Reflecting on Billlie’s side-B : memoirs of echo unseen

It’s been almost two months since Billlie released their first single album side-B : memoirs of echo unseen, but there’s still time left in the year to recap it all. For this week’s Ladies Corner, we’re shifting from talking about Christmas—sorry “snowy night”—to covering some songs that helped make this year magical. Billlie built up anticipation with the pre-release “BYOB (bring your own best friend)” in September, and released the title track “DANG! (hocus pocus)” in October. Both tracks also received their own English versions, a first for the group.  

“BYOB (bring your own best friend)” 

“BYOB (bring your own best friend)” served as the pre-release and B-side for side-B : memoirs of echo unseen. The track dropped on September 27, almost a month before the single album’s official release. It was the first new track under Billlie’s current five-member composition with Haram, Tsuki, Sheon, Siyoon, and Haruna. While normally a seven-member group, Moon Sua and Suhyeon remain on health-related hiatuses. 

“BYOB (bring your own best friend)” describes the frustrations of a friendship becoming sidelined by a boy. The speaker wants nothing more than to spend time with their best friend, free of discussions about romance. With the song opening with the line, “Well to be honest / I think he’s not that attractive,” such a brutally honest statement is both relatable and funny at the same time. They feel as if their friendship has suddenly become compromised after their friend chases romance. It expresses that friendships should be about the memories and feelings individuals share, not about one-sided never-ending conversations.* 

“DANG! (hocus pocus)”

 On October 23, Billlie released side-B: memoirs of echo unseen and the music video for its title track “DANG! (hocus pocus).” The lyrics speak about finding oneself, which aligns with previous themes included in other Billlie tracks.* Topics of self-love and identity appear prevalently.The lyrics use constant questioning like Haruna’s lines in the first pre-chorus, “F or T, P or J / no one can find out / What am? Who am I?” These reference the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a self-reported personality test whose results change all the time.     

Even for a five-membered release, there’s no mistaking the Billlie touch. No Billlie music video is complete without their representative creatures, dubbed “lovers.” This time it’s LIZA, a  multi-colored reptile. Aside from a cute friend popping up from time-to-time, one aspect feels reminiscent of “GingaMingaYo (the strange world).” The way they fall into another universe and solve a puzzle together creates some deja vu. Nevertheless, “DANG! (hocus pocus)” was a good showing of the group’s talents within a different dynamic.  

*Note: Lyrics taken from the English captions in the official music videos.