Meet AtHeart, the multinational girl group adding its own flair to the K-pop world
The band open up about interpolating the classic ‘90s pop hit “Lovefool” + reflect on its first year as a group
(Photo credit: TITAN CONTENT)
“Lovefool” by The Cardigans is a ‘90s pop classic. Built on smooth electric guitar riffs, dreamy keyboard notes and a catchy chorus, the track is a song that captures the feelings of unrequited love.
Over the years, “Lovefool” has been interpolated numerous times by artists like Justin Bieber and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Now in 2026, the K-pop group AtHeart are the next ones to reinvent the pop hit with the release of its latest single “Say It.”
“It was already a song I really loved and knew well,” ARIN said in a recent interview with bunni pop.
“It was such an honour that AtHeart got the chance to remake it,” NAHYUN added.
“We worked really hard to make sure we lived up to the original and didn’t fall short of people’s expectations.”
Given the classic nature of “Lovefool”, the members of AtHeart admit they did feel pressure to do the song justice. Luckily, it was also a song many of them practiced while they were trainees.
But through “Say It,” it was important for each of them to add a fresh take on the song.
“Looking back, I was so focused on matching The Cardigans’ original vocal tone and mood that, in the end, I wasn’t able to bring much of my own colour to the song,” MICHI said.
“I realized that honouring a classic doesn’t mean making it an exact replica. It means respecting what made it special while bringing something new to it. I think that’s what makes ‘Say It’ feel both nostalgic and fresh at the same time.”
AtHeart debuted nearly a year ago on August 13, 2025. But the group has been generating buzz even before releasing new music.
The band is composed of members MICHI, ARIN, KATELYN, BOME, SEOHYEON, AURORA and NAHYUN, and is the brainchild of former SM Entertainment industry executives including Nikki Semin Han and Katie Kang. Han served as SM CEO between 2017 and 2019. Kang is a Korean entertainment veteran known for casting and developing acts like Girls Generation, SHINee, f(x) and more.
In 2023, they co-founded the entertainment agency TITAN CONTENT, a multinational music company with studios based in Seoul and Los Angeles. The goal is to break K-pop artists into the U.S. music market.
AtHeart is reflective of TITAN’s mandate, with members hailing from South Korea (NAHYUN, ARIN, BOME, SEOHYUN), the United States (MICHI is from Hawaii), Japan (AURORA) and the Philippines (KATELYN).
“Since all seven of us come from different countries and different parts of the world, I was a little worried at first about whether we could truly come together as a group,” AURORA said.
“But something I learned while training and spending time together is that no matter how different our backgrounds are, if we all share the same goal and passion, we can come together.”
(Photo credit: TITAN CONTENT)
For MICHI, the multinational nature of the group also felt like “pieces of a puzzle coming together.” With her members, she recalls their early days bonding together over food, hobbies and other shared interests.
“Talent-wise, we each bring our own strengths and charms to the table, so we complement one another and make up for what might be missing. I think that’s one of our biggest strengths,” she said.
Each of the members have also dreamed of performing on the stage since they were very young.
For SEOHYEON, she recalls watching Korean music competition shows when she was just five years old.
“I was really inspired by TWICE, who appeared on them so often at the time,” she said.
“Watching them sing and dance on stage while shining so confidently left a huge impression on me.”
Meanwhile, AURORA says she was also five when she fell in love with the second generation K-pop group KARA.
“K-pop was always by my side through my ups and downs. My room, my school locker, everything was filled with the K-pop artists I loved,” she recalled.
Growing up as a child actor, AURORA always thought she’d act for life. But the tides changed when she was 12-years-old.
“It was time to start a new chapter in my life, and since I loved dancing, singing, rapping, and of course K-pop, I started seriously thinking about becoming a K-pop idol. I don’t think there was one particular event that made me pursue this dream. It just came naturally to me.”
While AtHeart is backed by a small start-up company like TITAN, its strengths also lie in the girls’ authenticity and relatability. Much of AtHeart’s songs revolve around themes of teenage life—from first crushes, friendships to finding confidence.
AtHeart’s debut single “Plot Twist”, a dreamy synth-pop track, captures the confusion that comes when you’re crushing on someone you didn’t expect. The single found success online, with its music video garnering more than 16 million views.
Though nearly a year since debuting on the K-pop scene, the members of AtHeart note how experimenting with different genres and sounds have allowed them to feel more confident in themselves as artists. It’s evident in the band’s song “Butterfly Doors”, released this past March. The track takes on a more melodic and darker intensity than the brighter, more energetic pop heard in AtHeart’s debut single.
“I’m really excited to show everyone this confident side of us, and I hope that seeing it will inspire them too,” says KATELYN.
Unlike most K-pop groups who are based in Seoul, AtHeart works out of Los Angeles, giving the group more opportunities to perform and promote in the U.S. On July 30, the group is slated to perform at the iHeartKPOP with JoJo LIVE Series in LA.
MICHI says living and training in North America also influences the band’s artistry.
“We’re also encouraged to explore different styles of music, which is one of the reasons we’ve never felt limited to just one sound. I think that openness has become part of AtHeart’s identity.”
While AtHeart is still young in its career, it has also found a mentor in Girls Generation’s Sooyoung—who makes a cameo in the teaser for AtHeart’s debut track “Plot Twist.”
“I grew up watching [GIRLS GENERATION] on social media and learning from them. Among all the members, Sooyoung has always been my favorite, so I couldn’t believe she was standing right in front of me. I was so happy that I actually cried,” NAHYUN said.
“The advice she gave us was to always do our best and enjoy what we do.”
As AtHeart approaches its first debut anniversary in August, the members say they hope to be remembered by fans for its originality and positive energy.
The girls also have big dreams, which include performing at Coachella, headlining at Tokyo Dome and writing their own songs.
“I hope AtHeart will be known as a group that isn’t limited to just one thing, but is always willing to take on new challenges and excel in everything we do,” ARIN said.
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