Since Modhaus – the agency created by former LOONA creative director Jaden Jeong – first unveiled the idea for tripleS in 2022, the girl group have been slowly revealing their members like layers of petals on a flower. Rather than unveil the full team at once, though, the “decentralised” idol group’s 24 new stars – who fans vote into different units via an app called Cosmos – have gradually debuted in those sub-sections, like Acid Angel From Asia and LOVElution. Now, at last, the entirety of tripleS is in full bloom.
Floral imagery dominates the girl group’s debut album, ‘ASSEMBLE24’, which arrives after a run of acclaimed releases from their sub-units. “This is my wave, it’s a flower that blooms,” Nakyoung and Seoyeon share over the Afrobeats rhythms of ‘White Soul Sneakers’, while Hyerin vows to “get through this winter like a dry flower petal” on ‘Chiyu’, a more downtempo but still captivating cut. Later, on that same song, Dahyun, Joobin and Nakyoung sing of “the sound of spring coming”. With this album, that new season has fully arrived.
Like flowers anchoring their roots, this first full-length album is also a declaration of strength. The determined lead single ‘Girls Never Die’ is a promise to keep going no matter what life throws at you. “Gonna go all the way, not gonna give up this time,” the group sing resolutely in the chorus. “We stand up even when we fall.” For them, struggles aren’t just things to push through either, but experiences and opportunities for improvement. “These pains and trials make a better me,” Lynn shares at one point.
If ‘Girls Never Die’ feels like a call to arms for anyone who hears it, ’24’ gets more specific. The track finds the members hyping themselves up, Hyerin describing “the stage where we gathered again” as “getting hotter and rising”, and Nakyoung accurately characterises the group as “something uncommon”. Although it would be easy for such a fresh group to approach their future meekly and nervously, tripleS convey supreme confidence in themselves, not least when Nien utters the assured line: “Run this town, babe I’m not scared.”
‘Assemble24’ is a wide-ranging yet cohesive album in more than just its themes. Genre-wise, the group races through a spectrum of different sonics, each one moulded perfectly to fit them and made to feel their own. In ’S’, a brief introductory track, squealing guitars meld with modern R&B-pop. ‘Heart Raider’, a sweet tale of crushing on a friend that builds courage as it progresses, is driven by a liquid garage beat, while ‘Midnight Flower’ – the most immediate track of the bunch – bounces on a bubbly pop-rock foundation that’s as bright as the nocturnal bouquets the members sing of.
For those who’ve been paying attention to tripleS’ journey since the beginning, this first outing with their full line-up has been a long time coming. ‘Assemble24’, though, proves it was worth the wait – this is a girl group with the substance to back up the novelty of their concept and should be just the start of a glorious blossoming.
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- Release date: May 8, 2024
- Record label: Modhaus