“Monster rookie” WINNER will make a grand return with a new album topped with four special music videos, two of which were shot in Sweden, YG Entertainment said Friday.

The quintet swept domestic charts and TV programs last August with catchy tune “Empty” from debut album, “2014 S/S,” bagging six first-place trophies in a month on various music competition programs.

(YG Entertainment)

Since their successful debut, WINNER had lapsed into a yearlong domestic hiatus, which the label explained was spent on polishing the coming album.

“We received close to no help from outside songwriters. The five members participated in composing the song and the lyrics themselves.”

YG chief producer Yang Hyun-suk is known to be giving tremendous backing to the group. Some even compare the scale of his support for WINNER with same label Big Bang’s four-month-long “MADE” project, as it is a rarity for an entertainment company to sponsor four music videos for a 2-year-old rookie group.

WINNER just wrapped up a slew of concerts in Japan in cities including Shiga, Tokyo, Miyagi, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Kobe and Hokkaido.

The group is set to perform in Okinawa on Saturday.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

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