{"id":1905154,"date":"2026-04-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1905154"},"modified":"2026-04-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T21:00:00","slug":"wonderland-153","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1905154","title":{"rendered":"Wonderland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\tWonderland<\/span>
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\n\t\t\tYVES, NTS, & BLOWN EARDRUMS<\/span>
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Ahead of her headline show at NTS 15 last week, K-pop star Yves sits down with Wonderland to discuss the British radio station\u2019s global impact and her new EP, \u201cNAIL\u201d.<\/h3>\n
\"Yves,<\/figure>\n

15 years. Feels like yesterday to someone, but when put into context, you\u2019d be surprised at how much has happened in that time. 2011 was the year we all couldn\u2019t avoid Rebecca Black\u2019s \u201cFriday\u201d no matter how hard we tried, when Game of Thrones<\/em> first premiered and, for some reason, when we were all addicted to Angry Birds<\/em>. It\u2019s also the year the world was blessed with NTS (short for \u201cNuts To Soup\u201d), a 24\/7 radio station founded by Femi Adeyemi in a small studio in Dalston with the little savings he had. With an eclectic, unpretentious selection of music from artists on the periphery of the industry, it became a holy grail hub for discovering some of the best talents out of the UK and, eventually, the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From 13th to 19th April, NTS celebrated their 15th anniversary with a city-spanning programme of 15 blockbuster shows across its hometown, London. The lineup read like a love letter to the station\u2019s genre-agnostic spirit, from art-pop powerhouse Arca to electronic savant Oneohtrix Point Never<\/a>, Parisian rap riser Jeune Morty and K-Pop trailblazer Yves. The latter took over Earth Hall on 17 April,\u00a0 supported by Drain Gang-affiliated DJ Mechatok and Stockholm-based experimental artist Oli XL .<\/p>\n

Formerly part of K-Pop group LOONA, Yves stepped out on her own in 2024 with her breakout track \u201cLOOP\u201d featuring Lil Cherry, and hasn\u2019t looked back since, refining her unique sound that fluidly blends K-Pop, electropop and R&B. And then there\u2019s her fanbase \u2013 fiercely devoted, unmistakably loud, their anticipation bleeding through several walls in as we sit down in the green room for a chat right before her headline show at NTS 15.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Yves,<\/figure>\n

\u201cNTS is a very global platform that everyone knows,\u201d says Yves, perched on the sofa in a pale yellow hoodie, sleeves rolled up, translator Diane by her side. \u201cI feel like just because I\u2019m so interested in music in general, my way of discovering NTS was really natural.\u201d Despite being born and raised in South Korea, she talks about the station like it\u2019s an essential listen for any music lover, anywhere on the planet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clearly a platform that any rising star wants to be involved in and appear on, a stamp of approval from world-renowned curators who have their finger on the pulse for who\u2019s going to be their next co-signed breakout. When you look at the r\u00e9sume of artists that the UK radio has unearthed \u2013 from the aforementioned Arca to underground legend Dean Blunt and queen of left-field dance Shygirl \u2013 it\u2019s pretty easy to see why. \u201cThey do a great job of showcasing a lot of great UK artists to a bigger, wider audience,\u201d Yves adds. \u201cI feel like they\u2019ve found a more global perspective on defining music in a different way, which I think is really great.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She\u2019s long had a soft spot for UK talents, citing Amy Winehouse as one of her earliest influences and even performing one of her songs at her girl group auditions back in the day. \u201cShe was a legend and also broke away from the norm, and I feel like I really followed that kind of inspiration,\u201d says Yves.<\/p>\n

Considering her own genre-slippery, electronic leanings, however, her current UK favourite feels almost inevitable. \u201cMy girl PinkPantheress,\u201d she says, simply. With two collaborations already under her belt, including a feature on the UK artist\u2019s revamped edition of her \u201cFancy That\u201d mixtape on \u201cStars + Yves\u201d, it felt like a dream come true \u2013 considering she\u2019s a fan of \u201cher whole discography\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Yves,<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Following the hype-raising appearance on Pink\u2019s deluxe mixtape, the K-electropop artist follows up her remix of underscores\u2019 \u201cDo It\u201d with her latest EP, \u201cNAIL\u201d. Having dropped it on the same day as her show in East London, she\u2019s eagerly waiting to perform her new tracks at Earth Hall about 30 minutes after our conversation. \u201cCompared to my other releases before, I played a big part in the songwriting and production of it,\u201d she says on her increasingly hands-on approach. \u201cI turned 30 in Korean age this year and, because 30 is kind of a turning point, I feel like this release is kind of a turning point in my career and life, just because I put a lot of my own personal thoughts and stories in the lyrics and music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the title track serving as the project\u2019s namesake, it\u2019s actually the song \u201cIt\u201d that lingered with Yves throughout the process. As well as playing a pivotal part in the ideation and creation of the song, it\u2019s the subject matter she\u2019s most proud of. \u201cThe song context is actually about what comes beyond death,\u201d she explains. \u201cThey\u2019re concepts that are very common within the K-pop scene, but they\u2019re not really touched on super deeply because they try to keep it upbeat and dance like that. I tried to find a middle ground where my fans will be able to listen to it and find comfort in what that idea is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As we wrap up the interview and I wish Yves good luck on the show, my +1 and I waddle over to join the tightly-packed crowd, all pushing to the front to catch even a glimpse of their favourite artist. As soon as there was any indication the headliner was about to start her show (false alarms or not), the screams from the whole venue were deafening. This isn\u2019t my first K-pop rodeo, but even my eardrums were taken aback by the decibel jump inside the venue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When she finally takes the stage, she meets the moment head-on. The energy is reciprocal \u2013 she feeds off the crowd, they surge right back. It\u2019s a loop, a shared voltage, epitomising what NTS is really about. A mutual appreciation for the craft, style and music, no matter who you are, how many monthly listeners sit next to your name or where you\u2019ve come from.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thank you, NTS. I\u2019m now ready for the next Yves concert \u2013 with earplugs, for safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Listen to \u201cNAIL\u201d\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

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Words \u2013 Jotaro Joden<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t27 April 2026\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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Feature Interview<\/a><\/div>\n
Live Shows<\/a><\/div>\n
Music<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tpanicbaby makes art from anguish<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wonderland YVES, NTS, & BLOWN EARDRUMS Ahead of her headline show at NTS 15 last week, K-pop star Yves sits down with Wonderland to discuss the British radio station\u2019s global impact and her new EP, \u201cNAIL\u201d. 15 years. Feels like yesterday to someone, but when put into context, you\u2019d be surprised at how much has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,257],"class_list":["post-1905154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-wonderlandmagazine-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1905154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905154\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1905154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1905154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1905154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}