Their company Block Berry Entertainment decided to introduce the group through a grandiose pre-debut project spanning from October 2016 to April 2018, where every member would be introduced and release a solo track, B-side and music video to pair with their solo. During these 18 months, members HeeJin, HyunJin, HaSeul, YeoJin, Vivi, Kim Lip, JinSoul, Choerry, Yves, Chuu, Go Won, and Olivia Hye made a strong impression on fans with their unique and captivating solos tracks that catered to each member’s strength. Along the way, LOONA created three subunits - LOONA 1/3, LOONA ODD EYE CIRCLE, and LOONA yyxy - that showcased the members’ stage presence and synergy while also cultivating a distinct sound for each subunit. Finally, in August 2018, LOONA as a full group released the song ‘favOriTe’as a pre-debut single and officially debuted on Aug. 20, 2018, with their bombastic and energetic title track ‘Hi High’, both tracks being part of the tracklist for their first mini-album “[+ +]”. Since then, LOONA has since released four more mini-albums and received commercial and critical success from music critics and fans of the group. The group has won two awards from Korean music shows, reached #1 on the iTunes Album charts multiple times, landed a spot on the Billboard 200 chart, and performed on the KCON LA stage in 2019. Safe to say, LOONA has accomplished a huge amount in the few years they officially debuted as twelve together. Beyond their achievements, LOONA has established a deep connection with their fans through both music and storytelling. For those unaware, the group has their own lore, centred on a universe called the “LOONAVERSE”. Lore in K-Pop is becoming more frequent with BTS and other groups creating their own storylines and LOONA is no different. In the simplest terms, the lore is focused on visually telling the story of how twelve girls united to form the girl group we know as LOONA. The group itself is very space-themed and often references the planets and moon - which is seen in their group name meaning “moon” in Spanish and their fandom name “Orbits”. The hidden easter eggs in the lore have made fans conceptualize their own theories and ideas about the lore. Comments sections and fan pages are flooded with the newest theories about the world and the LOONA members themselves mention how they appreciate Orbits engaging with their universe. Moreso, LOONA has explored a variety of genres and sounds in their expanding discography. The progression from pre-debut to now can be seen in the group’s almost six-year history. From dream-pop to Bollywood-inspired tracks, LOONA is trying to distinguish itself and their music from other K-Pop groups. Their discography and lore are the main reasons why LOONA has managed to reach new lengths of success internationally. Currently, LOONA is competing on the hit Mnet show “Queendom 2” and is gaining notoriety domestically for their spectacular performance abilities on the program. Coinciding with their appearance on the show, Kpopmap has compiled a list of five LOONA B-sides to check out if you are interested in expanding your knowledge of the group’s phenomenal discography. (Note: tracks from the pre-debut project will not be included but we still recommend you check out all of the group’s content from that era as those songs show a whole new side of each member and their respective subunits.)
1. ‘Stylish’ - “[+ +]”
Starting off strong is a B-side from their debut mini-album “[+ +]”, the stylistic choice to name their album in brackets continuing on from here. The mini-album showcases an energetic and pop-based sound for the group and is very friendly to the general public. Out of the four B-sides, ‘Stylish’ remains a popular favourite among Orbits. Closing out the mini-album, this pop track centers around the narrator falling for another person and how elated they feel when around them. In its purest form, ‘Stylish’ is a love song to this person and how they make the narrator feel. “You’re so stylish/I dream of you on my buy list/You’re my style, style” is said through the chorus, emphasizing how the person they’re singing about is stylish in looks and personality. The vocal performance of the members, especially HeeJin, Chuu, and Kim Lip, are airy and evoke the sweet vibe of the song. We’d recommend listening to this song while you’re taking a walk on a nice Spring day.
2. ‘Satellite’ - “[x x]”
Released in February 2019 as part of the repackaged version of their previous mini-album, LOONA ventures deeper into an intergalactic concept in “[x x]". Six additional tracks, including the title track “Butterfly”, were released with the other six songs from their last mini-album. “Satellite” embodies the dream-pop sound of the repackaged album. Besides the title itself being a reference to space, listening to this dance-pop song is an out-of-this-world experience. Additionally, the song uses imagery about space, gravity, and the moon to describe a person’s desire to be with someone, tying back to the group’s space concept. The song is very catchy and reinforces LOONA’s cosmic-inspired sound. LOONA released a choreography to pair with the song - anyone who knows the group is well aware that LOONA has created some of the most complicated and intricate choreographies of any K-POP group. This choreography simultaneously highlights the elegance of the song and the dancing proficiency of the members.
3. ‘Oh (Yes I Am)’ - “[#]”
After not releasing a comeback for a full year, LOONA released their next extended play, “[#]”, in February 2020. This album marked a lot of changes for the group at the time. The group decided to switch to a girl-crush concept with their title track ‘So What’, which is evident in the styling and harder sound. The title track would also be the first to not feature member and leader HaSeul as she went on hiatus for mental health reasons but she still sang on some of the B-sides. Most prominently, the mini-album became the first of two LOONA projects that the founder of SM Entertainment Lee Soo-man was involved in the production of. The experimental and edgy sound seen often with SM groups can be heard throughout the mini-album’s tracklist and it was extremely hard to choose one song. ‘365’ deserves a shout-out for being a beautiful ballad and gift to the fans who stayed and supported LOONA through the good and bad times. Ultimately though, ‘Oh (Yes I Am)’ stands out among the other B-sides for its dance-pop flair. The instrumentals for the song toy around with an EDM sound and the song’s pre-chorus builds into a playful-sounding chorus. If that wasn’t enough, the song’s bridge features one of the group’s best raps from Vivi, Kim Lip, and Olivia Hye. Lee Soo-man contributions to the mini-album have made it a memorable addition to LOONA’s music catalogue.
4. ‘Universe’ - “[12:00]”
“[12:00]” was the second LOONA mini-album Lee Soo-man worked on and the first where HaSeul was not featured on any of the songs. While the latter fact is saddening, the group’s third EP continued LOONA’s success worldwide and their experimentation with other sounds. The title track ‘Why Not?’ is an electropop and funk song that featured the rising trend in K-Pop of having an anti-drop in the chorus. The B-sides all contrasted in genre and style but the overall EP still remains cohesive as a project. The fifth track ‘Universe’ probably remains one of LOONA’s most beautiful-sounding ballads the group has ever released to this day. This uptempo electronic-pop ballad sees the group going back to the dreamy and cosmic sound and motifs in their earlier mini-albums. Behind an orchestral instrumental, the heartwarming lyrics lean into more descriptions of the moon and orbiting around planets to capture feelings of love and attraction. “Our own unique universe/Everything that’s become clearer/That heart-swelling moment/That we’ll open up, make it come true” the members sing. As a group, LOONA is vocally dynamic and the members’ soft vocals shine best on ballads like these.
5. ‘Dance on My Own’ - “[&]”
Finally, we have reached LOONA’s lasted mini-album, “[&]”. The album was HaSeul return to promoting with the other girls. The tracklist features an array of songs that cover different genres, the title track ‘PTT (Paint the Town)’ introducing influences from Bollywood and hip hop. To finish off this list, we chose the song ‘Dance on My Own’, the group’s second English song after ‘Star’ (the English version of ‘Voice’) on their previous EP. This mid-tempo pop song takes on a more chill, laid-back approach with the instrumental backtrack. It isn’t until the chorus that the song picks up the momentum. The song itself alludes to themes of self-love and acceptance. The lyrics themselves go into detail about how important it is to love yourself after being with someone who was negative and constantly made you doubt your self-worth, which can resonate with listeners dealing with a breakup or wanting to be more comfortable being on their own. It can be extremely difficult to move on after emotional turmoil but LOONA expresses that loving yourself should always be a priority. “I don’t need nobody to move my body/All me with no strings attached/I don’t wanna be somebody who/Lets somebody hold me if they hold me back/I just wanna dance, dance/Dance on my own (dance on my own)”. The members sound confident while singing the song, solidifying the message of the song and making it the perfect song to dance to on your own (pun intended). Which LOONA B-sides listed above are you tempted to check out? Let Kpopmap know down below in the comments! Also, be sure to support LOONA and all the other artists competing in “Queendom 2”. The Artist Participating In “Queendom 2” Who Entered The Most Talked About Ranking For The 3rd Week Of April KPOP STORIES|Apr 26, 2022 [Queendom2 Full Ver.] ♬ LOONA - ‘SHAKE IT’ VIDEO|Apr 22, 2022
