Fe3O4: FORWARD

The record

Fe3O4: FORWARD is NMIXX’s fourth mini album, released on 17 March 2025 with six tracks. The title track is ‘KNOW ABOUT ME’, which JYP Entertainment’s album introduction describes as a modern hip hop beat carrying trap drums and bold synths. It is the last of the three mini albums named after the chemical formula for magnetite; the first two are Fe3O4: BREAK and Fe3O4: STICK OUT.

The pre-release track is ‘High Horse’. Mimyo, writing in Weekly Donga (주간동아), put its release on 4 March, thirteen days ahead of the record.

Reviews

IZM’s Son Min-hyun wrote of the record: “This is the real turn from ‘MIXX pop’ to ‘NMIXX’ pop.” He added that “the strategic experiments are over, the results came sooner than expected, and the direction is mature.” The same piece says that “only on reaching < Fe3O4: Forward >, the terminus of the magnetite trilogy, have they properly found the answer”, and closes: “The source of that loftily projected momentum is a thorough middle course that has cut its margin of error to the limit.”

Mimyo covered the record the same month for Weekly Donga (주간동아). He wrote that “this six-track mini album is packed with the best that can be expected of K-pop right now”, and of the title track that “‘KNOW ABOUT ME’ amplifies the swell of its dramatic, alluring chorus in several directions and shows a strong pull”. He closed the piece: “But NMIXX mean to make K-pop. Doggedly, and probably the most innovative K-pop there is.”

Idology (아이돌로지) placed the record among its 20 albums of 2025 and the track ‘Papillon’ among its 20 songs of the same year. Both pages state that “no separate ranking was calculated, and the order is by release date”.

Among the tracks

IZM marked three tracks as recommended in the tracklist printed with its review — the opening ‘High Horse’, the title track ‘KNOW ABOUT ME’ and the fifth track, ‘Papillon’.

Reviewing the pre-release track for the same outlet, IZM’s Jung Ki-yeop wrote: “It is a song that lights the group’s own strength, the vocals, superbly. The quiet piano and the hip hop beat act as reflectors while a fine melody for six voices to walk about in comes into its light.” The same piece sets out where the song came from: “‘High horse’, worked on by the composer Lee Woo-min, who made DAY6’s ‘You Were Beautiful’ and TWICE’s ‘Talk that talk’, and by Abir, known here for a song called ‘Tango’, is a song that has come to light after seven years.” He closed: “The surprise arrival of a unicorn called ‘High horse’ has raised the standing of the group’s work.”

Randy, who wrote the ‘Papillon’ entry for Idology’s 20 songs of 2025, said that “without the customary ‘NMIXX, change up’ declaration, the beat crosses between genres too many to count on one’s fingers, as if dancing.” He added that “the ‘oriental’ melody suggests the theme is probably the butterfly dream, and the texture of the bass and synths is violent while the orbit it moves along is hard to predict, which calls to mind a butterfly flying about at random,” and ended the entry: “For all that roughness, the whole is unarguably a song about a butterfly.”

Mimyo divided the remaining tracks this way: “If ‘Slingshot (<★)’ and ‘Papillon’ show the density and the thrill of the attempt well, then ‘Golden Recipe’ and ‘Ocean’ let you take in the particular ambience that only such an attempt can hold.”

Numbers

Idology picked the record among the 20 idol pop albums of 2025 on 31 December that year, and had placed ‘Papillon’ among its 20 songs of the year a day earlier, on 30 December. Both pages say the selections were voted on by nine current and former staff writers and five guest jurors.