Hybe's newest girl group arrives with 'soultronic' sound and heavy backing, but debut recalls easy-listening formula that reshaped K-pop four years ago Tuide poses during the girl group's debut showcase for its first EP, "Tune & Play," in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, Monday. (ABD) Hybe's newest girl group Tuide already found a way to attract attention before releasing a single song.The group's Seoyeon was revealed to be the younger sister of Jihyo, leader of JYP Entertainment's Twice. The connection quickly drew attention to Tuide, the first act launched by ABD, Hybe's new subsidiary dedicated to producing girl groups.But being Hybe's newest girl group inevitably invites another comparison: NewJeans.Four years after NewJeans' arrival reshaped the K-pop girl group landscape, Tuide enters a markedly different market. Yet there are moments on its debut EP, "Tune & Play," when the musical lineage feels familiar.Tuide calls its sound "soultronic," a blend of soul and electronic music that draws from R&B, house and UK garage. The latter, in particular, creates a subtle connection with the sleek, understated production that became one of NewJeans' musical signatures.The resemblance is perhaps most apparent on "GRLS." Its UK garage rhythm and restrained bass line occupy some of the same easy-listening territory that helped distinguish NewJeans' early music, including "Attention." It feels less like direct imitation than evidence of how deeply the musical language NewJeans helped popularize has since become embedded in K-pop.Jia described Tuide's interpretation of that sound at the group's debut showcase in Gwangjin-gu, eastern Seoul, Monday."Although the specific genres of the five tracks on our debut album differ, they all share a bright, energetic yet relaxed and laid-back vibe," she said. "This coexistence of vitality and leisure is what defines Tuide's soultronic style."There are important differences.Production of "Tune & Play" was led by GroovyRoom and overseen by veteran producer Han Sung-soo, who is the founder of Pledis Entertainment, another Hybe label. NewJeans, by contrast, developed its early musical identity largely through producers 250 and FRNK under the creative direction of Ador's then-CEO Min Hee-jin."Tune & Play" also stretches beyond UK garage into R&B, house and electronic music, with "Echo" interpolating Janet Jackson's 2001 hit "All for You."Tuide is also built differently. The seven bandmates come from South Korea, the US, Britain and Japan, giving the group a more explicitly multinational makeup than the five-member NewJeans. Tuide's Seoyeon, younger sister of Twice's Jihyo (ABD) Promising start, but not grabbing 'Attention' yetPerhaps the more revealing distinction is how the two groups have been received out of the gate.All five tracks from "Tune & Play" entered Melon's Hot 100 following their release Monday, an encouraging start for a rookie group. "Sun Kiss" had climbed as high as No. 16 as of 9 a.m. Tuesday, while "GRLS" reached No. 18.It is a solid debut. But there is little yet to suggest the kind of immediate phenomenon that surrounded NewJeans.A direct chart comparison would be misleading. NewJeans debuted in 2022 under a different Melon chart system, and the Korean music market has changed considerably since. Tuide also arrived on a busy release day, competing for attention with established acts.Hybe, meanwhile, is giving its newest group considerable visibility. The "Sun Kiss" music video is being shown for a month on the massive Shinsegae Square media facade in central Seoul alongside an in-store promotional campaign — an unusually prominent rollout for a debuting act.That level of backing gives Tuide something most rookie groups do not have: room to build. Twenty-four hours of chart performance says little about where a group will stand months from now, particularly when songs can gather momentum over time.And that may be where the NewJeans comparison becomes less useful.NewJeans did not become NewJeans simply because its music was easy to listen to. Its impact came from making a combination of sound, styling and presentation feel new enough to shift what followed. Four years later, some of that musical vocabulary has become part of K-pop's mainstream language — including the territory Tuide now enters.So the question is not whether Tuide can reproduce what NewJeans did in 2022. Doing so may no longer even be possible.The real test is whether "soultronic" can develop from a label for familiar ingredients into a sound listeners immediately associate with Tuide. Its debut offers enough to make that possibility worth watching, but not yet enough to pull the group entirely out of NewJeans' shadow.For Tuide, stepping out of that shadow will require more than succeeding with a formula NewJeans helped popularize. It will require giving the next group something of Tuide's to follow.