Yves "NAIL" EP Review

"NAIL" Album Art

Magda Kanecka | April 2026

Ha Sooyoung, better known under the stage name Yves, is a South-Korean singer represented by the alternative label Paix Per Mil. She debuted as a solo artist in May 2024 after being a member of the girl group LOONA, whose members have been active individually or under new group management since their exit from BlockBerry Creative in 2023 following extensive legal battles over contract breaches and mistreatment.

On 17 April, she released her fourth solo EP, titled “NAIL”, and began her 2026 Europe Tour the night before in Manchester, UK. At the opening show, she exclusively debuted all tracks from the EP to a live audience before the 5-track release officially came out. 

As per the tracklist credits, four out of five tracks are written by her, except for “Break it”, which was instead written by Lexie Liu, who additionally features on the track.

With myself being a huge fan of Yves’ work as a soloist as well as her past work in LOONA, I knew this was not a release to miss. It is safe to say my expectations were met, if not exceeded. Each track has an individual character to it, and no two songs on the EP sound alike. 

Yves does not shy away: she walks a fine line of continuing what she knows best, and leaning into different styles of music. And how she does this, I will describe below.

Track 1: It

The opening track on the EP lingers particularly for its echoing beat and an almost R&B-inspired instrumental, which was the first thing I noticed about the song.

This, on top of the melancholic lyrics which describe reminiscing on a past event that one remembers well despite time passing and circumstances changing, makes “It” a perfect, slower and almost sorrowful, but not regretful, track that opens the EP on a vulnerable note.

Track 2: HALO

Following “It”, this track takes a more house-led note, with fewer lyrics and more emphasis placed on a beat that reminds me of a chill ‘90s bar or club dancefloor you would spot in an indie rom-com movie.

The pre- and post-chorus gently repeat the Korean phrase translated to mean “we are” over and over again, and the overall vibe of the song feels far more intimate and chilled-out than the previous.

The song ends with the vocals dropping off and the instrumentals fading into the background, which reminds me of a door being shut and the outro being played behind a wall of some sort – further feeding into the club/ bar vibe described earlier.

Track 3: NAIL (feat. Lolo Zouaï)

The title track completely steals the show in Yves’ most recent release. Almost clapping into the chorus, the beat throughout this entire song is so good that it made me come back to it immediately after my first listen.

Featuring groovier, almost rap-led verses from both Yves and Lolo Zouaï, the chorus is what slows down the pace, for it is much more spoken and whispered, rather than sung. In the live debut of “NAIL”, Yves also performed a dance break in the electronic and synth-driven bridge of the track.

It is super interesting to note that the Korean word 내일 (rom. Nae-il) means ‘tomorrow’, and in the chorus, Yves sings “Stop / Stop thinking about your nae-il” (literally meaning stop thinking about tomorrow). She contrasts this with a later line (also in the chorus) that instead includes the word 네일 (rom. Ne-il), meaning ‘fingernail’ – an interesting word play I spotted while looking at the lyrics.

Track 4: Break it (feat. Lexie Liu)

Lyrically, “Break it” is a track showcasing devotion and desire to succeed even while facing moments of insecurity. This song is my favourite on the EP because of the way it acknowledges that moments of weakness and vulnerability happen, instead of pushing them aside like they do not exist.

The vocals here rise before hitting their peak in the chorus, and I adore the way these elements blend into each other. The production on this tune reminds me of PinkPantheress’ early, 2020-era work, which makes sense since the two artists have collaborated before on the tracks “Soap” on Yves’ 2025 EP “Soft Error”, and “Stars” on PinkPantheress’ 2025 deluxe album “Fancy Some More?”.

Lexie Liu’s verse features a couple of lines in Mandarin Chinese, which is her native language, but to the average listener, one would not even bat an eye at the language change. Yves’ and Lexie’s voices work so smoothly together, and it is a genuine pleasure to be able to hear them sing together.

Track 5: birth 

Ironically placed at the end of the tracklist, “birth” presents a more high-pitched vocal performance and computer-coded beats in the background that ease into a hyper-pop chorus. 

I am convinced this song is meant to be danced along to as it plays. The listener is less focused on the lyrics and more on the hard-hitting beat. Still, this is not to discredit the incredible pitch from Yves that she showcases on the closing track.

“birth” delivers production reminiscent of the works of the artists and producers SOPHIE as well as Charli XCX, a style she has previously experimented with on her previous releases, such as the track “Viola” from her 2024 debut EP “I Did”.

I honestly am a fan of all tracks on this EP in different ways – but “NAIL” and “Break it” remain my favourites. Maybe it’s the timing of this release, paired perfectly with the start of spring, or maybe it is the careful lyrics, complex, at times experimental production and features from vocalists that all work so well together, that make this release one of my favourites this year so far.

Follow Yves here!

Listen to “NAIL” here!