It's hard to orchestrate a breakthrough in K-Pop, but NMIXX's latest release Fe3O4: FORWARD has shown they have what it takes. Released on March 18, 2025, NMIXX's latest EP consists of six songs that show a decisive development in the group's sound. The sheer maturation since the release of "별별별 (See that?)" only six months before is impressive—and so far, slightly misunderstood.

If Fe3O4: FORWARD's title track, "KNOW ABOUT ME," isn't an instant hit, it might be a sleeper hit; even if it's not a sleeper hit, what it shows is that NMIXX's biggest hits loom just on the horizon. NMIXX's career has so far been marked by K-Pop fans' division over their founding concept. Although recent comebacks like "DASH" signal growth within that niche, Fe3O4: FORWARD signals something more important: development of that niche—development which might bring NMIXX ever closer to popular appeal, at that.

NMIXX's Sound Has Always Been Divisive

The Bold Approach Has Relegated NMIXX To Being A Niche K-Pop Group

Technically speaking, NMIXX's concept is based on what their label, JYP Entertainment, has called "mixx pop." Mixx pop refers to putting an emphasis on musical contrast. To be clear, a good change-up is nothing new to pop music; its modern iteration in K-Pop can arguably be traced at least to Girls' Generation's "I Got A Boy."

NMIXX's early releases were predicated on putting this concept to work. Singles like "O.O" and "Dice" were intriguing explorations of just how the change-up concept could work when it's the foundation of a group's discography. The results were, to be frank, predictable. While NMIXX was lauded for their technical skill as vocalists (and would go on to be the first K-Pop group to have a Tiny Desk Korea concert), the sound was immature.

Although 2023 and 2024's releases were received better, NMIXX has struggled to gain the kind of ground that would put them on the same level of popularity as K-Pop's major players. For a while—before 2024, mostly—they were even considered an underrated K-Pop group by many of their fans.

One of NMIXX's big problems has been their concept. Often signaled by the phrase "NMIXX, change-up," the different sections of their songs were jarringly distinct with little cohesion. As a consequence, fans of this juxtaposition would criticize other releases for the different sections not being distinct enough.

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NMIXX's songs could be quite good (though quite middling, at times), but they lacked the sort of hip-shuffling groove needed for a pop charter. NMIXX developed for their fans a rigid grid of how an NMIXX song should sound. In the process, they excluded themselves from artistic development by, more or less, reproducing the same song. With Fe3O4: FORWARD, though, that's clearly changing.

Certain hallmarks are there. The first track, "High Horse," has limiter-smashed drums recalling contemporary psych rock and not-so-contemporary trip-hop. With a touch more reverb and a touch less saccharine glitter, the song is six good paces away from a Massive Attack track. Such juxtaposition has always been NMIXX's style, evident on the B-sides of other EPs.

After that, though, is where things start to get interesting. What NMIXX's latest album presents is a group in a growth spurt. It would be unsurprising if its lead single, "KNOW ABOUT ME," was the last track produced for the record; it's the most distinct of all from NMIXX's self-imposed standards.

Although their usual contrast is at work in the R&B-flavored slow groove, it goes down smooth. A good analogy might be that "KNOW ABOUT ME" feels like having top-shelf liquor after years of $10 frat-party bargain bottles. It brings out something that one realizes was there all along, but it's no longer concealed by the repellent burn of its production standards. New notes shine as a result. Past tracks like "Love Me Like This" are fun for a shot; "KNOW ABOUT ME" can be sipped all day without heartburn at the end.

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So far, fun hasn't exactly been NMIXX's game. They've been renowned for their talent and uniqueness, but not for their fun. But the fun of effortless spectacle is what draws people in. That's what's necessary for a K-Pop banger, after all. Take KISS OF LIFE's "Igloo" or Rosé's "APT" for comparison, ridiculously popular for no reason other than the art of sincerely having fun.

NMIXX's whole career has projected effort. Fe3O4: FORWARD offers a glimmer of the group finally loosening up after so long of having something to prove. There are growing pains. After "KNOW ABOUT ME," NMIXX loses their grasp on the levity they just used to rupture their previous identity, scrambling through an exploratory operation exposing their artistry to different genres.

Some tracks let go better than others. "Golden Recipe" is particularly tedious for all the reasons NMIXX's previous tiresome tracks have been. For the others: "Slingshot" sees NMIXX playing with hyperpop; "Papillon" is exciting, ethereal, and complex, perhaps to the detriment of its pop appeal; and the closer, "Ocean", suggests Silk Sonic in coded language (perhaps timely given G-Dragon's recent collab with Anderson .Paak).

Across all the tracks, though, NMIXX shows something critical. So-called "mixx pop" can make its disjunctions become conjunctions: so subtle they don't disrupt the rhythm of a tapping foot; so finely integrated that their artistry finally knows itself as a rigorous zeal for the listener instead of the artist themselves.

NMIXX has, for the first time, made pop music fit for ecstasy: being out of oneself, like the Dionysian mysteries of drink and dance. Ecstasy is the floor for "connecting" to music; the thing that makes fans cheer, cry, and sing along. Most importantly, they've tapped into some "something," becoming intoxicating without their "mixx pop" concept being so intrusive it rouses listeners from their trance. NMIXX is at their best, and only getting better—K-Pop should be prepared to open up a stage.