NMIXX will release Strange Muse, its sixth EP, on October 19th, introducing the group’s first dedicated subunit songs alongside new writing credits for all six members.
JYP Entertainment revealed the six-track record at midnight KST on September 21st. “Birthday Wish” leads the EP, followed by “Kerosene,” “RudE TaLK” and three songs that divide NMIXX into pairs: Lily and Haewon on “Sing to the Moon,” Sullyoon and Bae on “Hot ‘n Unbothered,” and Jiwoo and Kyujin on “WHIP.”
The official NMIXX notice confirms the October comeback, while Korean reporting identifies the three pairings as the group’s first dedicated unit-song releases since its 2022 debut.
Those songs also give the members a larger role behind the material. Lily, Haewon, Sullyoon, Bae, Jiwoo and Kyujin each have lyric credits on their respective unit tracks, Kyujin also contributed to the composition of “WHIP,” and Bae has an additional writing credit on the full-group track “RudE TaLK.”
That makes Strange Muse more than a quick follow-up to May’s Heavy Serenade. NMIXX is using a compact six-song EP to separate voices normally heard inside the same ensemble while increasing the members’ direct involvement in the songs themselves.
Three Pairings Split NMIXX Down the Middle
The back half of Strange Muse is built entirely around units.
Lily and Haewon share “Sing to the Moon,” Sullyoon and Bae take “Hot ‘n Unbothered,” and Jiwoo and Kyujin close the EP with “WHIP.” Star News confirms that the three tracks mark NMIXX’s first formal unit-song releases since debut.
The structure divides a six-member group into three clean combinations rather than creating one temporary trio, giving one member a solo track or scattering smaller configurations across a longer record.
Lily and Haewon’s pairing is particularly notable because both have occupied major vocal roles throughout NMIXX’s catalog and live performances. “Sing to the Moon” gives them an entire recording together rather than another duet passage inside a six-member arrangement.
“Hot ‘n Unbothered” places Sullyoon and Bae in the middle unit, while Jiwoo and Kyujin’s “WHIP” closes both the three-song sequence and the EP itself.
No official audio previews for the unit songs have been released, so their arrangements and genre directions should not be inferred from the titles or member combinations alone.
What the track list already establishes is structural. Instead of asking every song to demonstrate how six voices fit together, half of Strange Muse asks what happens when that number drops to two.
Every Unit Comes With Writing Credits
The member pairings are not merely performance assignments.
Each unit participates in the lyrics for its own song. Lily and Haewon wrote on “Sing to the Moon,” Sullyoon and Bae contributed to “Hot ‘n Unbothered,” and Jiwoo and Kyujin receive writing credits on “WHIP.”
That gives every NMIXX member direct creative participation somewhere inside the unit half of the EP.
Bae’s involvement extends beyond her pairing. She also participated in the lyrics for “RudE TaLK,” the third full-group track, iMBC confirms.
The additional credit is useful because it prevents the songwriting story from being confined entirely to the subunit concept. Bae moves from writing inside the more personalized Sullyoon-Bae pairing into material performed by all six members.
JYP has not yet published enough complete credit information to establish the full creative personnel behind every Strange Muse track. The announced member credits nevertheless make songwriting participation part of the EP’s structure rather than an isolated bonus credit.
Kyujin Moves From Lyrics Into Composition
Jiwoo and Kyujin’s “WHIP” carries the most notable individual member credit revealed with the track list.
Both members participated in the lyrics, while Kyujin also contributed to the composition. Star News details the additional composition credit alongside the broader member participation.
Writing lyrics and contributing to composition represent different parts of the creative process. JYP has not disclosed enough detailed information yet to determine the precise extent of Kyujin’s compositional contribution or identify every collaborator involved in building “WHIP.”
Still, the credit gives the closing track a second point of interest beyond being NMIXX’s first Jiwoo-Kyujin unit release.
It also gives the three pairings slightly different creative profiles. Every unit has member-written lyrics, but “WHIP” goes a step further by placing one of its performers inside the composition credits as well.
How audible that distinction becomes will only be clear once the music arrives.
“Birthday Wish” Keeps the Full Group Up Front
For all the attention surrounding the units, NMIXX is not restructuring the entire comeback around smaller configurations.
“Birthday Wish” remains the title track, with “Kerosene” and “RudE TaLK” completing the three full-group songs before the EP moves into its unit sequence.
The track order effectively divides Strange Muse into two halves: three songs performed by NMIXX as a full group, followed by three songs built around the Lily-Haewon, Sullyoon-Bae and Jiwoo-Kyujin pairings.
That gives JYP a way to expand individual musical identities without replacing the ensemble format that defines NMIXX. “Birthday Wish” still carries the job of introducing the comeback publicly, while the second half can explore combinations that have never received dedicated recordings.
No highlight medley or title-track audio has been released as of September 21st, so detailed claims about the production, arrangement or sound of “Birthday Wish” would be premature.
The title track will arrive only about five months after NMIXX’s previous mini-album cycle. JYP’s release archive dates Heavy Serenade to May 11th, making Strange Muse a relatively quick return for the group.
The Comeback Follows NMIXX’s First Grand Prize
The timing gives Strange Muse another layer beyond its unusual track-list structure.
Two days before the album announcement, NMIXX received the Sound of the Year grand prize at the 2026 The Fact Music Awards at Busan Asiad Main Stadium, marking the group’s first grand prize at a music awards ceremony. NMIXX also collected Artist of the Year, while Sullyoon received the fan-voted My Star Award.
The grand-prize milestone was followed almost immediately by the September 21st Strange Muse reveal, moving NMIXX from an awards-stage high directly into its next release cycle.
The EP will then have only a little more than a month to settle into the catalog before the group’s first world tour reaches its finale.
From November 27th through 29th, NMIXX will play three encore concerts at Incheon Inspire Arena to conclude EPISODE 1: ZERO FRONTIER. iMBC lists the three-night run as the finale to the group’s first world tour.
That creates an immediate live question for the new material. JYP has not announced whether “Sing to the Moon,” “Hot ‘n Unbothered” or “WHIP” will enter the encore set, but the concerts arrive only weeks after Strange Muse.
If the unit songs do make the stage, the Incheon shows would provide the first major opportunity to see how arrangements built for pairs function inside a concert otherwise centered on NMIXX as a six-member group.
Strange Muse Gives Six Members More Room
NMIXX has built much of its identity around what six members can do together. Strange Muse tests the other side of that equation.
Three full-group songs preserve the established format. Three unit tracks then break the lineup into Lily and Haewon, Sullyoon and Bae, and Jiwoo and Kyujin, with every member receiving a direct writing credit somewhere inside that second half.
Bae’s additional work on “RudE TaLK” and Kyujin’s composition credit on “WHIP” push the member involvement beyond simply attaching names to three personalized unit songs.
The format also gives NMIXX room to develop individual musical identities without beginning solo campaigns or moving anyone outside the group’s central comeback. Each pair receives its own recording while “Birthday Wish” remains the title track released under the full NMIXX name.
How different those three units actually sound will have to wait until JYP releases audio. The track list establishes the experiment, not its musical result.
Strange Muse arrives October 19th at 6 p.m. KST. By then, the more interesting question will be what the unit songs reveal about NMIXX when six voices no longer have to share every track.