Washington University’s oldest coed a capella group, Mosaic Whispers, kicked off the new semester with a new extended play, released on Jan. 24. Called “ICCA 2016: The Extended Cuts,” the release features the full versions of the four songs they performed at last year’s International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) Finals in New York: “Tremors,” “Smooth,” “Elastic Heart” and “Uptown Funk.”

The set represents an eclectic mix for the group, which was to “show off our strengths in every genre that we do. ‘Smooth’ is a throwback hit with Latin influence, ‘Elastic Heart’ is contemporary, ‘Tremors’ is electronic and ‘Uptown Funk’ is part of the pop standard,” senior Hannah Lacava, Mosaic Whispers’ music director, said.

Courtesy of Elvin Vu

The Mosaic Whispers perform at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella semifinals in April 2016, besting two groups from Missouri State University for top honors. The group has competed the past three years, but failed to move past the quarterfinals before 2016.

For the ICCAs, the group condensed each piece to create a 12-minute set, so the idea for an album emerged as a way for the Whispers to demonstrate the full arrangements of each song. This is the group’s 11th release since its founding in 1991, and the second release for some of its members who worked on “Wavelength,” a full-length album released in the spring of 2015. Jeremy Sandler, a 2016 Washington University graduate who was a member of the Whispers and did the album artwork for “Wavelength,” also did the art for the latest release.

On the process of creating “ICCA 2016: The Extended Cuts,” senior Rohan Khazanchi, recording chair for the Whispers and President of the A Cappella Advisory Council (ACAC), said, “It’s interesting to see how Ben Lieberman, our producer, takes what we do and makes it better. We all sing each part individually in the studio, and he records them separately. So, his critiques aren’t really about what we work on in rehearsal but instead [are] about capturing the emotion and essence of the song in our different parts.”

2016 was the first time that the Mosaic Whispers made it to the ICCA Finals, which features just 10 a cappella groups out of about 300 total, and both Khazanchi and Lacava remarked on the performance as not only a peak for the group but for their own college experiences.

“This is the first recorded work that I had the chance to direct with [senior] Katie [Greenberg], so it’s special because it’s truly our arrangements on the EP. It’s one of the most surreal experiences—getting to hear your own arrangements, working with Ben in the postproduction and watching each song become a polished piece,” Lacava said about the ICCA-set-turned-EP.

Mosaic Whispers are competing again this year in the ICCA Quarterfinals on Feb. 25 in Ohio. This year’s ICCA set features a “Toxic”/”Fever” mash-up, “White Flag,” “Retrograde” and “Yeah.” The group of songs takes on a throwback theme, which both Lacava and Khazanchi admit was mostly by accident. Similar to last year’s set, this set also represents a diverse group of songs to show off the breadth of the group’s ability, as well as strong original arrangements, which create a sound and a feel that is unmistakably the Whispers’.

“Something else really special this year is the range of soloists [who] you’re going to see in our set,” Khazanchi added. “They’re all very different voices—and also very good representations of the skill level they have as individuals.”

“ICCA 2016: The Extended Cuts” is available for download both on iTunes and on Spotify.