IVE is a South Korean girl group formed by Starship Entertainment. The group is composed of six members: Gaeul, An Yu-jin, Rei, Jang Won-young, Liz, and Leeseo.
IVE made their debut in 2021, and while I did check out their releases since their debut, nothing really caught my attention much until their release of I AM in 2023.
The song is about finding your own direction in life and having hope for a better future, a message that I needed to hear at the time I discovered it. I started to look forward to more of their releases and they were hit or miss for me, until their most recent release, REVIVE+, where I can say I enjoy each and every song. To me, it’s an extremely solid K-pop album. It is very rare for me to not want to skip any songs on an album but this is one of those rare occurrences.
I think what makes this album so solid is the flow of it. It’s just all catchy pop, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and is so easy to vibe to. One thing I also appreciate about it is that each member has their own solo song. It helps to see where each member shines the most. My favorite solo track has to be Odd by Gaeul. I love her vocals and how dreamy it sounds, and the lyrics are beautifully written:
This makes me look forward to more solo work from her in the future.
The title tracks of the album, BANG BANG, and BLACKHOLE were also some of my favorite title tracks from them. BLACKHOLE sounds like a part 2 to I AM, which some people may feel is too repetitive, but I am all for it!
BANG BANG is one of their catchiest title tracks to me in a while though and has a bit of a different sound, making it stand out more in their discography.
Overall I have become more and more impressed with IVE. Their empowering and positive lyrics, catchy pop songs, and talent in singing, dancing, and writing are things that I feel should be appreciated. 🩵🎵
I never claimed to be normal 
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