XG’s THE CORE - 核 Album Review

By Joseph Juliano  

In January, XG released their latest album titled, THE CORE - 核. The 10-track album is the group’s first full studio album. The group released the lead single, “GALA” on September 19th, 2025, with a space and alien themed music video. When the group released the full album, fans began to use their music as audios and recreate the dance videos. Particularly, the dance for “HYPNOTIZE” went viral as fans have made thousands of videos performing the popular dance on Instagram and TikTok. 

XG, short for Xtraordinary Genes, is a Japanese musical girl group based in South Korea. The group debuted in 2022 with its debut single, “Tippy Toes.” XG consists of seven members: Hurin, Chisa, Hinata, Harvey, Juria, Maya, and Cocona. While the group has released numerous singles and extended plays (EPs), its previous mini-album, “AWE” was released on November 8th, 2024, according to their X (formerly known as Twitter) account.

As of March 7, 2026, the album had a collective total of 86,467,875 streams on Spotify with the most popular songs being “GALA” and “HYPNOTIZE” at 33 million streams and 24 million streams, respectively. Below is a brief summary of each song:

XIGNAL (The Intro) - A powerful, ethereal introduction to the album. The track begins with murmurs like coming out of a portal. The rest of the song is mostly instrumental but closes with a conversation in Japanese as it fades out. 

GALA - The track centers on a theme of confidence. “GALA” begins with sound effects resembling a space ship landing and the members speaking French. Throughout the song, they say “I just turned the Met Gala into an X-GALA” which represents their bold attitude.

ROCK THE BOAT - An R&B-inspired track about being drawn to someone the speaker is attracted to and who came into their life and “rocked the boat.”

TAKE MY BREATH - An upbeat track that starts by building up the energy of the album talking about the desire for a romantic relationship.

NO GOOD - A fun, R&B-inspired track about the speaker describing the best qualities of a person and asking the intended person to “let [them] love [them] one time.”

HYPNOTIZE - A mesmerizing track with a viral dance challenge. The track has themes of hypnosis and attracting those around the speaker.

UP NOW - An upbeat dance track about confidence and having the space to unapologetically be the best version of oneself.

O.R.B. (Obviously Reads Bro) - A louder, rock-inspired track with a ‘carefree’ vibe. The group sings about having fun, “skippin’ outta class … [and] hangin’ with the bros.” They also sing about having each other’s back throughout the adventures.

4 SEASONS - A slower, sentimental song beginning with soft guitar chords. The song recalls the memories throughout a given year. The song reminds listeners to slow down and cherish them as they say, “Wish I knew we were running out of time … the year is almost over” indicating the fast pace of life and a reminder to enjoy each moment as a gift.

PS118 - The final track on the album and Jurin’s solo debut. The track returns back to the space and extraterrestrial themes. It features Jurin impressively singing in English, her second language.

Overall, the album had a wide variety of tracks encompassing several themes of confidence, attraction, and freedom showcasing the group’s musical talents.