KATSEYE Realizes Soft Is Strong with Their Debut EP

The world should veer their attention to the promising new girl group KATSEYE. The six talented members of HYBE and Geffen Records’ first global girl group, SOPHIA, MANON, DANIELA, LARA, MEGAN, and YOONCHAE, came together by chance through an intense audition process. 

These six women were among around 120,000 people who applied for a shot at fame on last year’s show, “The Debut: Dream Academy.” Beating the odds, they were chosen from this massive pool of applicants to become part of the 20 contestants featured on the show, later being selected as the final members of KATSEYE. 

The origin of the group’s name correlates with the multinational and cultural backgrounds of the members, who hail from various cities across four countries: The United States, South Korea, Switzerland, and The Philippines. The inspiration came from the cat’s eye gemstone, a unique stone that displays various colors depending on its direction. Like the gemstone, KATSEYE’s different backgrounds and talents glisten beautifully together.

Less than a year after winning the show, KATSEYE put out two pre-release singles, “Debut” and “Touch,” performed on the KCON LA 2024 stage, and has released their first body of work, SIS (Soft Is Strong), a five-song EP revolving around friendship, heartache, confidence, and self-discovery.

Their uptempo pop single, “Debut,” will have listeners coming back for more of their music. Each member gets their time to shine on “Debut,” each showing off their vocals over a vibrant beat and complementing one another on the extremely catchy chorus. KATSEYE boldly proclaims confidence with their appropriately titled debut single. “Oh we ain’t flexin’, babe, we do what we do / Wanna pull up on us? Check in at the gate and come through / We can run it, run it, run it, no, this ain’t a debut / Love me once, I know you’ll love me twice,” KATSEYE sings.

The girls lean into storytelling with “Touch,” a smooth melodic pop song where the members confront someone who led them astray and mishandled their emotions. KATSEYE takes listeners through the tumultuous journey they experience while trying to share their love, as they move on because they did not receive the attention they craved.

KATSEYE embraces making decisions their way on the EP’s standout track, “My Way.” With a nostalgic 2010s pop sound, the group melodically shares an empowering message over a beautiful piano and drum instrumental. 

The EP’s most lyrically complex song is “I’m Pretty,” an electronic-pop number with many meanings. The simplistic production leaves the lyrics to capture the show, as the members sing about their interpretation of the word “pretty.” The song encapsulates the emotions many young women go through. At times, they may feel pretty on the outside, especially when they have a fresh face of makeup on, but oftentimes, their outward beauty is covered by sadness and an internal lack of confidence. “Things I could do with this brush / You’d never know that I hurt / Yeah, I’m pretty (pretty) / Pretty (pretty) / Pretty sure I’m not done healing,” KATSEYE sings. 

SIS (Soft Is Strong) concludes with “Tonight I Might,” an exhilarating electronic dance music track about living life to the fullest. With this closer, the members let go of the somber feelings they experienced in some previous tracks and enjoy having fun.

With their versatile and well-constructed EP, KATSEYE proves their staying power. Their sound and lyrics can be relatable to young girls while giving older generations something to grasp nostalgia from. They are bringing back an image and sound that has been absent from the pop scene over the past few years, and it will be intriguing to see how they evolve. For those interested in gaining more insight into their journey to stardom, a new Netflix documentary covering the creation of KATSEYE, “Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE,” will premiere on August 21.