As someone who cannot dance, still loves to dance, and especially loves watching professional dancers, I’ve observed K-pop from a distance for years, never knowing where to start with this genre. On a whim last Fall, I watched Netflix’s Pop Star Academy: Katseye, a documentary series created in collaboration with international record labels Hybe and Geffen Records that follows the creation of a global girl pop group in the style of K-pop. Through this documentary, I came to appreciate the rigorous (at times, too rigorous, given these were teenagers and young women being treated with questionable standards) and perfectionist artistry embedded in K-pop. It’s incredible to see how much thought and detail go into every aspect of a performance, from faces to vocals to even the ways one’s fingers are positioned in specific dance moves. Throughout the series, you watch more than 100 girls be whittled down to a selection of finalists, with the final six coming together to create Katseye.
Katseye’s first EP, SIS (Soft Is Strong), was good, great even, but it felt distinctly Hybe and Geffen, failing to capitalize on the potential of the group’s six members, who are of differing ages and cultural backgrounds. Songs like “Touch” and “Debut” are bops, to be sure, but it’s clear the girls of Katseye’s weren’t necessarily vibing with its more sanitized, ubiquitous, mainstream sound. But then Katseye released their debut EP, Beautiful Chaos, and the fog cleared on what the girls of Katseye want to do and be.
Katseye – “Gameboy” Official Music Video:
Beautiful Chaos is a thrashy, loud, and unique album. It’s more brat than anything else, but even that diminishes how varied its songs are, which range from sonic melodies about womanhood (“Mean Girls”) to confident and powerful club heaters (“M.I.A.”) to ironic underground romps (“Gnarly”) befitting their Y2K fashion tastes. And just when you think you’ve found a description for Katseye’s sound on Beautiful Chaos, you listen to “Gabriela”, a telenuovo-inspired Spanish song of seduction, love, and heartbreak, and all musical parameters around this girl group fade away. “Gameboy,” with its Nintendo samples and catchy chorus, is one I’d especially recommend checking out if you’re reading this.
Beautiful Chaos is not for everyone, but neither is Katseye – they aren’t k-pop; they aren’t pop; they are Katseye. – Wesley LeBlanc
