Over here in the western world, the influence of k-pop and j-pop has become harder and harder to ignore: one need only look at the massive success of Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters last year for proof that the genre is more beloved and relevant now than ever before. XG are relatively new faces on the scene, breaking out in 2022 off the back of single ‘Tippy Toes’— it’s a fast moving industry though, which might explain why the group’s catalogue is already so prolific. New record ‘THE CORE’ hints at what XG might having in store for the future, even if this standalone release ends up falling short of their potential.

This style of pop music, arguably more so than any other genre, is built around standout singles: it feels very appropriate to talk singularly about ‘GALA’ before diving into the rest of the record, given that many listeners will form their impressions of XG from this track alone. After the flowery soundscapes of ‘XIGNAL,’ this is the song intending to kick off ‘THE CORE’— we must admit that, evaluating the track in isolation, it’s a strong feather in the group’s cap. The girl group take a healthy dose of hip-hop influence throughout this latest record, and the rapped verses of ‘GALA’ are arguably the strongest implementation of that idea. XG are hardly tearing up the rulebook or breaking new ground on the mic, but their subtly arrogant lyrics and passable flows keep the momentum high— at the very least, they lead into the song’s shimmering Eurovision-esque pre-chorus well, in turn transitioning into a hook you could’ve ripped straight from the latest clipping. album. For a genre that often seems as if on rails, ‘GALA’ does feel genuinely ambitious, and promising to boot.

On to the rest of the record, then, which is comparably much safer and more predictable than that lead-off single might’ve implied: despite the genre-hopping XG undertake across these ten tracks, ‘THE CORE’ seems entirely incapable of surprising you after its opener. ‘ROCK THE BOAT’ retains the light hip-hop elements from ‘GALA,’ but feeds them into a far more sparse and bubbly arrangement— it’s a solid number for the infectious melody of its chorus alone, even if the production feels needlessly sanded-down. XG are, like many of their contemporaries, a corporately-constructed act, and that knowledge hangs over ‘THE CORE’ like a black cloud. Under different circumstances, the overblown 80s-pop aesthetic of ‘HYPNOTIZE’ would be rather fun: here, the song practically thrusts you into the conference room it was conceived in. That’s not to say that the pretty acoustic guitar backing of ‘4 SEASONS’ or the bouncy synths of ‘TAKE MY BREATH’ are unlistenable, simply by how they came to be: the tracks have their charm to them, but lack the distinct character they’d need to stay with you.

That feeling of ‘corporate-mandated recreation’ feels especially suffocating when XG’s music takes a turn for the worse—even if you could ignore the record’s overly clean presentation during a catchy tune like ‘TAKE MY BREATH,’ it becomes near-impossible in the back half of the record. ‘NO GOOD’ is just about the safest, most commercially-oriented R&B track you could ever come across, complete with lyrical non-sequiturs galore and some truly insufferable hooks. ‘UP NOW’ is very much cut from the same cloth, to the point where the two tracks feel like the a-side and b-side of the same single: this is the slightly more minimalist of the two, but also happens to be far more monotonous thanks to the endless, endless repetition of its title. As dispensable as these inclusions are, though, they barely hold a candle to the misguided attempt at pop-punk that is ‘O.R.B.’ Right from the bizarre handling of the guitars in the mix, you can tell that no-one involved has any clue what they’re doing in this space— add on the worst vocal writing and lyrical choices on the entire record, and you have the worst song of 2026 so far.

‘THE CORE’ is an incredibly short record at only 29 minutes, but it could’ve been even shorter: ‘GALA’ is less than four minutes in length, after all. There are some fun tracks in here, to be sure— ‘ROCK THE BOAT,’ ‘HYPNOTIZE’ and ‘TAKE MY BREATH’ all have their moments— but when push comes to shove, the album is far too inconsistent and vapid to hold your attention. XG’s team might need a few more board meetings before their next endeavour: whenever the follow-up releases, we’ll be praying it sounds more like ‘GALA’ than it does ‘O.R.B.’