K-Pop Group Billlie Are In Their Own Era With New Full-Length Album

BILLLIE’s the collective soul and unconscious: chapter two

MYSTIC STORY

The K-pop group Billlie are in their new era, but they really want to define it.

The girls – members Moon Sua, Suhyeon, Haram, Tsuki, Sheon, Siyoon, and Haruna – released their first full studio album, the collective soul and unconscious: chapter two, earlier this month, after having five EPs since their debut in 2021. The group has been known for its creative concepts, earning the nickname “Conceptual K-pop Icons” from the South Korean entertainment industry, and has consistently changed up its image.

“It almost feels like we are debuting all over again,” says Haruna over Zoom from the MYSTIC STORY offices in Seoul. “We definitely prepared so diligently for this album with all my members. Because we work so hard, I am confident in calling this album very well made. We’ve been receiving so much love and support for this album, and we are very grateful. We are very excited, and it’s very thrilling.”

the collective soul and unconscious: chapter two also marks the second installment of their 2022 EP, the collective soul and unconscious: chapter one, which they explored within their own subconsciousness to human unconscious levels, exploring deep within their soul. Suhyeon explains that the first chapter is about them entering that phase of unconsciousness, and chapter two is about growing within it.

“We have grown stronger in our insights,” she admits. “We were able to really make sure our identity is more concrete through this album. Personally, I have grown throughout chapters one and two of this album series. I’m much stronger as an individual during this time. As a group, we were able to find more colors, individuality, and uniqueness as Billlie.”

With a total of twelve tracks, five of which are remixes, Billlie has worked hard to showcase new sides of themselves, collaborating with award-winning producers and hitmakers Jake K and Andreas Öberg, as well as songwriter Maria Marcus. Moon Sua wrote on one of the title tracks, “WORK,” and Siyoon and Haram wrote the lyrics for “TBD.”

Below, the girls discuss the album’s details and concepts, the challenges of returning after their break, potential future collaborations, and more.

LAURA SIRIKUL: Before this album, you guys haven’t released a group album since October 2024. What made you guys decide to do a full-length album a year and a half later?

MOON SUA: We worked very hard for a long time, and this album is a great opportunity for us to showcase a new side of Billlie and to mark the start of our next chapter. So I hope you give this album a lot of love and support.

SIRIKUL: You guys did have a unit song from Moon Sua and Siyoon. How did that help you guys grow as you returned to the full group?

MOON SUA: We were able to see some points that we had never discovered before in each other through that activity. We got to see some new identities onstage while we were performing. I like these new sides of us that we didn’t realize before our debut as we promoted as a unit. The activity proved we could grow even further in a new way. It was another learning point for us.

SIRIKUL: The trailer “Raw Projection To Unified Core” showcases the inner self and the internal battle fighting against ourselves. We see you guys fight it out. What can you tell me about the conflict shown in this concept?

SIYOON: The trailer film captures the album’s overarching message. We are all wearing white dresses, and we all get dirty as we fight in the mud, which represents the journey of finding our inner selves. Even though our dresses get soiled, and we get dirty, that part itself is still a part of us. We really wanted to portray that through the scenes. It was actually quite funny when we were fighting each other. [laughs] The process was enjoyable, but we tried to keep it very serious while filming because it is not a light-hearted message we wanted to send across. We are on a journey to find that certainty for ourselves and for our identities. We tried to be in a serious mood.

SIRIKUL: I really enjoyed the group playing with the genres presented – there was pop (“ZAP”), hip-hop, ballroom/vogue/house (“WORK”), R&B (“$ecret no more”), EDM/hyper pop (“TBD”), etc. Was there a genre you really enjoyed playing with?

MOON SUA: This is our first time trying voguing and house genres through “WORK” for us. It felt familiar, but not really, because it was our first take on these genres. It was actually something we’ve always wanted to try. So it was exciting when we first heard the demo version of “WORK.” We immediately thought that if we could make this into a Billlie style, it would be exciting. We were working on the song together, refining the track to better align with our style. This is a great expansion on Billlie’s musical spectrum as well. It made me wonder, how far can we take this? How far can we expand the musical genres and styles?

SIRIKUL: Is there a genre you still want to play with?

SHEON: This is my personal thought. I love playing guitar in my daily life and listening to R&B tracks as well. It would be really interesting for us to try something that makes us sound more acoustic and more R&B.

HARAM: I would love to try EDM or techno genres. The genre would really suit all the members really well. So that’s something I want to try on in the future.

SIRIKUL: “WORK” motivates me to get up and get ready. It reminds me of Britney Spears’ “Work Bitch,” which I think would be a great DJ remix together. Moon Sua contributes to those lyrics, and you go hard. It was fire. [Sirikul finger claps, Billlie repeats “Fire” as they finger clap.] What was the inspiration behind it?

MOON SUA: As soon as I heard the track, it was very confident and gave me a lot of positive and good thoughts. I really wanted to talk about Billlie as who we are right now. The first thought that came to me was that we don’t care what others think of us or how they see us; we just express who we are confidently. That was the beginning of the whole inspiration. That’s how the creative process for “WORK” really started.

SIRIKUL: I caught your performance of “WORK” on KBS’s Music Bank, and your performance video. It looks like so much fun. How much fun was it to dance this style?

SIYOON: This was our first time trying this style of music. We worked together very much through practice. The genre itself makes it fun to enjoy the music and performance. It’s also a great opportunity for us to showcase one of our strengths: our very intricate group choreography. Overall, I think the song and choreography work very well together. It came out so great. We’re just having a lot of fun together when we perform this song on stage.

SIRIKUL: All of you are great at performing this routine. I also can’t help but notice SO many fancams on Tsuki. I think I’ve seen videos of every angle of Tsuki’s performance. How much fun was it for you?

TSUKI: We definitely have a very powerful and strong performance for this album. To match that energy, we wanted to make sure we focused on the hair and makeup as well to really grab the audience. We wanted to bring fans in with stronger, heavier eye makeup, wear more colorful contact lenses, and make sure we are looking at our Belllie’ve [the name for the fandom] whenever we are performing. We care not only about the performance itself but also about the hair, makeup, and styling.

SIRIKUL: Moon Sua wrote on “WORK,” and Siyoon and Haram wrote the lyrics for “TBD.” How was the writing process for this album? What was the most difficult or challenging thing for you in writing on this full-length album?

HARAM: Rather than feeling any difficulty or challenge, it was a great opportunity for us to learn even more about music. It was a very exciting process because it was our first full-length album, and we wanted to include as many details as possible. Participating in the lyric-writing process for this album really helped me understand our tracks better, which ultimately helped during the recording process as well.

SIRIKUL: With so many tracks on the album, what made you decide “ZAP” and “WORK” would be the title tracks? What is it about the songs that represent you?

MOON SUA: The album’s overarching theme and style is the confidence within myself – in order to really translate that in Billlie’s style, we thought “ZAP” and “WORK,” despite being very different styles, represented that message very clearly. They’re talking about the strength within ourselves.

SIYOON: That is something we’ve always wanted to send across with our music: our confidence within ourselves. But also capture the moments when we felt a bit shaken, yet found our confidence and identity through that process.

SIRIKUL: Your pre-release single, “cloud palace ~ false awakening,” features collaborations with minGtion and JUNNY. Is there anyone else in the future you want to collaborate with on your other songs or a remixed version of your songs?

SIYOON: I’m a big ballad fan, so it’ll be fun for us to try taking on that genre together. I personally love this ballad singer, Kwon Jin-ah, whom I really admire and look up to. So if we get an opportunity to collaborate with her, I might cry in so much happiness because that’ll be my dream come true.

HARAM: I would love to collaborate with Jorja Smith because I love her husky tone and R&B style. It would be really great to work with her one day.

MOON SUA: I would love to work with Meghan Thee Stallion – we collaborated with her on [Apple TV+’s] KPOPPED. We really enjoyed sharing the stage with her. I think if we were to work on a song together, it would be a great opportunity for us to bring a new synergy to Billlie as well. I would love to work with her again.

TSUKI: I would love to work with LUCY, who is a senior band under our same agency, because we haven’t really tried that refreshing vibe or concept yet. I think it would be a great opportunity for us to showcase a new side of Billlie by collaborating with LUCY. It would also be very exciting to work with producer Yun Jong Shin, as we love his music. He has a very unique sensibility in his art. It’ll be a fun opportunity for us to make that into Billlie’s own style, too. I would love to collaborate with him one day.

SHEON: As for international artists, I would love to collaborate with Daniel Caesar. For domestic artists, I would love to work with JUNNY again because he sang our demo version of the song. I’m a big fan of him and his music. It’ll be a good opportunity for us to work with him.

HARUNA: I would love to work again with lyricist Kim Eana because she’s amazing. It’ll be a very exciting moment to work with her again.

SIRIKUL: You guys have been through so much and come back stronger with this experimental phase for the album. What would you call Billlie’s era now? Would you say “BADDIE” era?

[The girls look a bit confused about the term, ‘BADDIE.’ They look at each other to discuss, as the term is explained to them.]

MOON SUA: We are in our BILLLIE era.

the collective soul and unconscious: chapter two is available on all streaming platforms. Physical copies of the album are available at select retailers.