Triptych’s second co-ed trio, Triplex brings a bubblegum pop twist to Triptych’s usual mature EDM sound with their debut mini album, The Heart, which was released on March 18th, 2018. Made up of three of the youngest members, the album focuses on a young love story, starting with their debut track, “Oh!”.
△ TRACK BY TRACK.
1] OH!
Seasoned Artychs might have been thrown for a loop upon hearing “Oh!” for the first time. The bubblegum-meets-synth pop track is catchy, memorable, and stands out among Triptych’s discography as a whole.
None of the members can be credited for the writing of this song, but member and subgroup leader, One, had helped with the choreography.
2] COFFEE 3] FIRST DATE 4] KISSES 5] L-O-V-E 6] HOLD MY HAND
△ THIS ERA.
This comeback was actually pushed forward because of the stalking scandal involving Jin of Triptych’s Trois. The company was hoping to distract fans (and the general public) by throwing three shiny new members in their faces.
And it actually worked. Triplex’s debut was controversial among fans and casual listeners, especially with the stark difference in concept & sound.
Some older Artychs criticized HBH for being sell outs and trying to cater to younger audiences with Triplex.
But despite the few disapproving fans, Triplex was actually very popular domestically and became one of the most popular sub-groups of Triptych in Korea.
Their title track, Oh!, went viral because of the chorus’s choreography, which was created by One herself. Oh! became a popular choice for dance covers online as well as by idols on variety shows.
However, Triplex had to be very careful this era. Usually, HBH is pretty lenient on what their idols do in the public eye, but after what happened with Soojin... They didn’t want to risk anyone getting hurt or involved in anymore drama.
So the members of Triplex had to sneak around if they wanted to form any sort of relationships outside of Triptych... which lead to the trio frequently escaping their dorms to go hang out with their new friends that they’ve made during promotions.
But in general the era was very successful and boosted the morale.
△ FANDOM BEHAVIORS.
One of the biggest reasons behind the surge of fans this era was because Sun and One were previously contestants on Produce 101, finishing at ranks 14 and 19 respectively.
People who hadn’t heard from One or Sun since their run on the survival show took interest in where they ended up. The phrase “Kang Sunhee” started trending on twitter upon her debut announcement.
Fans generally had a positive response to the kiddos and were really excited to welcome their new maknaes...
But fans of Trois weren’t too impressed, especially because they knew that HBH was just throwing Triplex out there to cover up the fact that they haven’t found Jin’s stalker yet.