Exclusive: Kiss of Life on their upcoming comeback and being a 5th-gen group

According to Kiss of Life, their band name means to "be a breath of fresh air in the industry".

And they have indeed revitalised the K-pop scene. Though they might only be a year old, the group, composed of Belle, Julie, Natty, and Haneul, is quickly becoming one of the industry's promising new acts with their compelling, R&B-laced pop sound. Since their debut in July 2023 with their first mini-album Kiss of Life, they’ve embraced an unabashed “baddie” aesthetic that has endeared them to listeners worldwide.

Their first single album, Midas Touch, released earlier this year, offers a refreshing nostalgic pop style. Raspy, coy intonations blend seamlessly with synthesisers and harmonies, while the group's multi-dimensional vocal performances – from impressive high notes and cool baritone verses to rap segments – elevate their music and reinforce their powerful personas.

The group recently held their first fan sign event in Singapore. Organised by House of Kpop, the fan meet saw the quartet performing  chart-topping hits like Midas Touch and Nothing, and engaging with fans through a Q&A session.

While they were in town, Her World caught up with the members of Kiss of Life in an exclusive interview to chat about their upcoming comeback, their role as a fifth-gen group in the industry, and messages they wanted to share with their fans in Singapore.

Q: Congratulations on the news of your upcoming comeback in July! Can you share any insights into what fans can expect from this comeback?

Julie: It's been around three months since Midas Touch ended. Three months could seem like a long time, but actually, when you're in it, it's a very short period of time. So within this short period of time, we’ve prepared very intensely for this new comeback – because the song is so good. 

We’re super excited for all of our fans and the audience to see and listen to this new song. Each comeback we say that “this is our favourite song”, but once again, this song is really one of our favourite songs. We’re super excited to go on stage with this song. We put a lot of effort into making the [song] quality really up there, because a lot of people have high expectations this time as well so we had a little bit of pressure but the song is so good we had so much fun preparing for it. We just want to hurry up and be on stage and release this song. Also, a lot of people wanted to see us with a summer comeback, and we’ve finally made it happen! So yeah, we want to hurry up [and release it]. 

Q: Anything that you could tell us about the upcoming comeback?

Natty: The dance is harder…and it’s hot!

Q: What's your favourite element of the music that you're putting out?

Belle: I think it's our members' voices, because each of our members have their own individuality and charms. There's so many things to do with our members' voices because it's really good and there’s so many styles we can put out; so many genres we can try. In addition, most of our songs are very hooky, [in the sense that most] of our songs have a [beat] drop part in the hook. And that's the most favourite part of our songs. 

Q: That’s actually interesting that you brought that up, because K-pop has gained immense popularity worldwide. And as a fifth-gen group, how important do you think hooks are in modern K-pop songs? How does it feel to be part of this international success, and how do you hope to contribute to the genre's growth with your music?

Julie: We all have really mad respect for all K-pop artists and we feel like everyone is doing such an amazing job, whether it’s fifth-generation, fourth-generation and all the past sunbaenims that have walked this path. Being a fifth-generation group, we really want to always try something new and everyone is always going for something different, trying new things.

As a fifth-generation group, sometimes we want to bring the old back and recognise how we are all here because of all the past generation groups. But at the same time, we also want to be a group that makes our own colour and our own new genre. I feel like being just a part of this whole K-pop industry and being a part of this phenomenon, being able to go globally and spread our music, spread K-pop to the whole world, it's such an amazing thing and we're just so honoured and we're having so much fun honestly.

Q: With K-pop's growing global influence, are there any artists or producers from outside South Korea that you would love to collaborate with in the future?

Belle: We would love to collaborate with so many artists and so many producers and we're already doing it – actually, Natty recently had a collaboration with Jay Park!

And we’d love to make more collaborations with artists who are pursuing some fresh R&B, hip hop music style. We’re super open. [Personally, for me] my favourite artist ever is Sabrina Carpenter. We would be so happy if we could make a collaboration with Sabrina.

Q: Your performances are known for their energy and charisma. How do you prepare for live performances, and how do you maintain your energy and enthusiasm throughout a busy schedule

Natty: This is a very busy and important period, and what is important to us is to manage our condition, so that we can show 100% of what we have practised and what we have prepared. And at the same time, we have put in a lot of effort to show our individual charms – we studied a lot, [worked] very hard on it and we hope to show it to the public well.

Q: How do you take care of your mental well-being in between schedules?

Haneul: We try to take health supplements and vitamins regularly, and drink water as much as we can. At the same time, we try to sleep as and when we can, because with the busy schedule, our sleeping hours are quite irregular. 

Q: How do you feel about making your debut appearance in Singapore? If you could spend 24 hours in Singapore, what would you do?

Natty: We’re very happy to be here and to meet our fans! It’s our first time here in Singapore. It’s a little hot, but the weather is similar to Thailand and Hawaii. Since we only have 24 hours, I want to try chilli crab! And of course I wanna tour the area a little.

Q: Lastly, anything you’d like to say to KISSYs in Singapore?

Haneul: Once we touched down at Changi Airport, there were a lot of fans that were welcoming us. I was really grateful and thankful. I hope to see them more often in the future, and all that I can say is that I’m really thankful to our Singapore fans.