The girl group NiziU Sour Grapes has achieved a “career high” by breaking its own personal record for initial sales with its first Korean mini-album, ‘Sour Grapes’.
Released on September 28, the new album recorded 226,532 copies in initial sales (first-week album sales based on the Hanteo Chart), proving NiziU’s explosive fandom expansion and solid global popularity.
NiziU’s new album ‘Sour Grapes’ is a welcome domestic release presented 1 year and 6 months after their 2nd single ‘LOVE LINE’ released in March 2025. In the meantime, NiziU has achieved overwhelming infrastructure expansion in the Japanese market. Throughout this year, they swept major album charts by consecutively hitting box office successes with their Japanese 2nd EP ‘GOOD GIRL BUT NOT FOR YOU’ and their first local best album ‘Portfolio’. They also successfully completed large-scale solo arena tours and a dome tour, proving their solid growth trend both domestically and internationally.
This momentum served as the foundation that drove the success of their latest Korean comeback. Since winning their first music broadcast trophy with their debut single ‘HEARTRIS’ in October 2023, NiziU has once again claimed the top spot on music broadcasts following ‘LOVE LINE’ with ‘Sour Grapes’, setting a record of three consecutive music show wins for albums released domestically.
The tracklist, which boasts high completion alongside performance achievements, is also receiving unanimous favorable reviews. NiziU’s new mini-album ‘Sour Grapes’ belongs to the ‘easy-listening’ genre that comfortably wraps around the public’s ears. It cheekily turns Aesop’s fable ‘The Fox and the Grapes’ upside down, unraveling the bold energy of diving headfirst into choices that others hesitate to make like a musical fairy tale.
Starting with the addictive and kitschy synth sound of the title track ‘Sour Grapes’, the album is filled with songs where no tracks are left behind: ‘Petal’s Song’ featuring a refreshing kalimba sound, ’emoji’ capturing ever-changing emotions in a bouncy way, the soaring melody of ‘Into The Dawn’, and the lyrical, warm-toned final track ‘Lullaby’. It boasts smooth melody lines that are comfortable to listen to anytime and anywhere, possessing a strong suction power that makes the entire album pleasantly repeatable.
Above all, in this promotion, the performance capabilities of the NiziU members, thoroughly honed through large-scale stage experience, shone brightly. As the members confessed, “We practiced enough to cause muscle pain,” powerful and meticulous sharp choreography combined with unwavering live vocals and vibrant facial expressions maximized the fun of watching the stage.
Having established themselves as an irreplaceable global trend by crossing back and forth between South Korea and Japan, NiziU will continue their hot momentum in the upcoming November with their second Japanese winter tour ‘NiziU Live with U 2026-2027 “Who? U! NiziU Fes.””. Starting in Hyogo on November 22, they will hold a total of 11 shows across 5 local regions including Hokkaido, Aichi, Fukuoka, and Tokyo, continuing their unstoppable global trend.
