“Wow Thing”: SM Station X 0 Debuts the Girl Group of Our Dreams

You have to admit: SM Entertainment has one heck of an eye for talent.

For its third installment of side project Station X 0, the company borrowed four of the biggest girl crushes in the industry to deliver the funky retro collab “Wow Thing.” Each girl oozes a cool confidence in her respective act, which is clearly what SM was aiming for when analyzing the entire package.

The group is almost too powerful for its own good. All are currently considered as some of the best dancers in K-Pop. Red Velvet’s Seulgi and Chungha are quite similar as strong vocalists and dancers, while SinB is GFRIEND’s main dancer and Soyeon is most known as the main rapper in (G)I-DLE. The combination seems bred out of a stan account’s fantasy, but this is, thankfully, reality.

Twice can be a coincidence, but after the third release, a common message of empowering the youth is apparent in all of Station X 0’s tracks thus far. The lyrics point to butterfly imagery as the girls spread their wings to reach their dreams. Unapologetically, they declare that they’re cooler than everyone else—self-proclaimed “wow things.” It teeters a bit towards sounding narcissistic, but mentions of “following your heart” and finally making their dreams a reality allude to a difficult journey to get to the top. The confidence they’ve developed is self-made, a result of hard work.

“Wow Thing” is clearly inspired by a ‘70s R&B soul sound. The layered horns and tight harmonizations evoke memories of groups like The Supremes, but with a modern twist—in a similar vein as to how Christina Aguilera modernized jazz and soul in her pop tracks. It’s a genre that tends to be tackled by more senior groups, meaning SM must have had a lot of confidence in the girls’ abilities to make this their “debut.” Soyeon’s rap is a pleasant contrast to the melody, and Chungha’s vocals suit this sound particularly well.

The music video emphasizes this marriage between retro and modern. Most scenes are shot in a ‘50s-esque American diner set, but the outfits the girls are wearing are varying degrees of sporty, chic, and street. That cool confidence coupled with each girl’s magnetic charisma makes the video that much more enjoyable. The scene that accompanies Seulgi’s opening line—where she, Chungha, and Soyeon strut in sync towards the camera—is so alluring, seductive even. Dancing in water is also always a power move, even more so in heeled boots.

It’s borderline rude that this is only a temporary collaboration. While we wouldn’t dare to take the girls from their original groups, this is definitely wasted potential. We have this to enjoy for now, but we can only wonder what could’ve been.