InRO Weekly — Volume 1, Issue 16

ALBUM REVIEWS
I’VE IVE
Ive
It’s a glorious time to be a fan of girl
groups. UK trio FLO is paying homage to
TLC and Aaliyah, and they’re poised to have
a massive year; Japan’s XG and SG5 both
have unusually Western pop ambitions;
new and interesting Thai-pop groups are
appearing every day. But when it comes to
the unique joy of watching a group perfect
the vibrant potential of pop music, no one
is flourishing quite like the fourth-gen
K-pop girls. (G)I-DLE, Fromis_9, Itzy, Aespa,
STAYC, Pixy, Tri.be, Purple Kiss, Billlie,
Kep1er, Viviz, Le Sserafim, NewJeans, CSR,
TripleS, Fifty Fifty, and more — there’s a
group for every sound and mood, from
electronic badassery to nostalgic love
ballads to chic synthpop to playful
witchery. It’s almost overwhelming how
much great pop music is emanating from
the talented ladies of K-pop, and being
generated by the diverse creative visions
behind them.
current K-pop wave of “reject loud
experimentation, embrace tradition” and
reached almost unprecedented success
by doing so.
To dig into the whole sonics of it, IVE’s
efforts so far have been what you might
call okay-to-good: “Eleven” was
unassuming, and “After Like” felt a bit
rushed and overly derivative after two
years of relentless disco K-pop. But then
there was “Love Dive,” which features
some of the most impeccable sound
design and slow-burn brilliance to come
out of pop music this decade. And
notably, all of IVE’s singles sound like
them, even with only half a dozen tracks
to their name — they sing about your
standard teenage crushes, but with a
winking confidence that implies they
have positioned those feelings right
where they want them.
I’ve IVE is the group’s first full album and,
as their first comeback longer than two
tracks, almost doubles the size of their
discography. (Yes, the title is an
unfortunate crime against grammar.)
Although it’s IVE’s first foray into crafting
an extended set of B-sides, the biggest
story here is still the two singles. At first
glance, the whispered, bitchy anti-drop of
prerelease single “Kitsch” feels at odds
with the group’s sound. But a closer listen
uncovers percussion bubbles boasting
the same precision as the verses of “Love
Dive,” and the lyrics about looking
envy-worthy on Instagram fit right into
their established rich-girl aesthetic — it
doesn’t matter whether it’s a bug or
In the next few weeks, InRO will be
covering new releases from three of the
biggest K-pop rookie groups currently
working. First up is IVE, a six-member girl
group who hit it big with their debut in late
2021 and have only reached higher heights
since. Their first three singles — “Eleven,”
“Love Dive,” and “After Like” — were all
pleasant, accessible, and vocal-forward,
with production playing a supporting role
to melody and the members’ guiding
charisma. These massively popular tracks
quickly established IVE’s mission
statement as something like “Just make
some good freaking pop music,” and
together with NewJeans, they’ve led the
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