「這是一張直視自身本質，且直面音樂核心理念的專輯。」談到首張正規專輯《THE CORE - 核》，XG 的團員 HARVEY 告訴 Apple Music。2026 年 1 月 12 日，日本的「成人之日」這一天，全國處處充滿和服身影，而 XG 終於全員邁入 20 歲，並藉此機會發表了團名更改的消息。此前，XG 一直以「Xtraordinary Girls」之名活動，今後將以「Xtraordinary Genes」的新身分，展開新的篇章。

「Genes」指的是遺傳基因，象徵七位成員決心跳出框架，以自身的「核心」(CORE) 作為身分認同，正面迎接各種挑戰。懷著這份覺悟，XG 更以「THE CORE - 核」命名首張全長正規專輯。COCONA 解釋道：「這張作品呈現了 XG 一路走來的過程中孕育的珍貴本質，以及始終存在於團體內部的核心理念，我相信大家都能從中感受到。對聽眾而言，這也會是一張能直面自身本質、與自己對話的作品。」

XG 的定位既非 K-Pop，也非 J-Pop，自 2022 年出道以來，成員們持續探索著獨特的「X-Pop」，踏上了一條前所未有的道路。打造 X-Pop 的過程，不僅釋放出成員內心的衝動，也成為其挑戰世界的原動力。因此，本作收錄了風格多樣的樂曲，描繪出 XG 所擁有的深度。HINATA 自信地表示：「即使穿梭於不同曲風與時代之間，核心也始終是 XG 的身分認同。毫無疑問這就是 XG，聽眾一定能從中感受到 XG 的本質。」CHISA 則肯定團體的成長：「每位成員的個性都更加鮮明，團體的凝聚力也比以往更加強大。」她繼續說：「每首歌都展現出不同的色彩，但都藉由『回歸核心』的主軸串連起來。能量、情感、姿態與內在流動，最終構成一則完整的故事。」專輯以幻想色彩濃厚的器樂曲〈XIGNAL (The Intro)〉揭開序幕，團員充滿期待的聲音隨之響起，並由洋溢慶典氛圍的〈GALA〉，引領聽眾走入目不暇給的世界。

MAYA 形容本作時說：「每首歌都承載著不同的想法與意義，是張能帶人踏上美好旅程的專輯。」JURIA 也滿懷期待地說：「希望大家能懷著各種情感，盡情享受 X-Pop 的魅力。」JURIN 則希望透過本作，與聽眾產生特別的交流：「如果能藉由這張專輯，讓大家觸碰到我們內在的『核心』，並與各自的『核心』產生共鳴，那就太好了。」接下來，團體全員將介紹專輯中幾首歌曲。

<b>〈ROCK THE BOAT〉</b>
MAYA：「琅琅上口的一首歌，就像明亮的夏日歌曲，聽了會讓人充滿活力，我很喜歡。」

<b>〈TAKE MY BREATH〉</b>
COCONA：「這首我很喜歡。第一次聽的時候就被深深吸引，對我來說意義非凡。希望這首歌能抵達每個人心中。」

<b>〈NO GOOD〉</b>
JURIN：「這是從我們出道前就一直珍藏著的重要歌曲，因此無論如何都希望能收錄進這張專輯。這首歌有著輕快奔放的律動與舒適的旋律，歌詞描寫了不同以往的戀愛心情，希望大家能聽得開心。」

<b>〈HYPNOTIZE〉</b>
CHISA：「這首歌從 XG 的視角出發，僅憑強烈的氣場，便將聽眾帶入我們節奏中，讓人感受到自信與魅力。它描寫了現實與夢境界線逐漸模糊的感覺，引導聽眾一步步陷入催眠狀態。」

JURIA：「因為歌詞本身就很有魅力，所以在錄音時，我們特別講究歌聲的質感等細節。」

<b>〈O.R.B (Obviously Reads Bro)〉</b>
HINATA：「這是我們一直很想嘗試的作品，也是 XG 首次挑戰龐克搖滾歌曲。」

HARVEY：「歌曲深入探求了我們的『CORE』。對我們而言，『Bro』一詞象徵著『夥伴』與『歸屬』，是一起徹夜歡笑、不顧一切共同行動，能夠完全信賴彼此的存在。這首歌真實呈現了我們之間的羈絆，就像一封獻給重要夥伴的情書。希望能將我們的內核傳達給大家。」

<b>〈4 SEASONS〉</b>
CHISA：「這是 XG 歌唱組的首支原創歌曲。我們以原聲編曲，細膩描寫一路以來的情感。像是近在身旁卻說不出口的心意、被迫分離的時光，以及日益增長的情感，都在溫柔的吉他與寬廣的聲響中浮現。那些不會因時間流逝而消散的情感痕跡，存在於音樂的留白之中，會喚起屬於每位聽眾的記憶與時間。」

<b>〈PS118〉</b>
MAYA：「這首歌是以 JURIN 的曲子為基礎，加入饒舌組後產生了截然不同的能量，傳遞出非常強烈的訊息，讓人聽了充滿自信。」

“这张专辑基本上是在一种紧迫的状态下诞生的，它就像一股激烈的洪流从我心中奔涌而出。”谈及 Florence + the Machine 的第六张专辑《Everybody Scream》，Florence Welch 告诉 Apple Music，“这是一张如果我现在不发表就可能永远不会问世的专辑。因为我对很多事情的感受只属于当下那个特定的时刻，它们只在当下爆发出来。这张专辑几乎是我心理调节、自我疗愈的一种方式。”

而 Welch 所说的“当下”，是指乐队的《Dance Fever》巡演期间。“实际上，我在舞台上经历了宫外孕流产，情况非常危险，我不得不住院治疗并立即接受手术，因为我腹腔里有整整一听可乐那么多的血。”她解释道。这场突如其来的病痛与随之而来的情绪，催生了《Everybody Scream》，使这张专辑对她本人与听众而言，都成为了一次难忘的宣泄体验。“我感觉自己完全无法控制身体，这很奇妙。我探讨了巫术和神秘主义，在所有涉及生育的地方，你都会发现巫术、民俗恐怖和神话的影子。”

Welch 将这些元素贯穿于整张专辑中，以饱满的情感与恰到好处的“巫”式魅力，时而哀号，时而颤抖，时而高歌，时而尖叫，并得到了 Mitski、Aaron Dessner 和 IDLES 乐队吉他手 Mark Bowen 的鼎力相助。同名曲《Everybody Scream》反思了名声与忍着痛苦表演的心境：“但看着我把自己累垮/血洒舞台/可当你们呼唤我的名字时 我又怎能离开？”（But look at me run myself ragged/Blood on the stage/But how can I leave you when you’re screaming my name?）《Witch Dance》通过急促的节奏和 Welch 喘息般的吟唱施展魔法，营造出一种酒神式的森林狂欢氛围。而《Perfume and Milk》则是 Welch 的自我疗愈之歌：“这首歌关于疗愈，讲的是看着季节更替，看着万物生长、归于尘土，我意识到自己也是自然的一部分，是整个轮回中的一部分。”

随着 Welch 反复吟唱“和平即将到来”（Peace is coming），专辑在充满希望的抒情曲《And Love》中走向尾声。她说：“让这首歌成真吧，让它在这个世界上实现。我总觉得这些歌曲走在我前面，我一生都是如此。”

FKA twigs Teases New Album Eusexua Afterglow
FKA twigs is going to be releasing more new music very soon. The singer just finished her tour in support of Eusexua with a performance at Lowlands, and she told the crowd at the Dutch festival about a project called Eusexua Afterglow. “I am full and abundant and ready to give birth, FKA twigs said. “Her name is Afterglow, and my labor shall commence next month.” Representatives for FKA twigs confirmed to Pitchfork that Eusexua Afterglow is “not a deluxe version, but rather a whole new album.”

Daniel Caesar’s new album ‘Son of Spergy’ is dropping in 2025 🚨💿

For ROSALÍA, her fourth full-length album <i>LUX</i> only has “little pieces” of her in the lyrics of its songs—and she prefers it that way. “I think the best fiction has this blurry line, the sweet spot between what’s personal and what’s universal, what’s detailed and what’s abstract, what’s implicit and what’s explicit,” the Spanish star tells Apple Music. “It’s both. Because I wrote it, there has to be some sort of truth for me in it. But at the same time, I think it’s much more about the other than about myself.”

The “other,” in this case, is a group of saints—Saint Rose of Lima, Anandamayi Ma, Hildegard von Bingen, Sufi mystic Rabia al-Adawiyya, and other martyrs across cultures, centuries, and continents—that ROSALÍA voraciously studied in the wake of her third album, 2022’s <i>MOTOMAMI</i>. Instead of immediately writing about the emotional turmoil she’d weathered in its aftermath—a period that included the end of her engagement to former collaborator Rauw Alejandro—she found the muses of her next project in theology books. After immersing herself in the stories of these women of faith, ROSALÍA blended their experiences, and their tongues, with hers. “Where did they come from? What was the language that would be spoken there?” she says. “There were a lot of women that were extremely interesting to me that were nuns, they were poets. And I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to read what they actually wrote. I’m going to try to explain these stories.’”

Across <i>LUX</i>, ROSALÍA sings in multiple languages—her native Spanish and Catalan, but also Arabic, Japanese, French, Portuguese, Italian, Ukrainian, and German, among others—to invoke these saints while telling stories of flower-strewn funerals, doomed romance, unrequited love, and crises of faith in multiple forms. If 2018’s <i>EL MAL QUERER</i> introduced her singular fusion of flamenco and pop to the world, and <i>MOTOMAMI</i> brought reggaetón into the mix, <i>LUX</i> builds on that work from a high-drama, operatic foundation, one that pairs her lyrical intensity with vocal prowess and orchestral flourish. A cajón and handclaps blend seamlessly with urbano bass, Auto-Tune, and somber strings, often with many or all of these elements weaving throughout the same track (as they do on “De Madrugá”). Her voice soars over each flamenco run with ease (“La Rumba Del Perdón”), only to growl over sinister cello (“Porcelana”), breathlessly trip through a softly strummed waltz (“La Perla”), or reach the rafters of any grand opera house (the exquisite “Reliquia”; her version of an aria, “Mio Cristo Piange Diamante”; the severe and surreal “Berghain,” which features Björk and Yves Tumor).

ROSALÍA worked with the London Symphony Orchestra to give <i>LUX</i> the symphonic heft it deserves, and at times, the gravity of the undertaking felt insurmountable. “I definitely had chills so many times while recording vocals,” she says. “I don’t think I ever cried so much making an album. I don’t think I’ve ever cried so much recording vocals. I think that I didn’t maybe want to go through this before. I was like, ‘I’m not ready.’ I know I had to do an album like this, but I wasn’t ready.”

Whether or not she realized it at the time, she was, indeed, ready for <i>LUX</i> and all it entails. It’s the destination she’s been writing towards, uninhibited by instrumentation, devastation, or language. “<i>MOTOMAMI</i> was minimalist,” she says. “This is maximalism.”

游荡于电子舞曲与另类摇滚之间，捕捉青春期骤然成长的混乱、脆弱与悸动。