ILY:1 is back to show a 'New Chapter' of the girl group

Girl group ILY:1 is back with its second EP “New Chapter,” striving to continue the legacy of pure and innocent girl groups, which once ruled K-pop. ILY:1’s lead track, “My Color,” sings of the journey of the girl group that tries to find their ...

GIrl group ILY:1 performs its lead track ″My Color″ during its press showcase on Tuesday at the Ilchi Art Hall in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

Girl group ILY:1 is back with its second EP “New Chapter,” striving to continue the legacy of pure and innocent girl groups, which once ruled K-pop.

ILY:1’s lead track, “My Color,” sings of the journey of the girl group that tries to find their own colors in a dark and monotonous world.

“The song talks about ILY:1 marching forward into the world that we dreamt of. It’s also our ambition to paint the K-pop world with the colors of ILY:1,” Hana said.

The girl group, with members Hana, Rona, Ririka, Nayu, Ara and Elva, held a showcase on Tuesday at the Ilchi Art Hall in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, to talk about their latest album.

“We like to think that we’ve managed to combine [the positives of] the pure and innocent girl groups from the first, second, third and fourth generations of K-pop,” Ara explained.

Many K-pop girl groups over the years have tried and succeeded with the innocent and pure concept, ranging from S.E.S in the late '90s to Girls Generation, Apink, GFriend and Oh My Girl. Oh My Girl also released a new album this week and is one of ILY:1’s personal role models.

“We have the ambition to continue the traditional innocent girl group concepts, and our desire is to reach the top in that genre,” Ara said.

Girl group ILY:1 poses ahead of the press showcase held Tuesday at the Ilchi Art Hall in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. [FCENM]

But the members wanted to go one step further, differentiating themselves from the innocent girl groups of the past.

“I think we are different in that we aim for a purer innocence. But then again, we don’t actively try to look pretty or actively try to look good in front [of the camera] — we are an innocent girl group that is unpretentious as well,” said Nayu.

“It’s our first album release in six months, and we worked hard to improve upon ourselves, and we plan on showing a more well-rounded side of us. I hope this summer turns out to be meaningful and cherishing,” Elva said.

ILY:1, pronounced eye-lee-one, debuted in April 2022 with its first single “Love In Bloom. Of ILY:1's six members, Hana and Ririka are Japanese, Rona is Taiwanese, and the other three members are Korean. Hana, Ririka, Rona and Ara were formerly contestants on Mnet’s idol audition program “Girls Planet 999” (2021).

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]