The K-pop squad explores infatuation on their first mini album

On their first mini album, Hearts2Hearts settle into the smooth, propulsive sound that has defined much of their first year as a K-pop squad. On the hypnotic house-pop title track “FOCUS”, members Jiwoo, Carmen, Yuha, Stella, Juun, A-na, Ian and Ye-on sing about an all-encompassing attraction (“I cannot focus on anything but you, baby/I cannot focus on anything but you”). While the track works as a tale about youthful infatuation, it can also be read as a story about parasocial fascination—a complexity of attraction that Hearts2Hearts expand on across FOCUS’s five glossy tracks. The intimacy of female friendship is sugar-sweet on the sleepover-coded nu-disco track “Apple Pie”, while a delicate romantic love takes centre stage on the city-pop bop “Flutter” and dreamy ballad “Blue Moon”. “Pretty Please” evokes the spirit of first- and second-generation girl groups in its vocally driven, midtempo exploration of connection.