「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。」

“There was basically an urgency to this record. It came out of me in this furious burst,” Florence Welch tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe of Florence + the Machine’s sixth full-length. “And it’s one of those records where if I hadn’t have put it out now, it never would’ve come out because I think how I felt about things is so specific to this moment in time, and this roared out of me. It was made almost like a coping mechanism.”

That moment in time began for Welch during the <i>Dance Fever</i> tour. “I actually ended up having a ectopic miscarriage onstage that was dangerous, and that I had to be hospitalized for, and I had to have immediate surgery because I had a Coke can of blood in my abdomen,” she explains. Her health crisis and ensuing feelings fueled <i>Everybody Scream</i>, which offers a haunting yet cathartic experience for both the singer and those listening. “I felt so out of control of my body, it was interesting,” she says. “I looked into themes of witchcraft, and mysticism, and everywhere that you looked in terms of birth or stories of birth, you came across stories of witchcraft, and folk horror, and myths.”

Infusing those elements throughout the album, Welch wails, warbles, belts—and, yes, screams—with emotional clarity and appropriately witchy charisma while getting quality assistance in the form of Mitski, Aaron Dessner, and IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen. The title track muses on fame and pushing through the pain to perform: “But look at me run myself ragged/Blood on the stage/But how can I leave you when you’re screaming my name?” Conjuring up a bacchanalian forest rave, “Witch Dance” casts a spell with its heated pace and Welch’s breathy chants. And for the singer, “Perfume and Milk” helps alleviate her own agony. “It was about healing and having watched seasons change and having watched other things growing and then returning to the earth and a sense that I was also part of that nature and part of that cycle,” she says.

<i>Everybody Scream</i> ends with the stirring “And Love,” striking a hopeful note: “Peace is coming” she repeats on the ballad. “Let this one be the one that comes true,” she says. “Let this one be the one that is realized in the world. I think the songs are always three steps ahead of me. It’s been that way my whole life.”

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 🚨💿