IVE has returned with "Looks Can Kill," a mini-album that follows their full-length REVIVE+ and a world tour that reinforced their standing at home and abroad. Since debut, the group has built its identity on confidence and conviction while refusing to be locked into one image. This release widens that approach, presenting a bolder and more multidimensional take on their world.
The album is built around a new “Another Ego,” the “Girl Hero”: a figure who can deliver a fatal blow simply by existing. It builds on the “Girl Fantasy” personas IVE has shown before, such as Cupids and magical girls, and functions as a spin-off exploring a fresh corner of the universe they have created.
The title track, 'Looks Can Kill,' captures this idea most directly, portraying a group that decides the game the moment it arrives. It opens with a synth-pad rhythm, then layers a heavy bassline, dynamic drums, and rich electronic textures. Its explosive final chorus after the bridge is the song’s peak and the clearest statement of how IVE wants to reintroduce itself.
The visual storytelling reinforces the hero theme. The title track’s music video borrows the language of superhero cinema and blurs the line between film set and reality, moving IVE from “playing heroes” to being heroes in their own right.
The remaining five tracks each play a distinct role while forming a unified soundtrack. 'Mirror Mirror' twists fairy-tale motifs into a dark, dreamlike aesthetic, and 'SNAKESKIN' depicts shedding a facade to reveal one’s true self. 'CRUMBS' projects commanding ownership over a heavy bassline, 'Girls Girls Girls' brings a freer, more open feel that refreshes the pacing, and 'Glow Motion' closes with an ethereal, organic sound that extends the album’s lingering resonance. Despite the variety, from high-intensity numbers to more relaxed ones, the album holds together through a consistent thread of confidence and presence.
The “SPIN-OFF FILM,” a track video for “CRUMBS,” brings fans, DIVE, into an imaginative escape alongside the group. Here, a hero is defined not by superpowers but by imparting dreams and courage to others, so that one person’s inspiration sets off a ripple of positive change.
Taken together, "Looks Can Kill" shows IVE as a group that already knows its identity and can express it in accessible, sensory-driven ways. Rather than repeating past strengths, the album explores their confidence through more varied textures, touching on fantasy, self-love, liberation, and transformation. It both defines who IVE is today and raises curiosity about what comes next, proof of a group unwilling to settle on a single formula and intent on continually expanding its universe.
Listen to "Looks Can Kill"
