[CELEB] Not even losing a member can stop Le Sserafim

Le Sserafim (stylized in all caps) is releasing its first music since reorganizing as a five-member girl group.

Consisting of Miyawaki Sakura, Kim Chaewon, Hong Eunchae, Kazuha and Huh Yunjin, the group is set to drop its second EP “Antifragile” on Monday.

With five new tracks, Le Sserafim plans to continue showing its theme of fearlessness and confidence. Similarly to its debut song which nonchalantly proclaimed “I’m Fearless,” teasers for the upcoming title track show members proclaiming “I will rise over and over again […] I am antifragile.”

Snippets of the five songs have already been pre-released on short-video platform TikTok and has been seeing enthusiastic user interaction, with fans creating more video clips using the songs in anticipation of their official release. A highlight medley pre-released on YouTube surpassed 1 million views in two days.

Le Sserafim, whose name is an anagram of “I’m Fearless,” debuted in May amid heavy public attention as “HYBE’s first girl group.” The group’s management Source Music is a subsidiary of HYBE, the K-pop powerhouse behind boy bands BTS, Tomorrow X Together and Enhypen.

It held a lavish debut showcase at Jangchung Arena in central Seoul, at the time as a team of six. After member Kim Ga-ram left for her involvement in a school bullying scandal in July, the group reorganized in no time and is making a relatively swift sophomore release.

Already at the time of its debut, members Sakura and Chaewon were already well-known names on the K-pop scene. They were formerly active as members of girl group IZ*ONE, a project girl group formed by the 12 finalists of Mnet’s hit idol audition program “Produce 48” (2018). IZ*ONE and its members built a high profile through hits such as “La Vie en Rose” (2018), “Violeta” (2019), “Fiesta” (2020), “Secret Story of the Swan” (2020) and “Panorama” (2020).

While also known as a talented dancer, Chaewon especially received recognition for her talent as a vocalist. She competed on MBC’s singing competition show “King of Mask Singer” (2015-) in 2021, in which contestants perform wearing a full-face mask to hide their identity in order to be judged solely based on their singing.

After IZ*ONE disbanded in April 2021, the two made headlines in March when news broke that they had signed with Source Music in order to become part of the agency’s new girl group.