Despite initially receiving a polarizing response from fans,the song became a success,earning the group their first entries on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK singles chart.
Background and release
In March 2025,Katseye were added to the lineups of Lollapalooza's and Wango Tango's 2025 festivals.[1][2] On April 23,Hybe X Geffen announced that the group would be releasing their first digital single,titled "Gnarly".[3] A teaser was released on April 29.[4] The song and its music video were released April 30.[5]
Performed by its songwriter Alice Longyu Gao,a pioneer of the hyperpop genre,[9] an early demo of "Gnarly" was first publicly shared by Andrew Taggart on TikTok in April 2023. Gao stated that her inspiration for the song originated from her "gnarly" experiences with boba tea and fried chicken,among other interests. The song's prominent use of "gnarly" stems from Gao's background as a non-native English speaker who was "always on the lookout to expand her vocabulary". Upon first hearing the word,Gao admitted that she had initially not known its meaning but was "amused and surprised by the excessive usage of this word by some basic bros".[10]
Lyrically,the song gravitates around the word "gnarly",which is defined by its ability to express "different meanings and connotations depending on what cultural or life context you're in",as indicated in the track's opening line:"They could describe everything with one single word."[10] Explaining the meaning of the term,Katseye member Manon stated,"Gnarly can be a good thing or a bad thing in our minds. It's kind of up for interpretation."[11]
Critical reception
"Gnarly" received polarizing responses,[12] having been described as a "sharp turn" from Katseye's previous releases.[13] In an interview with The Fader,Lara described "Gnarly" as unstructured,and acknowledged that it was a change of sound after "Touch".[11] Tetris Kelly reviewed the song for Billboard'sMusic You Should Know,describing it as "if you get it,you get it".[14]
NME's Rhian Daly contributed "Gnarly" to the magazine's Songs of the Summer list.[15]Pitchfork's Joshua Minsoo Kim described the song as "the most interesting of their career",comparing it to the work of Sophie and writing that it "provides a glimpse into what Katseye could do to live up to their promise as a global girl group."[16]
Katseye's first North American performance of the song was during their set at Wango Tango 2025.[21] On June 21,they performed "Gnarly" at the 2025 Kids' Choice Awards.[22]
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