Super Junior back with 12th anniversary album
K-pop boy band Super Junior celebrated their 12th anniversary on Nov. 6 by releasing a new album in two years. The idol group made their comeback with “Play,” which contains 10 songs including the promotional song “Black Suit.”
Following the release, the album topped iTunes album charts in 22 countries and territories: Philippines, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Leeteuk, Donghae, Siwon, Eunhyuk, Heechul, Yesung and Shindong took part in the album with Kyuhyun recording two songs before he enlisted in the army in May. Personal issues prevented Kangin and Sungmin from participating in the album while Ryeowook is also fulfilling his military service.
But only six members are promoting the album without Siwon, who was excluded due to his dog Bugsy who bit a restaurateur on Sept. 30. The owner of a Michelin-rated restaurant died of sepsis a few days later last month. Siwon apologized for the incident.
“We feel terrible and very sad because Siwon cannot be with us. Our past 12 years have been eventful, but we didn’t give up, and we overcame all of our troubles. (These troubles) became chances to integrate ourselves more. The remaining members will try to move a step closer to fill his vacancy,” explained Leeteuk at a press conference for the album, according to Yonhap News.
Super Junior said Siwon was not edited out of the “Black Suit” music video as this would affect the flow.
“No. If we remove certain parts, the flow of the music video would be broken and its quality would be affected,” Eunhyuk said.
Super Junior debuted on Nov. 6, 2005 with the single “Twins (Knock Out).” Their last album was “Devil” released in July 2015 to mark the group’s 10th anniversary.