K-pop group Close Your Eyes drops 'OVEREXPOSED' ahead of new mini-album

Seven-member K-pop boy band Close Your Eyes released their first digital single, "OVEREXPOSED," Tuesday, blending Brazilian Baile Funk and lo-fi R&B roughly one year after forming through JTBC's survival program "PROJECT 7."

The two-track release previews a forthcoming mini-album and extends a deliberate narrative arc the group has built since debut — a signal, members say, of growing artistic ambition from one of K-pop's newer acts.

"OVEREXPOSED" contains two tracks: "POSE," which fuses Brazilian Baile Funk with early 2000s hip-hop, and "What If I Miss Love?," a lo-fi R&B song. The title draws on a photography metaphor — overexposure as a symbol of persisting under uncertainty — according to The Korea Times.

Eldest member Jeon Min-wook described the single as part of a deliberate story stretching back to the group's debut. "We put a lot of meaning into 'Eternity,' our debut project. Then we woke up from 'blackout,' and we've spent a year. This single is an extension of that. It's a statement of ambition," he told The Korea Times. He called "OVEREXPOSED" an appetizer: "Before a new side of us is revealed in the upcoming album, 'OVEREXPOSED' is a preview of what's coming."

Member Song Seung-ho said Baile Funk was unfamiliar ground for the group. "It was a sound I hadn't really been exposed to. We thought a lot about how to do it justice," he said. Kim Sung-min described how the group navigated that uncertainty through shared research. "At first, we were unsure, so each of us searched for references that matched the song's coolness and shared them with one another," Kim told the Times, noting he drew on the NCT DREAM track "Beat It Up" for his section.

Jang Yeo-jun wrote more than half the lyrics for the second track and said he aimed for emotional contrast within a vintage texture. "I wanted the texture to feel lo-fi and vintage, but with desperation and heartache layered underneath," Jang said. "The pre-chorus is what I'm most attached to. I wrote it with our fans in mind."

On what sets the group apart, Jeon pointed to flexibility and authenticity. "We're not afraid of change, and we try a wide range of genres. But more than that, we don't put on too much of an act. The naturalness is our strength," he said.

Close Your Eyes is currently mid-tour on their "BEYOND YOUR EYES" Asia run. Jang said near-term targets remain high. "This month has a lot of comebacks lined up, but even so, I want to win an award on a music show," he told The Korea Times. The group has cited Coachella and Tokyo Dome among its longer-term performance goals.