tripleS are back – all twenty-four of them. ASSEMBLE26 <LOVE&POP> pt.1 arrived on 1 June via Modhaus, the first instalment of a multi-part project that will run through to January 2027.

The group has been building toward this since the January announcement that framed 2026 as the year tripleS would reassemble in full, with the project eventually expanding from two planned comebacks to three. Part one, subtitled "LOVE," is out now. Part two, "&," follows later this year. Part three, "POP," is a Japanese-language comeback scheduled for January 2027.

The seven-track album opens with "Sad Girls Schemin'," a track that channels the messy emotional chaos of adolescence – starting in a spiral and ending somewhere close to freedom. It’s a smart opener which sets the album's tone without spelling it out.

The title track "Baby Flower," is a song that extends the lineage tripleS have been building since "Girls Never Die" and "깨어 (Are You Alive)": music addressed directly to girls in the middle of growing up, not about them. "It's not just you," goes the message. "We all went through the same thing. Now, let's bloom like a flower."

It's a different register to where a lot of K-pop is right now. The album was made from a belief that, in an era of cynicism and attention-grabbing releases, there should still be a group willing to speak sincerely about dreams. Whether or not you buy the framing, the music backs it up. "Baby Flower," with lyrics by Jaden Jeong, is direct, warm, and a little old-fashioned in the best sense.

Elsewhere on the tracklist, "Peer" carries a double meaning – the English word referring to shared generation, and its Korean pronunciation evoking a flower in bloom. It's a detail that rewards attention, and it's representative of the care running through the album's construction. "Type of Girl," "Sleek," "I Like That," and closer "Me Myself Mode" round out the seven tracks, covering the group's range without pulling in too many directions.

The music video for "Baby Flower" was filmed across Seoul, Tokyo, Bangkok, and Taipei – an extension of the album's scope beyond Korea, reflecting tripleS's stated intent to reach girls across Asia who share the same experiences the songs describe. It's a logistical statement as much as an artistic one: this is a group thinking about who they're talking to.

When tripleS announced the project, they declared via a teaser: "Wounds, hardships, and tears. Now, lift your head up. Together, we will gather our strength and move forward toward the world." ASSEMBLE26 <LOVE&POP> pt.1 is the opening argument for that.