STAYC fans, rejoice: The girl group is back after almost a yearlong break, and its members are confident that its new 14-song album, “Metamorphic,” excels in both quality and quantity.

“If you ask me to choose my favorite song from the album, I’ll end up telling you a different song every time,” STAYC’s Yoon said during a press showcase held Monday afternoon at the Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, ahead of the 6 p.m. release of “Metamorphic," the group's first full-length album.

“Metamorphic,” comes 11 months after STAYC’s third EP, “Teenfresh,” dropped in August and almost four years after its debut in November 2020. The album, featuring unit songs, solo tracks and STAYC’s first fan anthem, showcases a from the group's signature energetic and upbeat music.

“We wanted to present a more perfect album and that’s why our first full-length album was been delayed for some time,” Seeun said. The group was hard at work on “Metamorphic” during its “Teenfresh” world tour last year, according to Yoon.

“Now, we are showing it after [almost] four years,” Seeun said.

Lead track “Cheeky Icy Thang” is a synth-pop score representing STAYC’s venture into a new musical style, which member Isa described as “Icy, hot yet still cheeky.”

It’s not common to see 14 tracks in K-pop albums, which generally feature a maximum of 10 songs. The unconventional length worried some members but excited others.

“When we first heard that we’d have 14 songs in our album, I was very much worried and thought ‘How am I supposed to record it all?’” Soomin said. “But recording the songs one by one was such a fun task, and I’m glad that we were able to try out songs in different genres. I’m now fully confident about it.”

“I was someone who yearned to release more songs, and I’m sure our fans wanted us to put a lot of songs in the album,” Sieun said in contrast.

The album notably features “Find,” a unit track performed by Sieun, Saeun and J; “Fakin’” a duet featuring Soomin and Yoon; and Isa’s solo track “Roses.”

“I was so nervous,” said Isa, who recalled wondering whether her solo track would actually be released. “I'm so glad that it happened.”

The members also differ in the songs they prefer. J voted for her duet track “Find” while Sieun chose “Flexing On My Ex,” first performed on the “Teenfresh” world tour last year.

“I’ve been waiting for such a long time for the release of ‘Flexing On My Ex,’” Sieun said. “We’ve already built a lot of fond memories performing in front of our fans.”

Seeun chose the group’s first fansong, “Stay With Me,” which all six members took part in writing. Soomin chose “Beauty Bomb” while Isa chose her solo number.

“We have so many good songs on the album, but I think I tried extra hard with my solo track because I know it’s more difficult to pull off alone,” Isa said.

Yoon picked “Gummy Bear,” but added that her favorite “changes every day.”

“I’ve been listening to our full-length album lately, and it doesn’t get old, I hope you guys all listen to it,” Sieun said.

“All 14 songs are so good,” Soomin said. "It's a big dream, but I hope 'Metamorphic' turns out to be a masterpiece."

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]