans, which he hoped would now be put to rest.

Both lead tracks showed that the group had maintained their musical color for the new album as well. Each member’s individual voice was highlighted and the three members’ elaborate harmonies burst out in the chorus, a melodic structure similar to those of the trio’s past hits, such as “I’m in Trouble,” “Cry” and “Beautiful Life.”

“We wanted to create music that was most ‘like V.O.S,’” Choi said.

“We thought a lot about what V.O.S could offer now, back together,” said Park. “Over the past five, six years, the music scene has found so many talented singers, especially through competitions and audition programs. Being a good singer has become a basic requirement, rather than a competitive edge.”

“In the end, we decided that we wanted to seem happy singing together on stage. Since there are so many great songs out there, we wanted our advantage to be not only our music itself, but the joy we show when we are together singing live.”

V.O.S’ EP “Re:union, The Real” was released Thursday.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)