Performers, singers, songwriters and K-pop idols, members of girl group Purple Kiss revealed their fifth EP, “Cabin Fever,” on Wednesday, striving to be the “dark horse” in the competitive world that is fourth-generation K-pop.

The six members — Na Go Eun, Dosie, Ireh, Yuki, Chaein and Swan — held their showcase at the Konkuk University New Millennium Hall in Gwangjin District, western Seoul.

The newest EP is a continuation of the dreamlike concept that the group was known for, having both similarities and differences to the previous releases, according to the members.

Purple Kiss was never about following the trend — and even "purple" in the group name refers to the mixture of the colors representing each member’s musical capabilities. Ever since the group’s debut in 2021, the group did not fear being different. The group’s last EP, “Geekyland” (2022), revolved around “geek and nerd” cultures and the third EP “memeM” (2022) discussed cultural memes of the younger generation. In the second EP “Hide and Seek” (2021), members took on the concept of horror high-teen. Even the fans of the group, Plory, call their idols “Purple Kiss Witches.”

"We differentiate ourselves with unusual concepts that only Purple Kiss can do: witches, zombies, nerds and so on," explained Ireh.

Purple Kiss is also known for its members participating in the production of their own songs, including writing the lyrics and designing choreographies, and “Cabin Fever” is no exception. They are also proud and open about the fact that they are involved in the production of their songs.

“I think one of our strengths is that members are involved in the production. Everyone is so talented, and when we come together [as a group], our charm multiples,” said the group’s only rapper, Yuki, who also wrote her own rap in the album.

The lead track “Sweet Juice” refers to the sweet freedom from “Cabin Fever” and the feeling of closeness and constraint caused by the pandemic, which Purple Kiss will help people achieve, explained the members.

“We had a lot of candidates for our lead track, but the members picked ‘Sweet Juice’ unanimously as we all had good first impressions of the song. While the demo version of the song feels different [from the final release], we worked on putting our own mood and color into the song,” said Chaein.

Yuki and Goeun also took part in writing the lyrics of the title track, which "helped add the Purple Kiss color that no other can," according to Swan.


This album is their first as a six-member group, after the departure of Park Ji Eun in November 2022 due to her health issues. However, the group said they felt confident even with one less member on the team. Na Go Eun revealed that they had to try extra hard in order to not make the group feel empty, while Swan said the group worked on the choreography to fit the six-member setup.

Only two years into their career, Purple Kiss was also quite bold about their future goals.

“I hope people call Purple Kiss the ‘dark horse’ of fourth-generation K-pop girl groups," Na Go Eun said. Fourth-generation girl groups typically refer to those that debuted in or after 2019, including girl groups NewJeans, Le Sserafim and aespa.

"We want to shock the K-pop industry, in a positive way, with unique and fresh music that only the group can pull off," Na added.

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