Itzy Open Up About New Album, Getting in Their Feelings and Being the Cool-Girl BFFs of K-Pop (Exclusive)

The five-piece girl group's latest EP, 'Kill My Doubt,' is out now

Itzy delivers the full package on their latest EP — from a surprisingly personal track about finding inner strength to a shiny summer earworm that K-pop fans won’t be able to stop streaming. 

Their first track, “Bet on Me,” off their seventh mini album Kill My Doubt (out Monday) was a stark departure from the five-piece girl group’s cool, colorful, and choreography-forward past, when it dropped earlier this month. But the decidedly stripped back song and accompanying music video was a chance for the members to share a new side of themselves, they tell PEOPLE.

"It's about our doubt or anxiety, that feeling growing inside us,” says Yeji, 23. 

Adds Lia, 23, “We always talk about trusting in ourselves and loving ourselves, but this time it's more fighting your inner fear and overcoming that.”

The members — which also includes Ryujin, 22, Chaeryeong, 22, and Yuna, 19 — eschew their bolder public personas for ordinary clothes and everyday settings as they rap and sing about feelings of isolation and loneliness over a driving beat. Ultimately the track is about empowerment, whether that’s being OK with your bad days or finding strength to overcome them.

But it’s not all stoic introspection on Kill My Doubt.

Far from it, the main single “Cake,” the video for which also debuted Monday, is just the opposite: an upbeat anthem giving permission to enjoy life and worry a little less. The members chant “It’s a piece of cake cake cake,” in English even as everything imaginable goes awry in the music video (top) — from collapsing sets, shoot outs and explosions to literal demons trying to throw shade. 

“You can’t make everyone happy. Show some respect. I do me, you do you,” they sing in Korean while showing off new choreography — something they’re well known for among their fans, known collectively as Midzy (a romanization of the Korean word for "trust"). 

“None of My Business,” the second pre-release track is similarly unbothered: a chilled out kiss off to a messy relationship. The mini album is rounded out by three more songs: “Bratty,” “Psychic Lover” and “Kill Shot.”

For all the variety of genres tapped into for this album, one thing Midzy knows not to expect from Itzy — and something that has made them resonate with many international fans outside the world of K-pop — is their cool, un-stuffy concepts, often labeled "girl crush" in the industry.

Instead of ultra-feminine styling and sweet public personas of earlier idols, the members instead embody the best friend fans wish they had.

Asked to define the concept, Lia explains, "Beforehand, I think lots of girl groups would do more lovely or cute or girly moods. But these days we're kind of getting more sporty and some hip-hop mixed in the music."

A closeness and relatability to their fans is something the members cherish, even sharing their nerves ahead of a big release like Kill My Doubt.

Speaking to PEOPLE earlier this month, Yeji shared the number one thing they're looking forward to about getting this album out in the world was seeing "our fans' reactions."

The group debuted in 2019, shortly before the pandemic and, like so many acts of the same generation, spent the beginning of their career isolated from those supporting them.

Four years in, they say, they still feel nerves releasing something new. "I think because we take a lot of care for one album and there is so many people's effort and hard work [in it], so we are always nervous before we show up," says Ryujin.

"We can definitely feel their excitement. And at the same time, we get that feeling that our fans are also kind of nervous," says Lia, who admits, "For me personally, I check Twitter a lot every time, when we release anything."

Of course, the group have already landed plenty of accolades. Their sixth EP, Cheshire, which they toured the U.S. in support of last year, landed at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and they've steadily been making a name for themselves with U.S. viewers on programs like MTV's Fresh Out and and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show Me Music."

For the members, they just hope to reach as many fans as possible in Korea and far beyond.

"We don't have any specific targeted goals," says Chaeryoung, "but we just want more and more people to get into Itzy [and have our] summer songs recognized world wide."

Kill My Doubt is available to stream now.

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Read the original article on People.