This past June 9, eight of the top 10 songs on the daily chart from Melon, Korea’s top music streamer, were from girl groups, and one more was “FLOWER” by BLACKPINK member JISOO. “Super,” by SEVENTEEN, was the only song among the 10 not by a girl group or one of their members. More specifically, charting artists included IVE (“I AM” and “Kitsch” at numbers three and five), LE SSERAFIM (“UNFORGIVEN,” featuring Nile Rodgers, and “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife,” at numbers four and six), (G)-IDLE (“Queencard” and “Allergy” at numbers one and ten) and NewJeans (“Hype Boy” and “Ditto” still hanging on from last year at numbers seven and 11).  Liseners are clearly showing increasing interest in Korea’s popular girl groups, who consistently have at least two songs at the top.

Unique among the top 10 is “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife” for being the only one that isn’t a title track or a lead single. The song, one of the tracks in the album UNFORGIVEN, made it to number 121 on the day the album was released but fell down the rankings and off the chart after that. It had no music video when the album came out, nor did it have the benefit of being released prior to the album itself, so the song couldn’t be expected to garner much attention. But the song received a music video on May 23 and its success was reflected on the daily chart when the song made it into the top 100 the following day. LE SSERAFIM went on to perform the song three times on TV and posted two choreography videos, sending the song skyrocketing up to number 34 in the space of a week. All the buzz around the song meant it continued to climb the ranks even after the group had finished promoting it. The phenomenon is a kind of second wind—an instance of a song that didn’t perform great on the charts to begin with but rises again thanks to some special circumstances. But that phrase is usually reserved for when the song is rediscovered by listeners much, much longer after its release. This song’s rise, coming within a month of its initial release, can rather be attributed to promotional materials like the music video and choreography uploads and activities like TV performances. Even though “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife” wasn’t a title track or a lead single, it managed to climb the chart because it was designed to be a smash hit from the outset.

It was previously written in Weverse Magazine how “FEARLESS,” LE SSERAFIM’s debut song, continued to climb up the top 100 during the promotional period last year, which ended on June 6. Even back then it could be seen how girl groups’ music tended to continue on an upward trajectory after release as they went around performing on TV. Since last year, and continuing into this year, most girl groups have seen their songs gradually rise up the chart as they perform the songs for different TV shows, and “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife” is the latest reflection of the changes taking place for girl groups in the industry. It’s become common now for popular girl groups to have their lead singles or early releases appear on Melon’s top 10 in addition to simply their title tracks or singles. And now LE SSERAFIM’s raised the bar by getting a “follow-up song”—one promoted after the album and the singles are—in there too, highlighting how it’s also become important to promote in a way that gives all the fans of girl group music what they want.

The choreography for “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife” offers some insight into the changing market. As 2022 came to a close, LE SSERAFIM put on some spectacular performances that incorporated new ideas every time across a range of different awards shows and TV specials; “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife” takes everything about the group that makes them such fabulous performers and compresses it down into a single song. Right from the start of the dance, the LE SSERAFIM members move their hands and feet at lightning speed before advancing to moves that highlight their control of their arms, legs and torsos. Then there’s the chorus (“Boom boom boom my heart’s beating”), which is made up of repeated movements that stick with the viewer, some of which are even easy to dance along to—for example, the way HONG EUNCHAE moves her arms during the chorus while sitting on a sofa. But there’s also parts like the two verses, which are all in Korean, where the dance moves directly reflect the lyrics, as when HONG EUNCHAE follows KIM CHAEWON’s finger like a puppet being possessed. The opening starts things off hot, the verses highlight each member as they follow along with the literal meaning of the words and the chorus makes things even more exciting with simple but effective moves. This combination of different ideas in “The Bluebeard’s wife” makes its choreography even greater than the sum of its parts, and that makes it a perfect candidate for a follow-up song. The title track off UNFORGIVEN successfully captured the message of the entire album through its music video and choreography; “The Bluebeard’s wife” is like the even more exciting and energetic song-and-dance afterparty that follows promotions for the group’s first LP. And under the conditions of this new environment, a popular enough girl group can even quickly rise up the charts with their follow-up song if they promote it. This change in the industry has made a group’s dance abilities and even their stage presence that much more crucial.

Not only do girl groups have an ever-increasing amount of influence in the digital music world, but they’ve also seen a rapid increase in album sales. Six releases from girl groups have gone platinum within a week of release, and four of those were released this year. And while listeners are growing more and more interested in girl groups, they’re also buying more albums and attending more concerts too. The explosively popular third-gen group BLACKPINK is currently on a worldwide tour of stadiums in all different countries and even found time in between concerts to headline the world-famous Coachella Festival. The immense growth in the popularity and success of K-pop girl groups is a result not only of an increase in listeners but also a surge in the amount of money fans are willing to pay, and the groups have naturally found greater influence in the music market with their increasingly bigger releases and concerts. People who listen to girl groups are also quite likely to want to see them perform, too, meaning a single appearance on TV or at a school festival can represent an unbelievable opportunity for groups.

“UNFORGIVEN” is all about women who don’t need to seek forgiveness from others striding forward with everyone and “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife” sheds more light on the individual women whose very lives embodied that message. The first song throws the doors of the album’s message wide open; the second brings that message around full circle by showing how the titular characters put it into practice. “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife” is one of the many new paths that fourth-gen groups like LE SSERAFIM are just beginning to forge for themselves. An entirely new market has opened to them and everyone’s just waiting excitedly for them to perform. And girl groups are ready to perform for massive stadiums. This is an era where dreams can reach unprecedented sizes, and as the success of “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife” shows, it’s the start of a whole new phenomenon. This is the start of an era where every move they make makes for a new page in the history books.