There isn’t a single field you’ll be able to actually match XG into. Comprising seven Japanese members, the rookie group – barely a yr outdated – sing and carry out utterly in English whereas drawing inspiration from Ok-pop. Though they a lot choose to name themselves a “international pop group”, even that label is unable to wholly encapsulate what really makes them so particular. It’s nothing like we’ve ever seen within the music scene earlier than, and watching what XG and their crew have completed in such a brief span of time is nothing in need of invigorating.
Their earlier 2023 singles ‘Taking pictures Star’ and ‘Left Proper’ had been R&B-infused pop gems that – excuse the pun – shoot XG into the stratosphere. However the woman group aren’t resting on their laurels with their debut mini-album ‘New DNA’. The venture is a menagerie of types, influences and genres, coated with a cybernetic, bio-surreal sheen. Although now we have seen an uptick of those futuristic types in Ok-pop, XG have gone all in.
The album’s opener, ‘Hesonoo’, units the tone with foreboding mechanical echoes and digital dissonance, towards the chilly, cyborg-like voices that immerses listeners into the world XG have created. ‘X-Gene’, which follows proper after, wastes no time diving into the cyberpunk, hip-hop overtones of ‘New DNA’. Jurin, Cocona and Harvey’s verses are exceptionally fluid, their voices and tones complementing one another as entice beats pulsate. In the meantime, major vocalists Chisa and Juria make full use of the brief time they’re afforded on this monitor to showcase their vocal prowess.
Album nearer and lead single ‘Puppet Present’ is unapologetically experimental, giving the track a character solely an act as versatile as XG can pull off. ‘Puppet Present’ additionally boasts the most effective songwriting we’ve seen from an XG track, with traces like “Welcome to the puppet present / The place we play ‘em like they’re plastic dolls / They’ll do something, something, something / If you bought ‘em hanging by a string, by a string”.
However, amongst all of the tracks on ‘New DNA’, Jersey club-inspired ‘TGIF’ stands above the remainder. Backed by a cool deep home beat, ‘TGIF’ – an acronym for ‘Thank God I’m Fly’ – is a masterpiece. Harvey’s “You name it cocky, I name it true” hook, delivered in her distinctive cherubic vocal tone, is likely one of the most memorable parts of the track, but it surely’s Maya’s rap verse that lifts up ‘TGIF’ as considered one of XG’s greatest. The teams two different pre-release singles, ‘GRL GVNG’ and ‘New Dance’, maintain their very own on the report as effectively.
XG have been remarkably constant in the case of constructing and curating their discography, which has solely been additional confirmed with the addition of a powerhouse report like ‘New DNA’. With the quantity of well-deserved consideration the band have managed to garner to this point, it actually is simply up from right here, and XG undoubtedly possess the ability, vary, versatility and uncooked expertise to launch them to stratospheric heights.
Particulars
- Launch date: September 27, 2023
- Document label: XGALX
