CHESHIRE

ITZY, the JYP Entertainment K-pop girl group (Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, and Yuna), is no stranger to reinvention. And like the overwhelming majority of their releases, ITZY’s sixth EP demonstrates their range. There’s the opener and title track “CHESHIRE” and its light-industrial production with a Joker-fied lyrical refrain of “Why so serious?” and the haunted jewelry-box sounds of “Snowy.” The EP’s most charming harmony comes in “Freaky,” a cheer of “I’m in my zone/Just leave me alone” above a trap beat. The closer, the fully English “Boys Like You,” starts like a 2010s Kesha hit and moves into something decidedly more PG: sassy teen pop, like a Katy Perry B-side—an elated diss of male mediocrity. It’s an earworm.

On mini-album 'Cheshire', K-pop girl group ITZY tease a mature new sound and a bold, playful approach to romance – read the NME review