“The ‘Best Rookie’ of 2025 is ours!”

The new girl group Hearts 2 Hearts from the ‘girl group powerhouse’ SM Entertainment (SM) finally debuted on the 24th amidst the hot interest of global fandom.

The eight-member Hearts 2 Hearts is SM‘s new girl group in five years after creating successive successes with Girls’ Generation, f(x), Red Velvet, and aespa. They released their first single, “The Chase,” on various music sites at 6 p.m. on the 24th, throwing their hat into the music ring.

They are the direct juniors of aespa, who debuted in 2020 and became a “K-pop top tier” group, and are called “aespa‘s younger sister group”, but the fact that they are a “large girl group” with a relatively large number of members makes them more similar to Girls’ Generation, which started as a nine-member group 18 years ago and opened a new era of “SM-style girl groups”.

The team consists of eight multinational teenage members: leader Jiwoo, Yuha, Jueun, Aina, Ian, and Yeone; Carmen from Bali, Indonesia; and Stella, who spent her school days in Canada. All of the members are known as ‘all-rounders’, possessing both singing and dancing skills. Leader Jiwoo learned ballet, and Stella enjoys playing instruments such as the guitar and drums, showing her multi-talented side.

Thanks to bringing together the strengths of SM‘s past girl groups, Hearts To Hearts has garnered attention from K-pop fans in Korea and abroad since the team was formed. As SM is also ambitiously releasing a girl group to celebrate its 30th anniversary this year, they revealed the group name and members at the agency’s group concert ‘SM TOWN LIVE 2025’ held at Gocheok Sky Dome last month.

At the media showcase held at Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, the eight members expressed their excitement, saying, “We are honored to finally greet you under the name Hearts To Hearts.” Also, they expressed their strong aspirations, saying, “Like our team name, which means connecting hearts with global fans through music, we will move forward together as a bigger ‘we’.”

The debut album ‘The Chase’ also captured the fresh excitement of ‘the first time’. The members explained about the title song ‘The Chase’ and the track ‘Butterflies’, “As this is an album announcing our debut, we included various emotions felt while running towards our dreams with the keywords of dreams and beginnings.” The title song music video caught attention by emphasizing the refreshing charm of the teenage members with the concept of ‘School Trip’.

The members said, “Girls‘ Generation seniors are our role models. “I want to emulate the image of everyone coming together as one to create synergy,” he said, adding, “It’s an honor to be able to debut during this special year, SM’s 30th anniversary. I will become SM’s ‘The Future’ by presenting good music like my seniors,” he shouted with enthusiasm and received applause.


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.