2025 has been no short of magical for Xdinary Heroes. From the release of Beautiful Mind, going on a world tour, performing at Lollapalooza in Chicago, opening for MUSE in their concert in South Korea, to the release of LXVE to DEATH, Xdinary Heroes have had the biggest, most insane year on their hands. It has been marked by success, recognition, growth, and musical genius every step of the way. Always pushing the boundaries and experimenting with their sound, Xdinary Heroes began the year with ‘Beautiful Life,’ a dark, genius rhapsody with elements of opera rock, and now they’re back with something completely different, staying true to what makes them so special. For the first time, Xdinary Heroes puts the theme of love at the forefront —its most beautiful and tragic aspects —with their newest mini-album LXVE to DEATH.
We were lucky enough to ask Xdinary Heroes all about performing live, the pre-release of ‘FiRE (My Sweet Misery),’ their most significant 2025 achievements, and the inspirations and creative process leading up to the release of LXVE to DEATH!
The Growth of Xdinary Heroes
This past year has been filled with massive achievements like Lollapalooza, the Beautiful Mind Tour, and, of course, getting picked by MUSE themselves as their opening act (big congratulations!). Out of all the incredible things this year has brought you, what do you think is the moment from 2025 that will stick with you for the rest of your life?
Jooyeon: Throughout this year, we’ve explored and experimented with many different genres, which helped us better understand how to shape each sound to fit our identity. My ultimate goal is to make any genre sound like Xdinary Heroes, and realizing that has been one of the biggest takeaways for me this year.
Lollapalooza was an incredible achievement for you, but you also made history as one of the only two K-Bands to perform at the festival. How do you think it impacted your way of playing live? What song felt the most different to play at the festival as opposed to during your own concerts?
Jun Han: I felt that ‘FiRE (My Sweet Misery)’ was especially different. Unlike our regular concerts, the set at Lollapalooza flowed without any breaks or long talk segments, so the buildup leading to ‘FiRE (My Sweet Misery)’ felt really powerful. It allowed me to get completely immersed in the moment.
How do you approach preparing your live shows to capture the same power and emotion as your recordings?
Jungsu: It might sound obvious, but I think practice is the most important part. We practice continuously to match the quality of our recordings, as it has been made with the perfect result, but once we’re on stage, rather than being tied to that, we focus more on how to express what we’ve practiced in our own way.
Over the past few years, your sound has evolved from Hello, world! to Troubleshooting to now. How would you describe your musical growth since debuting in 2021?
Jun Han: As we’ve performed on more stages, we’ve learned which songs have the most power live. I think our music has been evolving into a style that allows us to fully immerse ourselves and enjoy the moment together with the audience.
‘FiRE (My Sweet Misery)’
You revealed ‘FiRE (My Sweet Misery)’ for the first time live in Seoul and released it later as a single. What about this song in particular felt special enough to have your listeners experience it live before they experience it in the studio version?
Gaon: Through our Xperiment Project last year, we realized how special it is to present a new song live first. With ‘FiRE (My Sweet Misery),’ I really wanted to show its powerful energy and the audience to feel its energy when we first performed it.
‘FiRE (My Sweet Misery)’ has such an intense, emotional energy. What inspired that track in particular?
Gun-il: There were many inspirations, but for me, it began with the idea that a love song about twisted, obsessive emotions could become something truly intense aspect of love.
From Beautiful Mind to LXVE to DEATH
Every single one of your releases has been unique and has broken boundaries within K-pop. More specifically, you created your own rhapsody with ‘Beautiful Life’ earlier this year and even brought rock opera to K-pop, completely blowing us away. What was the creative process behind such a massive song? How do you feel like such an intricate song changed you as musicians and influenced LXVE to DEATH?
O.de: As the creative process really changes depending on the moment — the atmosphere, our mood that day, and many other factors, it’s hard to define it in one way. We always try to make music in a fun and genuine way. Also, the one thing we always think about is how the song will feel on stage — whether it’ll be exciting or powerful to perform live. We also keep trying new and different genres, and I think that has really helped us expand our musical spectrum.
‘Beautiful Life’ was a song deeply inspired by great musicians and great literature. What was the concept behind the creation of this new title track, ‘ICU?’
Jungsu: ‘ICU‘ is the focus track from our new EP, which explores the theme of love for the first time. It describes the feeling of falling into pure and selfless love, expressed through the metaphor of a collision.
The lyrics of ‘Beautiful Life’ directly quote George Orwell’s 1984, and it’s impossible to think of that song without thinking of the book. Which book would you assign to ‘ICU?’
Gun-il: I think any book that deals with passionate love would fit ‘ICU.’ The one that comes to mind right now is Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare.
The Release of LXVE to DEATH
You’re always releasing very unique and intricate mood films, and the one for LXVE to DEATH is no different. Which song out of the mini-album would you use as the perfect BGM for this mood film?
Gaon: I’d choose ‘LOVE ME 2 DEATH,’ which is the last track from LXVE to DEATH. I think the message fits the overall theme of the album the best, and it’s also a track that offers plenty of room for creative visual interpretation.
Xdinary Heroes are known for storytelling through music. How does LXVE to DEATH fit into your larger universe or narrative concept?
O.de: We hadn’t really explored the theme of love in our previous works, so with this album, we wanted to tell that story in our own color. By doing so, we were able to expand the range of stories we can express through our music.
What’s one thing you want fans to know about LXVE to DEATH that hasn’t been revealed yet?
Jooyeon: I’m really excited that some of the new songs from this album could be part of our setlist for the Xdinary Heroes Beautiful Mind World Tour FINALE in SEOUL in November.
You can listen to Xdinary Heroes’ LXVE to DEATH here, and you can also read our 2024 interview here!
What has been the most memorable Xdinary Heroes moment for you in 2025? What’s your favorite song out of LXVE to DEATH? Be sure to let us know by tweeting us at @thehoneypop or visiting us on Facebook and Instagram.
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