NMixx have consistently pushed musical boundaries since their debut, but they have really leveled up artistically over the last year. Fe304: Break was my favorite mini-album of 2024 for its versatility and mastery of genre blending (or “mixxpop”). However, the last and most recently released installment of the trilogy, Fe304: Forward, manages to surpass that album in its ambition, complexity, and overall execution.
In addition to mixxpop, NMixx are known for their vocal abilities, which they have not only showcased in their music, but through a capella highlight medleys and stage practice videos. Fe304 Forward seamlessly blends both of NMixx’s strengths with intricately layered vocal arrangements and complex instrumentation.
Since their polarizing debut “O.O”, NMixx’s genre switch-ups have become smoother and more sophisticated. Recent title tracks like “Dash” and “See That?” announced their change-ups with an “NMixx” tag, but only one song on Forward (the cutting edge and chaotic “Slingshot”) includes a tag. These new songs still jump genres, including title track “Know About Me,” which maintains a laid-back R&B groove for most of its runtime aside from emotive vocals in the pre-chorus. Jiwoo’s propulsive rap in the bridge, however, ramps up the tempo and “Know About Me” momentarily shifts into an electrifying trap dance break.
As with the title track, pre-release “High Horse” takes a more subtle and mature approach to mixxpop. The song is essentially a trip hop song set to piano chords and drums. Both Lily and Haewon’s delivery in the second pre-chorus, however, has some gospel inflections, while the bridge puts considerable reverb on Bae’s vocals, and then Kyujin’s voice emerges over jazzy instrumentation. In addition to its amalgamation of genres, “High Horse” provides a variety of textures, alternating from heavy percussion to more spare instrumentation highlighting Haewon and Lily’s atmospheric vocals. “High Horse” is unique and intriguing while remaining a pleasant listening experience.
The two featured tracks may seem relatively restrained for NMixx, but one can find more overt experimentation in “Slingshot,” “Golden Recipe,” and “Papillon.” The most straightforward is actually the Dem Jointz-produced “Golden Recipe,” which stacks string and vocal samples over thumping bass. The various layers initially feel discordant, but over the runtime, start to cohere through consistent exposure. Hyperpop track “Slingshot” goes in an even more avant-garde direction, with multiple combinations of melodies and instrumentals, as well as tempo changes.
Listeners can access the more experimental B-sides through the text painting in the songs’ production choices. For instance, “Slingshot” replicates the tension of pulling back the elastic on a slingshot through bending the pitch of the vocals and synths. As with “Know About Me,” “Slingshot” accelerates after the bridge, with the swift percussion and layered vocals creating an impression of high velocity. The lyrics compare NMixx to a slingshot, but the way the song is constructed and produced makes this claim come to life.
Similarly, “Papillon” takes its title from the French word for butterfly, and the synth-driven alternative hip hop song draws upon the associations of butterflies with transformation. The lyrics in the first verse emphasize that difficulties precede metamorphosis:
I swerve, swerve for all to see
The moment I feel most unstable
I know it is my time
Fitting a song with imagery about “swerving” but ultimately overcoming, “Papillon” employs audio panning. The effects, along with the song’s multiple tempo changes, seem to replicate taking flight, which intensifies as the song progresses along with the bass. Matching the lyrics’ determination, “Papillon” dramatizes rising above adversity.
Like the other albums in the Fe304 trilogy, Forward’s genre exploration is grounded in a cohesive thematic throughline. As its title suggests, Fe304: Forward emphasizes confidence and momentum. Opening track “High Horse” laments judgment from others, as Sullyoon sings in her airy, soulful outro: “Sick of that high horse, our minds don’t work like theirs.” In “Know About Me,” NMixx own their intentions to overcome doubts and fears:
Gonna do it ‘cause I want it, gonna move ‘cause I want it
Kill the doubt, I don’t want it, kill the fear, I don’t want it
After building their resolve, NMixx are prepared to approach the world with greater confidence, which “Slingshot” and “Golden Recipe” particularly express. The more introspective “Papillon” and “Ocean,” however, complete the transformation of NMixx into more fully self-realized people.
Describing an album as experimental may create the impression that listening to it is a primarily intellectual exercise, but many of the songs hit emotionally, such as the melancholic “High Horse,” or viscerally, as in the surges of energy in “Know About Me” and “Slingshot.” The dramatic opening to “Papillon” also overwhelms with a symphonic rush of synths and stacked harmonies.
Meanwhile, “Ocean” is a lush, tender pop ballad that gradually opens and expands, particularly in the layered harmonies and ad-libs. The song particularly swells like an ocean in the key change in the second verse that then modulates back to the original key in the pre-chorus. Toward the end of the song, Bae and Lily’s vocals ascend, bringing the album to a moving, transcendent conclusion.
The word “oceanic” perfectly captures feeling engulfed in the expansive soundscapes of Fe304: Forward. The album’s six distinct, creative songs, with their impressive vocal arrangements and production, prove that NMixx’s musical repertoire has quickly become vast and deep.
(YouTube. Lyrics via Genius [1][2]. Images via JYP Entertainment).
