SIS (Soft Is Strong)

The record

SIS (Soft Is Strong) is KATSEYE’s first mini album, released on 16 August 2024 with five tracks. It has two title tracks, ‘Touch’ and ‘My Way’.

The album introduction puts the group’s own message — soft is strong — at the front of the record, and says its five tracks, the earlier single ‘Debut’ among them, move between alternative pop, ballad, contemporary R&B, electro pop and dance. IZM credits that single to Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, who wrote and produced it.

Reviews

IZM’s So Seung-geun reviewed ‘Touch’ as a single nine days before the mini album came out, writing that the song stays close to a Korean girl-group song carrying the feeling of a shy teenage girl, and confirms the group’s musical identity in doing so. The same piece called KATSEYE a litmus-paper team, one by which to see whether universal success is possible outside the umbrella of K-pop.

NME’s Mika Chen published on the day of release: “KATSEYE come out of the gate swinging with ‘SIS (Soft Is Strong)’, a surprisingly cohesive release that largely captures the group’s enormous potential.” The review ends on the sentence “Still, this EP proves that they’ve got all the makings of the next big girl group, embellished with the polish and glitter of K-pop.”

Among the tracks

‘Touch’ is the song IZM reviewed above. NME describes it as a dreamy dance-pop salute to independence, tinged with drum ‘n’ bass influences.

NME picks the fourth track as the one that stands out: “The shimmery, plucky intro of ‘I’m Pretty’ — the EP’s fourth track and standout — immediately transports us back to pop staples from the late-2000s.” Of the closing track, the same review writes: “Juxtaposing their hesitation to break free from a cycle of overthinking with an instrumental that dials up the ‘dance’ in dance-pop to an eleven, ‘Tonight I Might’ acts as the perfect closing for the EP.” The other title track, ‘My Way’, it treats as the record’s emotive ballad.

Numbers

Marie Claire Korea reported that on the chart dated 31 August 2024, announced by Billboard on 27 August local time, the mini album entered the Billboard 200 at number 119. The same report noted that KATSEYE reached number one on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart, which tracks newer acts.

The record stayed on the chart long after that. Topstar News reported that it re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 192 on the chart dated 28 February 2026 and placed 21st on Top Album Sales, a year and a half after release. On the chart dated 29 August 2026 it rose 40 places to number 156, Star News reported.