tripleS, with a planned 24 total members, was never meant to be a conventional girl group. Its’ latest subunit LOVElution, which debuted Thursday, is no exception.

With 16 tripleS members have been unveiled so far, LOVElution, made up of Yoon Seoyeon, Jeong Hyerin, Gong Yubin, Kaede, Seo Dahyun, Nien, Park Sohyun and Xinyu, kicked off its journey Thursday with its first EP “Muhan,” stylized as “ↀ,” and becoming newest subunit under the umbrella group. Muhan is infinity in Korean.

In its debut album, the girl group sings “Girls’ Capitalism” which depicts girls living in a capitalist world.

“The album name has two meanings: if you rotate [ↀ] sideways, it becomes the number eight, the eight members of LOVElution, and it also refers to infinity, in the sense that the group has unlimited potential,” Jeong explained during a press showcase for its debut album held Thursday at the Yes24 Hall in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul.

The album’s lead track, “Girls’ Capitalism,” is a catchy track featuring addictive melodies, and the song’s title is also unique.

“We sing about the thoughts that girls living in this modern capitalist society might realistically have,” Park said. “While we might care about our outer beauty, in reality, we are determined to build up our inner beauty first and present that to the world.”

The members confessed that they too, were surprised by the name of the lead track when they first heard it.

“I still can vividly remember my reaction and that of the other members when we first heard the title,” Yoon said.

“We have never seen the term capitalism used in any girl group songs, so we were asking if this really was the title of our lead track. While we were startled and the name could be strange, we also thought it could leave a strong impression on our fans,” she added. “Now I love our lead track!”

“I think LOVElution’s strength is the distinct charm of each of the members,” Park, the eldest member in the subunit, said.

“I know what I just said sounds like a cliché, but our EP contains eight total tracks that really encompass each member's strength and color.”

The album features multiple tracks in a variety of styles. “Complexity,” a ‘coupling’ song for the lead track, talks about the complex mindset of those who finally find the love they wanted, yet feel like that love is cooling down afterward. “Black Soul Dress,” a track that was written, composed and produced by Park, is a song about finding your true self without following others.

But perhaps its final track, “Number 8,” is the most unique track out of them all. Featuring gayageum, a traditional Korean string instrument, the song revolves around the girl group’s resolution to “reach the future of K-pop with the traditions of Korea.”

“LOVElution has just started its journey, and I hope you guys look forward to our future activities,” Park said.

tripleS is a group that is constantly changing and evolving. While 16 total members have been named so far, the group ultimately plans to have 24 total members — an unusually high number for a K-pop group. And as more members are added to the group, they will each go on small journeys as subunits together, which are all voted on by the girl group's fans.

So far, six variations of the group, including LOVElution, have been spun off. Two four-member subunits, Acid Angel from Asia and +(KR)styal Eyes, debuted in October 2022 and May 2023, the eight-member subunit Acid Eyes debuted last month — combining members from the two four-member subunits, and a 10-member version of tripleS that debuted February with the addictive track “Rising,” as well as another two eight-member subunits, LOVElution and EVOLution.

To find out more about tripleS LOVElution, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]