Hearts2Hearts
SM Entertainment
Hearts2Hearts is bringing its breakout hit in Japan home to Korea.
The newest girl group from SM Entertainment released the Korean version of its J-pop single “ICONIC HEART” on Monday, just days after performing it live for the first time as the inaugural act of Spotify CLOSER, the streaming platform’s new initiative spotlighting rising Korean artists.
“ICONIC HEART” is a jittery, Jersey club-inspired synth-dance track with a message of togetherness. The track came accompanied with an equally bright music video taking clear inspirations from anime and manga, portraying the octet as their own kind of new-generation princess warriors. The Korean-language version arrives nearly two months after the Japanese original was released digitally this summer in August.
The original found a big audience in Japan with “ICONIC HEART” reaching No. 2 on both the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and Top Singles Sales charts, moving nearly 50,000 in single sales during its first week.
Hearts2Hearts Kicks Off Spotify CLOSER
Announced in September, Spotify launched its new CLOSER program with Hearts2Hearts as its first artist, calling the program its “stamp on who the world should be paying attention to.” The October 2 event at Seoul’s Myunghwa Live Hall combined a live performance, a talk session and an immersive space built around the group’s musical and visual world. A video podcast of the show and talk is set to follow on Spotify for fans who couldn’t attend.
Hearts2Hearts said in a statement that they “have always felt meaningful that our music reaches global listeners through Spotify” and that the group prepared different activations with Spotify “to meet our fans even more closely.”
“K-music fans are now everywhere in the world and global listeners’ interest in music born in Korea is higher than ever,” Junhyeok Han, Head of Music at Spotify Korea, also said in a statement. “Spotify has consistently supported the growth and global expansion of domestic artists. Spotify CLOSER will further strengthen these efforts, helping listeners discover artists expected to make even greater leaps and growth, and expanding opportunities for fans to engage with them in more diverse ways.”
Spotify shared that four artists will be featured on CLOSER this year. Co-ed group ALLDAY PROJECT is next, with a show at Yes24 Live Hall in Seoul on October 14 built around its newly released second EP, CRASH; two more acts have yet to be announced, with events and experiences not limited to South Korea.
Spotify standing with Hearts2Hearts aligns with their streaming numbers: debut single “The Chase,” bubblegum summer hit “STYLE” and their viral breakout hit “RUDE!” have all surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify, making Hearts2Hearts the first K-pop girl group from the 2025 class of K-pop debuts to reach the milestone.
What’s Next For Hearts2Hearts
Hearts2Hearts will bring “ICONIC HEART (Korean Ver.)” to life via Korean music shows. The single continues a fast rise for Jiwoo, Carmen, Yuha, Stella, Juun, A-na, Ian and Ye-on, who debuted in February 2025 and earned several new-artist awards including Best New Artist at the 2025 MAMA Awards and Asia Star Entertainer Awards, Rookie of the Year at the 2026 Hanteo Music Awards, the Super Rookie Award at the 2026 K-World Dream Awards and winning The Fact Music Awards’ 2025 Next Leader Award.
The momentum has carried beyond Asia with the group selling out the two dates of its Hearts2House 2026 showcase tour in North America for New York and Los Angeles this past spring. Then in June, its second mini album, Lemon Tang, sold more than half a million copies globally.
Listen to Hearts2Hearts’ “ICONIC HEART (Korean Version)” above.
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