There was once an idea to bring together 12 women and shoot for the moon. Then life got in the way, and friends had to go their separate ways. But later, five of the members decided to come together as a girl group once again, under the name ARTMS.

“It took a long time for ARTMS to finally debut,” group member Heejin said during a press showcase on Thursday at Blue Square’s Mastercard Hall in Yongsan District, central Seoul.

The girl group’s first full-length album, “DALL,” drops this Friday at 1 p.m., with the lead track "Virtual Angel."

“It's an album that we've prepared so hard for this hot summer," she said.


ARTMS was formed in April last year after a court suspended Loona members' exclusive contract with BlockBerry Creative, but the girl group never fully came together for a song until it put out the digital single “The Carol 3.0” in December the same year.

The girl group started rolling out songs from its album as a preview to its debut, starting with "Birth" on March 29. The group has since released three more singles, “Flower Rhythm,” “Candy Crush” and “Air.”

"I was almost overwhelmed with tears as we were performing 'Virtual Angel' earlier," said an emotional Heejin, seemingly reminiscing back to the days of hardship that led to the very moment.

ARTMS fully embraces its past and origin as Loona in various ways.

ARTMS' first full-length album, "DALL," is short for "Devine All Love & Live," similar to the EP "Love & Live," which was released by Loona subunit Loona 1/3 in 2017. “The album is about love and life, which are paradoxes of both blessings and violence,” said group member Kim Lip.

The music is evidence that ARTMS is not trying to deny its past; the songs from "DALL" use samples from the members' previous work.

“My favorite song on the album is ‘Candy Crush,’” said group member Haseul. “It samples my song ‘Plastic Candy’ (2023).”

ARTMS is looking forward to a new future with a firm grip on its legacy. The music video of the lead track, “Virtual Angel,” was shot by art director digipedi, who worked with the members since Loona, but shows a complete departure from the members' past videos.

The video has a psychedelic aura with flashing montages of different scenes rapidly cut and pasted over each other. “I thought it was fresh because we used a lot of new techniques,” said Heejin. “If you focus on one particular scene, there is a story being told. I hope our fans can catch on after watching it multiple times.”

“We worked with digipedi since our debut in Loona,” said Haseul. “It was a pleasure to work with them again, and we got to try many new things this time as ARTMS.” The costume design reflected the darker and edgier editing, with the members posing in angel costumes contrasting against gothic makeup and high tech props like VR goggles.

“DALL” features 11 tracks: the lead track “Virtual Angel,” “url,” “Sparkle,” “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” “Flower Rhythm,” “Candy Crush,” “Air,” “Unf/air,” “Distress,” “Butterfly Effect” and “Birth.”

The music was just as adventurous as the visuals, with ARTMS stepping out of the K-pop mold to try different genres and moods. “Virtual Angel” is a Eurodance track with booming drums, and “Sparkle” is a jam with sparse rhythms one might hear at a rave. “Flower Rhythm” begins with meditative metallic melodies, and then suddenly transitions into bouncy synthesizers.

"I think we have to dream big, so our goal is to top the Billboard 200,” said group member Cheorry. “Our CEO promised to buy all of us a luxury bag if we get No. 1 on the Korean music charts,” she added.

ARTMS’ first full-length album, “DALL,” will be released on streaming platforms on Friday, at 1 p.m. The girl group will also go on its first world tour, “Moonshot,” which begins this year on July 20.


To find out more about ARTMS, visit Celeb Confirmed!


BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]