(Note: This deep dive is on my list for a redo, as I first wrote it in November of 2023, despite updating it in October 2024)

Billlie is a seven member group, composed of Moon Sua, Tsuki, Sheon, Suhyeon, Haram, Siyoon, and Haruna, and they’ve been together since 2021 (Although Sheon joined in 2022). As a side note, I know I mentioned this back in my NCT Dream review, but it still absolutely freaks me out when I review groups with idols who not only debuted when younger than me but still are younger than me now, like some of the members of Billlie are. My heart goes out to them, because being 15 is hell on earth all on its own without the insane added stress of being an idol. All this is to say that I have tremendous respect for the members (both of groups I know and don’t). So, without further ado, let’s finally get into the music.

Here are my credentials: uh…basically none? I know most of their titles and I really love one in particular. I know a little about them through Moon Sua, since she’s Moonbin’s sister and I’d consider myself a fan of his through his acting (I know, there’s like a chart of separation). I’ve been wanting to give Billlie a chance for a while now and I figured this would be a good opportunity to do that. So let’s get started!

EP #1: The Billage Of Perception Ch.1

Ring X Ring begins more harshly than I was expecting from the quirkier tracks I’ve heard before, with its heavy EDM base and almost rock guitar. Once we get to the chorus, it’s much more what I was expecting, with the poppier vibes, higher voices, and catchy beat. I appreciate that they don’t do what many k-pop groups do and abandon the excellent intro after it catches your attention, because that EDM continues throughout the track, and into the second part of that bridge / dance break, which surprisingly, I really liked, especially when it mixes with the creepiness of those nursery-rhyme-esque vocalizations. The only stumbling point I have with this one is with the short rap verse before that dance break, because either the tempo or the intonation are just…wrong for me? It doesn’t feel like the same song. Otherwise, I liked this one, and it definitely establishes who they are right out of the gate.

From Ring X Ring’s EP The Billage Of Perception (Chapter One), I liked a couple songs. Flowerld, despite the odd name, is soothing and emotional, and gives Billlie a chance to really use their voices and showcase their excellent harmonizing; the strings elevated the entire song and especially the last chorus was great. I also liked Everybody’s Got A $ecret’s oddness, and I think it could’ve made a good single with a few tweaks, and the bridge of Rumor is good too.

Single: Snowy Night

Snowy Night begins with a gentle piano and a crooning quality to the voices. I’m surprised by a lot of this song: how slow it is, how decidedly adorable it is, and how early into their careers it was released. It feels mean to critique it as harshly as I would a usual single, so all I’ll say is that, while I’m not an especially Christmasy person, I did really like their voices and the stuttering frame rate and various delightful illustrations for the MV gave it a nostalgic stop-motion feel that I appreciated. It’s not a bad song.

Ep #2: The Collective Soul & Unconsciousness

Gingamingayo (Korean for being unsure about something) also has a harsh beginning, but perhaps it feels more so coming right after hearing Snowy Night. The verses are almost entirely rapping, which I have to disclose, is not my personal taste, even if some of them are pretty good at it. In Ring X Ring, I did feel like the verses and chorus were a little disconnected, but I assumed it was intentional and it probably isn’t something I’d take note of unless I was analyzing it for a review.

Here, it feels like they’re not just not the same song, but from completely different planets. I do like the chorus, but I was too busy being confused to truly enjoy it. And then we get to the bridge, which is quite honestly, a bit grating on the ears, and cycles through around ten different genres: first, scream-sing talk, then actual singing, then back to rapping, then a a dance break with vocalizing, then ra-da-da-dum, then silence, then finally back to the chorus. And breathe. Billlie sells it as best they can but Gingamingayo is so bizarre that I can’t even decide how I feel about it. Maybe I need to listen a few more times to make up my mind.

The Collective Soul And Unconsciousness, Chapter One is another mouthful of an album title so it’s good that this EP is also pretty strong. A sign ~ anonymous is quite synthy and has a bit of a funky edge with the horns in the background, and besides being super catchy lets the members experiment a bit with different vocal techniques, which I really liked. Overlap (1/1) is also strong, and the interesting instrumental caught my attention right away. Believe is quite sweet and I enjoyed its optimism. I just wish all of these tracks weren’t so short because a lot of them feel like they could’ve done with another half a minute to really be fleshed out.

Ep #3: The Billage Of Perception Ch.2

Ring Ma Bell is the first song I heard of Billlie’s, and it struck me immediately from the first round of drums. It pulses with a great energy, and sounds like a song a rock band would release mixed with a few classic k-pop touches. There’s an anthemic quality to it, and between the vocals and the electric guitars, I was headbanging in the first verse. It’s a song meant to be performed and I can totally see a crowd going crazy over it at a concert. I think it does a great job of standing out, as Billlie’s songs always do, and this sound works really well for them. And that bridge / lead in to the final chorus? So good! I hope they come back to another rock song sometime in the future.

The Billage Of Perception (Chapter Two) has a few notable songs too. My favorite was B’rave ~ A Song For Matilda, which is a weird little ballad but, being both a fan of weird little ballads and the story of a weird little girl called Matilda from the Roald Dahl novel, this one definitely touched me. In my opinion, there’s never enough songs about young girls having and being proud of their power, and Billlie, for all their expressed quirkiness, convey emotions in their music quite well. Other songs I liked were My B = The Birth of Emotion, which has a good build up, especially in the bridge, but not the most satisfying pay-off, and Who’s The Joker, which has some great harmonizing that holds it together through its less perfect moments.

Ep #4: The Billage Of Perception Ch.3

EUNOIA (which is Greek for beautiful mind) has a synthy opening, and between the blurry schoolgirl aesthetic, neutral colors, and subtle aegyo, it reminds me a bit of a New Jeans track. Subtle is the word for this track: it’s catchy and ethereal, and hums along with the kind of middling goodness that makes it not a particularly bad song but…a bit forgettable. There’s nothing unique here, which is surprising, and honestly a little disappointing. As much as I’m utterly baffled by Gingamingayo, at least it had some personality. I did like the bridge and the dance break, and the chorus is far more interesting with the extra layer of vocalizing, but overall…eh?

The Billage Of Perception (Chapter Three) has one big hidden gem for me in Lionheart. Firstly, great title. Secondly, and probably more importantly, I liked the song from the steady heartbeat drumming at the beginning and by the time we get to the chorus and the main thread, vocalizing, electro beat, and more sophisticated drumming come together, I had already decided it would be my favorite. The last chorus amplifies this even more, with three different strands of lyrics and to my harmony-obsessed ears, it was perfection. I also liked Enchanted Night’s sleek minimalist city-pop and how its harsher rap moments mix with the gentler vocalizing.

Single #1: BYOB (Bring Your Own Best Friend)

Bring Your Own Best Friend is a pre-release and Billlie’s first song in a little while, as members Sua and Suhyeon are still on hiatus, the former for obvious reasons and the latter due to health issues. BYOB, like EUNOIA, is ethereal and gentle, but unlike it, it still carves out its own identity. I like the catchiness, the humor, and the smooth transitions between verses and choruses, and I’m always up for a good let’s-have-fun-with-the-girls song. It’s nothing trailblazing but it’s sweet and it’s a good time.

Hocus Pocus is the single promoted with BYOB, and from the start, it’s a welcome return to form, playing with k-pop conventions and having a great time doing it. It’s poppy and weird; off-kilter in a delightful way that had me tapping my head. It takes the good parts of a lot of their songs—the drive of Ring Ma Bell, the ethereal quality of EUNOIA, the concept of Ring X Ring, and the oddball energy of Gingamingayo—and turns it into what may not be my favorite of their singles, but is definitely the best encapsulation of their work as a whole.

Ep #5: Appendix Of All We Have Lost

After a hiatus of over a year, Trampoline not only marks Billlie’s comeback as a group, but as their full seven member roster. At first, I was worried that this song would be too much like Eunoia, aiming for a radio friendly sound to reach a wider audience while not sounding like Billlie. But I’m happy to say that I was wrong; despite having a similar laid-back sound and tendency to feel like it’s wandering, Trampoline not only introduces interesting elements like layered harmonizing and a great, quasi-anthemic bridge that’s easily its best part, but it’s just…stranger in a way that feels so quintessentially them. While it’s not a song I’d go out of my way to listen to, it’s a welcome return.

Memory Candy is the official single from this album, and while it keeps the laid-back approach that Trampoline had, it adds to the light structure with a jaunty piano, a solid underlying piano, and even some strings in the background. There’s something about it that just feels like a classic kpop song, despite coming out towards the end of 2024, whether that’s the outdoor setting, the nostalgic feeling, or the maximalist strangeness the song goes for. And the lyrics too are lovely, a promise to both the fans and to each other that they’re together once again, and this time, they’re not going to let each other go. I admit that I got a little emotional seeing them all run to hug Sua and Suhyeon, welcoming them home. Apparently IU wrote the lyrics, which I can absolutely see. It’s such a good combination, and I hope they do it again. This is a great song, quintessentially Billlie and yet a more mature spin on their sound than they’ve shown before.

From the EP, I enjoyed the jazzy coffee shop sound and slow burn build of Blue Rose, the wispy oddball pop of Dream Diary, and the little shoutouts to their past songs in Back To The Basics.

Verdict: TL;DR

So, as always, I’m glad I did this! Billlie isn’t a band I knew much about, but after getting to know them a bit better, I can say I like them. Between such insanely long song titles, tracks that go gallivanting across genres like they have all the time in the world, and the very funny interviews I watched, I found myself incredibly charmed. I wouldn’t call myself an outright fan, but I’ll be keeping an eye on them, and I’m looking forward to their next comeback.

My Top 5 songs from Billlie are Ring Ma Bell, Lionheart, Hocus Pocus, Ring X Ring, and B’rave ~ A Song For Matilda, with Believe as an honorable mention. Billlie gets an 8.25 out of 10. They’re in a similar realm to (G)I-DLE for me, as in, when they work, they really work, and their successful experiments are among my favorites. But, when those experiments fail, the songs can very easily fall flat and feel messy. I gave (G)I-DLE a higher score both because they’re self-produced and because they use their titles to talk about social issues, but again, the issues I take with both are similar. But I have a lot of hope for Billlie. They’re unique, and while they might not always made their ideas work, I think that they have an incredible amount of potential, and I’m excited to see what they do next.

As a reminder, this was a supplemental, so next up is part one of a much older girl group’s two part review, and next week we’ll have another supplemental (a boy group you might’ve heard of?) and part two of said long review.

Tschüss!