Review
There’s a bold frost under the pop gloss of Blue Valentine, a shift in temperature where NMIXX’s signature “mix-pop” trembles into something more widescreen and emotionally taut. Released in October 2025, this debut studio album from the JYP-Entertainment girl group leans into the tensions between love and ambivalence — magnetic pull and icy refusal.
Musically, the album is restless and vivid: the title track bursts with melancholic synths, guitar riffs, and changing boom-bap rhythms that refuse to sit still. On songs like “SPINNIN’ ON IT”, “Shape of Love”, and “Reality Hurts”, NMIXX stretches from Latin inflections to EDM touches to bold pop-rock moves, proving their genre-bending mission isn’t a gimmick. Vocally, the members deliver with swagger and control — harmony where once there was assault, subtlety when once there was shock.
That said, the album’s ambition sometimes collides with its brevity: at just 34 minutes, moments feel a little compressed and the transitions between styles can jolt rather than glide. But perhaps that’s part of the art: this is NMIXX bending the rules, not smoothing them out. Blue Valentine is not just a statement—it’s a declaration of becoming. - Sage
