The last time GIRLSET performed on Korean television, the four women went by a different name, boasted a different look and rocked a completely different sound to first introduce themselves to the world. Nearly three years later, members Lexi, Camila, Kendall and Savanna are back on a music show stage in Seoul, reintroduced as a global girl group, dancing to a Hyperpop song in the midst of the K-pop world that trained them.
The occasion arrives via new single “CHAT,” out today, a left turn for the quartet into turbo-charged Hyperpop produced by Grammy-winning collective The Stereotypes, co-written by R&B-pop hitmaker August Rigo, and paired with a music video from director Colin Tilley, who’s been behind defining visuals for Little Mix, Cardi B, Kendrick Lamar and J Bavlin. It’s GIRLSET’s fourth single ahead of their forthcoming debut album — the record they’ve been building toward, its creative details deliberately kept under wraps for now.
“We’re still very early in our journey and there’s so much more we want to explore, create, and show,” the group’s leader Lexi says.
The freedom to move and explore at their own pace wasn’t necessarily there at the start as GIRLSET is a first-of-its-kind joint venture between Korea’s JYP Entertainment and Republic Records in the States. The labels assembled the group on the 2023 competition series A2K (America2Korea), which ran Western performers through the idol audition and trainee process. “This was the first time that they had done something like bringing Western artists into the K-pop training system,” Camila reflects of the experience, one the media has often stereotyped as draining artistic authenticity. “But right now [the labels] really want us to have a lot of input into everything that we do. They trust us and they know that we know what’s best for us.”
The trust accrued slowly, in small concessions that ran both directions. Kendall designed the group’s new GIRLSET logo on her own initiative and submitted it as a proposal. “That was a thing that I just did and it was like, ‘Here’s an option,’” she recalls, noting that even internal disagreements tend to stay collaborative. “We are definitely pushing for specific things, but there are definitely some things they want us to have too off the bat. But whenever there’s something that comes up, it’s always just a conversation; it’s not like a hard stop anywhere.”
That evolution is clear from single to single. “‘Commas’ was a transition song from VCHA in the past into GIRLSET and our new sound,” Savanna explains of the 2025 track that relaunched the group under a new name and style. “‘Little Miss’ is where we really showed a big part of ourselves.”
Lexi adds, “I think it’s really beautiful to see that with each comeback we’re evolving more and more. Sound-wise, concept-wise, I think it just continues to change, show us and we really love that.”
Kendall says proximity changed things, specifically getting into the room where the music is built. “It was very important that we were in the studio, writing on songs, adding the harmonies,” she says, “because otherwise the songs wouldn’t be exactly what they are today.”
That hands-on approach is apparent on their latest single, the boldest, loudest thing GIRLSET has made yet, following earlier turns into fierce electro-pop and throwback-inspired R&B.
“‘CHAT’ felt especially important to release because it highlights a different side of us,” Lexi says. “It reflects a new sound and vision that we’ve been exploring, and that creative process has been incredibly exciting.”
The accompanying video underscores that sense of expression: it opens on the four of them as near-interchangeable avatars until Camila grabs the camera and turns it like a phone in her own hand. The point of view becomes hers and the group’s as the video repeatedly breaks the fourth wall, shifting the viewer between dancing alongside GIRLSET and observing behind the scenes. But the song’s declarative lyrics make plain who’s holding the power now: “It’s on me, do you hear me?” Kendall asks on the pre-chorus. “You and I, we’re not the same, can you feel me?”
That same instinct shaped the recording itself. In the studio, the women retooled “CHAT” so a belt on the final chorus bloomed into a stack of voices. “We edited the high note into a four-part harmony to add an extra vocal moment to the song,” Kendall explains. “We also contributed to the choreography arrangement, as well as consolidating references for our music video ideas and world-building, which also translates into the visuals for our fashion in this era. It is impossible to describe everything we have taken part of for ‘CHAT’ because I feel so much can overlap in the creative aspect, but we are always diligent in our creative expression, so I’m confident you guys will hear more in-depth about the specifics in the future.”
The future is where GIRLSET keeps looking. “We definitely don’t wanna just jump,” Kendall adds of the group’s growth. “We want to be able to still have a consistent sound while exploring new things.”
The biggest of those explorations is the album the group is now building toward. “We’ve been working on it for a long time and have meticulously crafted and written songs that we love for you guys,” Camila shares. “I think this is the first step of everyone really getting to know GIRLSET, and I think everyone will be able to see themselves in the songs — whether it’s through the lyrics or sound. I’m really excited to see everyone’s reaction.” Kendall envisions the project as “a more updated representation of what GIRLSET sounds like…completely raw with the audience about who we are and telling our story through that. That’s what we want.”
What allows them to move at their own pace is a trust in one another. “This is a little corny,” Lexi says, “but we do love each other a lot, and we mean a lot to each other. We oftentimes have the same vision.” Savanna adds that the group is “so united” and bound by a “shared drive and passion.”
Kendall knows how easily it might have gone another way. “We’re really lucky with each other,” she says. “[With] other groups forming, you might just not have the person that you vibe with. We do love each other a lot, so it just works.”
That closeness runs deeper than the work. “We are each other’s safe space,” Camila says. “We share the same life, pretty much the same experiences…even sometimes things that family maybe wouldn’t understand because they’re not in this environment or experience. So, having people that know exactly how you’re feeling and why; it’s really amazing, to be honest, and it’s a blessing.”
To that point, GIRLSET want their songs to be that safe space for someone else. “Through our music, [we want] to connect with fans, talk about real things, be vulnerable,” Camila adds. “Being honest — I think that matters the most.” She names Ariana Grande as an inspiration, someone who “makes something maybe painful into something really beautiful and that can help other people.”
It’s a standard they’ve already started setting for themselves. At a radio event in March, GIRLSET gave the live premiere of a new self-penned track, presumed to be titled “5 Seconds of Fame,” that details the hurt of being there for someone with nefarious intentions. While the song hasn’t been officially released, it hints at what kinds of personal stories they want to share down the road.
“‘Five Seconds’ is a song we hold really close to our hearts,” Kendall says. “It was written so that people could relate to it no matter what…something coming directly from our heart. For now, I feel like we want people to just live with it.” Camila lets that door fall shut, gently, for now. “When the time is right, then we want to talk about it and dive into it a little more — but it’s not out yet.”
The group’s instincts reach back to their cultures and where they grew up, too. Camila and Savanna wrote the Spanish-language version of “Tweak,” and the girls want to draw more of its languages, instruments and traditions into their work as it evolves. Lexi says they “see so many different people that are from all of our cultures,” proof that the music has “brought so many people together.”
For now, though, GIRLSET is back on a stage in Seoul. The four women have returned to the system that helped mold them under a new name, performing music that system might never have written on its own had they not reached out for greater control. The rest of their story is coming, but in the meantime, GIRLSET want us to enjoy this “CHAT.”
