SAY MY NAME’s &Our Vibe Ends 2025 on a High Note
Photo: SAY MY NAME Official X
K-Pop releases teeter out by the end of the year. Outside of the seasonal holiday releases, most groups wait until January to make a regular comeback. SAY MY NAME, however, managed to squeeze in three comebacks this year, and their latest EP dropped just days before 2026. &Our Vibe closes out the year with a continued exploration of the group’s concepts.
Each comeback that SAY MY NAME made this year evidently saw them grow as artists. They started with “ShaLala” and its EP, My Name Is…, which used city-pop and other popular genres such as UK garage and pop rock. They then took UK garage as the highlighted genre for their summer single, “iLY.” Now, their &Our Vibe EP wants to try something previously untouched.
TRACKLIST:
“Bad Idea”
“UFO (ATTENT!ON)”
“Delulu Solulu”
“Hard to Love”
“SAY MY NAME”
The Title Track: “UFO (ATTENT!ION)”
Released on December 29, “UFO (ATTENT!ION)” sees SAY MY NAME trying out the pop punk genre. Without alienating those used to SAY MY NAME’s general image, “UFO (ATTENT!ON)” reveals a small mischievous side to them. It carries on the group’s free-spirited optimism and brings an alternate way to depict that theme. Members Hitomi, Kanny, and Dohee contributed to its lyrics, which describe themselves drawing in curiosity like a UFO sighting.*
The song’s music video combines cute aesthetics, such as the members strutting their fashionista looks, with nonsensical elements like a three-headed dog and a house shooting into space. It creates the kind of world where I suppose giraffes can just walk on the sidewalk. This music video wants to show the unexpected.
The B-Sides: All Sorts of Vibes
I definitely recommend checking out the rest of the EP, which blends many genres. The trap and R&B song “Bad Idea” actually proves how brilliant that music combination sounds. “Delulu Solulu,” a title that derives from K-Pop fan slang, introduces the 2-step garage genre. It mixes UK garage and EDM for a retro tune almost like out of a video game. Considering its origins and widespread prominence, I’m surprised how little K-Pop songs reference “delulu is the solulu” (how believing out-of-this-world situations can make them come true). EVNNE’s “HOT MESS” from February is the other one from recent memory that references this term.
“Hard to Love” brings back the city-pop sound used in “ShaLala” but for a more introspective feeling. Paired with its title, “Hard to Love” is the soundtrack for 3 a.m. texts between close friends. The EP’s final song, a self-titled track, gives the greatest surprise. The song’s first few notes start with an ethereal sound that only deceives listeners for the real genre—heavy metal.
Despite releasing at the end of December, &Our Vibe is one of the best EPs I’ve listened to this year. I love EPs that include a cohesive idea on how to improve on their artists’ discography. &Our Vibe matches what I personally look for, and SAY MY NAME should feel proud of all the music they put out this year.
*Note: lyrics from the English captions in the official music video.
Edited by Bryn Claybourne