In 2017, the K-pop group LOONA continued its path to a 12-member debut with the launch of a three-member sub-unit called Odd Eye Circle. The group, made up of Kim Lip, JinSoul, and Choerry, released music that incorporated chirpy dance music and sleek alt R&B, helping to build the path that would lead to LOONA’s future success. In 2023, something curious is happening: a group’s end, but also a return to its beginning.
Kim Lip, JinSoul, and Choerry, along with the rest of LOONA’s 12 members, parted ways with their previous management company, Blockberry Creative, within the past eight months amid a series of contract disputes and lawsuits, ostensibly putting an end to the LOONA we have known for the past few years. But like the moon itself may wane but never truly fade away, LOONA’s temporary dim is growing into something more, with hints to an even brighter future. On July 12, Odd Eye Circle will release their second-ever album Version Up with the aura of LOONA and new promise ARTMS hanging over them.
Odd Eye Circle are kicking things off for ARTMS, a collective consisting of former LOONA members. Earlier this year, the trio, plus fellow LOONA members Heejin and Haseul, reunited with LOONA’s early-stage creative producer Jaden Jeong at his label Modhaus, where the ARTMS brand aims to continue LOONA’s legacy. The ultimate hope seems to be to reunite the 12 members of the act and continue what Jeong started years ago.
“ARTMS is not a name of a new group,” proclaims ARTMS’s official artist profile. “It's a story about the amazing strategies and plans of the girls to get to the moon. HeeJin, Kim Lip, JinSoul, and Choerry, will start this story.” [Since that original statement, HaSeul also joined Modhaus, and other members of LOONA have joined with other labels and management.]
Odd Eye Circle’s Version Up setting the stage for this latest rendition of the LOONA saga isn’t necessarily a surprise, now that the world is open to them. The act’s earlier Mix & Match album, and extended version Max & Match, is a fan favorite and received critical acclaim thanks to its pristine show of dreamy synth and electropop, but it seemed like it’d be a one-off we’d never see the likes of again. But now, Odd Eye Circle, also known as OEC, is returning in full-force.
Now older, with more experience under their wings, they’re proclaiming their return with the single “Air Force One.” Choerry describes it to Teen Vogue as, “the type of song that really fits the summer vibes, that really fits well with the hot weather.” It’s also a nod to how far OEC has come.
“Converse was our signature shoe that we wore during the LOONA days,” says “Air Force One” co-lyricist Kim Lip ahead of the release. “However, wearing the [Nike] Air Force Ones now, it kind of symbolizes our new start as a group by changing our symbol shoes.”
The new start is a mix (& match) of the old and new for OEC. “We can never exactly define this release [as] if it's a re-debut, comeback, or reuniting,” Choerry says. “However, we are certain that it is a new journey we are going on as Odd Eye Circle, and we are planning to show a lot of different sides of ourselves and a lot of different charms through music.”
As they talk over a Zoom call from Seoul a few days before Version Up arrives, the trio are all wearing white shirts and are promo ready with their hair and makeup done after filming something earlier in the day. JinSoul’s tee posits a perhaps-accidental declaration of “I can’t have a Curfew,” as if winking to the fact that Odd Eye Circle — and the larger LOONA and now ARTMS project — aim to stay here later than planned, maintaining the identity of who they are and who they have been even after parting ways with their original company.
“Since our album name is Version Up, we kind of feel responsible for showing the fans and the public our mature side and the more developed side of us in terms of everything, in terms of skills or musicality,” says JinSoul. “And I'm sure even the fans when they hear the album, I'm sure they'll be really proud of us for evolving and growing. We are currently still trying to become more and more developed.”
To prepare to reunite with their Odd Eye Circle selves, the three spent time listening to their earlier album and recordings, inquisitively applying themselves to finding what differentiates OEC’s Kim Lip, JinSoul, and Choerry from their roles in LOONA.
“We are trying to bring our old colors and our musicality along for the new journey and the new release,” adds Kim Lip. “And we're also bringing the old storyline of our worldview with us for this. However, you’ll be able to see just the overall upped version of them, just like the album name, in terms of our visuals or even our skills.”
Working with Modhaus CEO Jaden Jeong again also helped bring about the expressive, quirky Odd Eye Circle spirit. Odd Eye Circle and the rest of LOONA worked with Jeong for several years, with the producer largely known as one of the masterminds behind the group’s early music, before he parted ways with their former company, Blockberry, in 2019. He’s now aiming to get back to LOONA’s roots with the ARTMS project, saying in an interview with NME that the group shines the brightest together, raising hopes that they one day soon may all get together again.
Reuniting with Jeong, OEC say, was natural. “He has a lot of love [and support] for us,” Choerry says. It made the decision to join Modhaus an easy one. (Modhaus is also home to new K-pop girl group TripleS, who has their own long rollout of their own, a now-standard of Jeong’s artistry.)
“Since this is our new beginning, a new journey that we're going on as a group, we were all strongly motivated to show the public the best side of us,” she says, nodding to Jeong’s creative vision as not only the origin but the best fit for OEC. “As much as we have received love from Jaden Jeong, we are looking forward to giving back that love to the fans.”
To JinSoul, getting to revive OEC with Jeong also helped her realize how far she personally has come as an artist since the last time she worked with him.
“Actually his work style is very spontaneous,” she shares. “So back then, it was really hard for me to catch up to him, to adapt to the music style or the choreography so abruptly and spontaneously. However, since I have developed more and have more experience, I'm now able to adapt to his work style better compared to our old days. I feel thankful for my improvement.”
The ARTMS website features the entire cycle of the moon laid out as its main image, waxing and waning with the full moon resting in the middle. It feels like a nod to the many iterations the group has gone through: those earliest days with each member in the spotlight, the transformation into unit groups, the complete 12-member LOONA. Now, they’re carving out a new path towards fulfilling their artistic and career aspirations.
“There has been a lot of change,” says Kim Lip. “However, we as members stayed the same even after time passed. So I don't feel a lot has changed when I reunited with the current members, aside from slight changes in our team greeting. There's some more to be changed in the future. We are currently conversing and actively communicating with the company to be more authentic to Odd Eye Circle.”
While they express excitement at returning their OEC roots, it hasn’t necessarily come without regrets of leaving the past behind. But like all new beginnings are borne out of what came before, the trio — and the rest of the group’s members who are making their own plans — are not saying farewell to LOONA while ushering in a new era for ARTMS and Odd Eye Circle, as much as they’re growing out of their LOONA origins.
“We have achieved a lot during the LOONA days as well, and it feels, not necessarily sad, but it's not a great feeling to let all of that go and just create a new beginning,” admits JinSoul. “However, because of those experiences, we're able to do what we currently do as Odd Eye Circle. So I'm not that sad. Because of the experience, we're able to show a lot of new and unique sides of ourselves as Odd Eye Circle too.”
Way back when Odd Eye Circle was brand new, each of the trio arrived with her own solo. There was Kim Lip's captivating aurality on “Eclipse,” Choerry showcasing sweet dynamism with “Love Cherry Motion,” and JinSoul presenting the dramatic future bass of “Singing in the Rain.” Each had her own stylistic color that pervaded their performances: red for Kim Lip, purple for Choerry, and blue for JinSoul. They were bright, youthful star-hopefuls, chasing after their career, running their way through their stages and music videos with energy and anticipation.
It was a bright moment amid many in LOONA’s earliest days, and felt just like that; a singular moment that maybe would be left in the past. But like life’s greatest moments, OEC is still resonating in 2023.
“I did not expect us to reunite as Odd Eye Circle,” JinSoul reflects. “But we are really glad that we came back together, and I am very proud and very happy that the three of us, as Odd Eye Circle, we're standing here.”
