Ever since their debut, most of 아이브(IVE)’s promoted tracks have explored stories about love.💓 But the fact that this studio album’s title track concentrates on the ‘self’ shouldn’t exactly come as a surprise. While 아이브(IVE)’s members, who were all in their teens at the time of their debut, naturally possess a “girlish” vibe, they also never shy away from embodying a powerful and confident image. In fact, this very image became the basis upon which they encourage self-love and independence, even when in love with someone else.
The last line of their debut song <ELEVEN>, a track which captures the excitement and tension of a budding romance, is, ‘The reflection of me in those eyes, I fell in love.’ The speaker here isn’t someone who has a one-track mind for another person, but one who remains true to her own feelings. Their next song <LOVE DIVE> repeats this refrain: ‘Narcissistic, my god I love it.’ It’s an honest acknowledgement and expression of the way people in love often become intoxicated not only by the people they’re in love with, but the image of their very own selves in love. In <After Like>, member Gaeul sings, ‘You know what my strength is? It’s that I’m honest,’ and asks the object of her interest to reciprocate by telling her their honest feelings.
