[TF Focus] NMIXX, From a Blue Love to a Purple Wish

October 19 Release of 6th Mini Album 'Strange Muse'Romance colored by three seasons: autumn, spring, autumnNMIXX will release their 6th mini-album 'Strange Muse' on October 19. This is about five months after their 5th mini-album 'Heavy Serenade' released in May, and about a year after they reached a significant turning point in their career with their first full-length album 'Blue Valentine' in October of last year. /JYP Entertainment[THE FACT | Reporter Jung Byung-geun] NMIXX's(NMIXX) romance, which began with a blue hue, deepened into a rich purple, and now reaches 'Strange Muse,' which emits a peculiar, opal-like light.NMIXX(LILY HAEWON SULLYOON BAE JIWOO KYUJIN) will release their 6th mini-album 'Strange Muse' on October 19. This is about five months after their 5th mini-album 'Heavy Serenade' released in May, and about a year after they reached a significant turning point in their career with their first full-length album 'Blue Valentine' in October of last year.While the details of the new album are still veiled, the title track 'Birthday Wish' and the previously released trailers, concept images, and a cappella highlight medley hint at the emotions connected to the last two albums. It's a method of building up love, desire, fantasy, and romance, and emotions step by step, leading to overwhelming moments.The wistfulness of 'Blue Valentine,' which aimed to ignite a cold heart, transformed into the fervent conviction of 'Heavy Serenade,' and the blend of these two colors has led to the mysterious purple wish of 'Strange Muse.' If we consider these albums as a connected trilogy, NMIXX's journey over the past year is a way to easily listen to NMIXX's unique music.Since their debut, NMIXX has established "MIXX POP," which boldly blends different genres and moods within a single song, as their identity. While they secured a strong individuality, the abrupt genre changes sometimes created barriers.The turning point came with 'Blue Valentine,' released in October of last year. While maintaining NMIXX's characteristic versatile composition, they placed a wistful melody and emotions at the core of the song. The unfamiliar structure of mix-pop served as a device to amplify a single emotion rather than taking precedence. This song even earned the moniker 'Autumn Carol' and became NMIXX's first mega-hit.What's important is that they didn't erase the team's color in the process of gaining popularity. The range of genre changes was still wide, but the melody and narrative bound them together. Furthermore, the solid vocals of members, including Lily and Hae Won, naturally bridged the abrupt sound changes. NMIXX's distinctiveness lies in its ability to maintain the song's power even when crossing multiple genres within a single track.If 'Blue Valentine' opened the door between NMIXX and the public, 'Heavy Serenade' widened that door. That's why this 'Strange Muse' is even more intriguing. /JYP Entertainment'Heavy Serenade' further refined NMIXX's unique power. While intricately blending rough sounds like trance, acid, drum and bass, and rock, they placed lyrical melodies and the emotion of 'heavy and solid love' at the center. The poetic lyrics, solely written by Hanro, added a romantic warmth to NMIXX's explosive music.The success of these two works shows the new direction NMIXX has found. Without abandoning mix-pop, NMIXX made listeners feel the flow of melody and emotion before the clash of genres. The versatile composition remains, but it approaches more naturally and overwhelmingly. At the core of this is, of course, their outstanding vocals, and this is also why NMIXX's mix-pop is difficult to imitate.If 'Blue Valentine' opened the door between NMIXX and the public, 'Heavy Serenade' widened that door. That's why this 'Strange Muse' is even more intriguing.The released teasing content is even more fantastical than the previous two works. In the trailer, NMIXX appears in a mystical forest, a dreamlike space, and under the ethereal moonlight, centered around a sparkling fountain. The vintage background with colorful lights maximizes the dreamy atmosphere. In the motion poster, six horses gallop across a meadow under a purple sky, and a shining arrow streaks across the heavens.While the previous two works showed NMIXX's process of arriving at their world's utopia, MIXXTOPIA, 'Strange Muse' is expected to focus on the new emotions and inspirations discovered after arriving there.The title track 'Birthday Wish' naturally continues the lyrical flow that NMIXX has shown. Both 'Blue Valentine' and 'Heavy Serenade' created special emotions by combining familiar words in unfamiliar ways. 'Birthday Wish' also adds a temporal element to the 'birthday wish' that is usually made in an instant. It evokes a long-held heart and a wish that has become more earnest because it's not easily granted.If the wistful love of 'Blue Valentine' deepened into solid conviction in 'Heavy Serenade,' this time, that feeling expands into a long-cherished wish. Thus, even with just the revealed images and titles, an emotional connection that runs through the three works is drawn, and NMIXX's signature content, the a cappella highlight medley, further solidifies that connection.This album includes a total of six songs, including 'Birthday Wish,' 'Kerosene,' 'RudE TaLK,' and the first unit songs to be released since their debut. In particular, the first unit songs, featuring LILY and HAEWON, SULLYOON and BAE, and JIWOO and KYUJIN as pairs, will be an opportunity to showcase the individual capabilities of NMIXX, who have been evaluated as a 'hexagonal group,' in more detail.In addition, all members participated in writing their unit songs. Gyujin also contributed to the composition, and Baei co-wrote the lyrics for 'RudE TaLK.' The album is expected to showcase the individual colors of the members not only in vocals and performance but also as creators.NMIXX did not erase the most unfamiliar parts to gain popularity. Instead, they translated that unfamiliarity into the familiar languages of melody, emotion, and outstanding vocals. What remains is how much further and in what ways they will expand the common ground they have found. The photo shows them receiving the Grand Prize, 'Sound of the Year,' at the '2026 THE FACT MUSIC AWARDS' held in September. /Reporter Kim Sung-ryeolLooking back at NMIXX's past year, 'THE FACT MUSIC AWARDS(TMA)' connects two significant points.NMIXX released 'Blue Valentine' about a month after appearing at '2025 THE FACT MUSIC AWARDS' in September of last year, creating a representative song. And on September 19 of this year, at '2026 THE FACT MUSIC AWARDS,' they received the Grand Prize, 'Sound of the Year,' along with 'Artist of the Year' and Seolyoon's 'My Star Award.' It was their first Grand Prize at a music awards ceremony.If they started a powerful leap after performing on the 'THE FACT MUSIC AWARDS' stage last year, this year they confirmed the achievements of that year with the Grand Prize and are immediately making a comeback. This is a flow that concisely shows how much NMIXX has grown over the past year.In the process, NMIXX did not erase the most unfamiliar parts to gain popularity. Instead, they translated that unfamiliarity into the familiar languages of melody, emotion, and outstanding vocals. Now, NMIXX doesn't need to prove themselves. What remains is how much further and in what ways they will expand the common ground they have found. At the center of this is their new album, 'Strange Muse.'kafka@tf.co.kr[Entertainment Department | ssent@tf.co.kr]