When former Loona member Yves announced the start of her solo journey, her choice of path surprised many: she signed with Paix Per Mil, the label founded by producer Millic, who is highly regarded for his work in the Korean hip-hop and R&B scenes. It’s proven a smart decision so far: over the course of two EPs – 2024’s ‘Loop’ and ‘I Did’ – she’s forged ahead as K-pop’s most exciting soloist; an artist doing something genuinely and refreshingly interesting.
Seven months after the release of ‘I Did’ – and closely following the surprise viral success of one of its tracks, ‘Dim’ – Yves returns with an EP that shows her first year of solo activity was no blip. ‘Soft Error’ takes her deeper into glitchy, alternative-leaning electronic-pop, cementing her as an artist who processes human emotion through a digital lens.
‘Soft Error’’s title refers to appearing fine on the outside but being broken on the inside, the vocal processors that envelop Yves’ voice across the record forming a façade that obscures the cracks. That front feels like it’s caving in on itself on EP standout ‘Do You Feel It Like I Touch’, the singer stuttering “You / You / You, y-y-y-y-you” as juddering bass cuts through the glistening synths. ‘Study’ takes that feeling even further, Yves’ filtered vocals repeating just two hypnotic lines: “Let me try, try” and “Wasn’t a breakdown / It just didn’t arrive”.
So far, every Yves release has delivered at least one big earworm of a track, and her third EP continues that trend. Opening track ‘White Cat’ is immediately infectious with its buzzsaw bassline and 8-bit melodies – even if you can’t make out the right lyrics to the chorus. With the correct words in front of you, making sense of its meaning is still something of a puzzle, but its sentiment feels unimportant each time the chorus comes back around.
After a strong first year as a solo artist, it feels like Yves is on the cusp of breaking into the mainstream on an international scale. This record’s two collaborations don’t hurt that growing momentum. ‘Aibo’, a bouncing piece of alt-rock, features rising Mexican bedroom-pop artist Bratty and feels like an unearthed gem from the soundtrack of a ‘00s teen movie. ‘Soap’, meanwhile, teams Yves up with British pop supreme PinkPantheress over a brilliant sample of Rebecca Black’s ‘Sugar Water Cyanide’. It feels tailor-made for Yves and Pink, both of their voices seamlessly gliding over its gleaming synths.
While ‘Soft Error’ is largely another home run for Yves, its end feels a little disjointed. ‘Mom’ closes things out with a sweet ode to maternal acts of care (“Sauce spilt over white tee, close by necklace / She used to bleach it out until it’s shining”), but its soft, shuffling instrumental feels a little forgettable after the buzzing, commanding tracks before it. But it still leaves little doubt that Yves is becoming a distinctive artist not to underestimate.
