Tough cookies: How pop group Le Sserafim overcame internal conflict and internet trolls

The pop graveyard is full of bands who fell out, melted down and broke up.

British boyband Five split after their backstage arguments escalated into fist fights. A row about a jacket sparked All Saints deciding to part ways. Oasis took a 16-year hiatus after Liam Gallagher threw a plum at his brother Noel.

But it's rare to hear a group talk about resolving their problems. So I've a huge amount of admiration for the latest album by Korean girl group Le Sserafim.

Sitting in the middle of the tracklist is a song called Need Your Company, which details the history of friction between New York-born member Huh Yunjin, and her bandmate Kim Chaewon.

"Is friendship all just for show?" they sing over a melancholy guitar line. "I really wanna trust you... no matter how you hurt me."

"I wanted to talk about that weird, complicated mix of emotions where you want to be close to someone but it's physically hard for you to admit it," says Yunjin, on a call from Le Sserafim's record label offices in Seoul.

"There are times when you doubt your own emotions, like, 'Oh, am I the only one who wants to be this intimate? Are they not committed to this relationship?'"

Chaewon – who is absent from our interview as she recovers from a neck injury – has attributed the song's angst to communication problems, rather than personal animosity.

"Sometimes saying, 'you hurt me', can sound harsh," Yunjin explained in the album's liner notes, "but it can also mean I care enough about us that I want things to get better."

"The things that were hard for each other... There was a time we talked openly and worked through it," Chaewon explained. "And we actually got closer, to be honest."

Maybe Noel and Liam should have tried that.

The maturity it takes to confront big interpersonal problems is rare - but it's also a hallmark of Le Sserafim's take on K-pop, which mixes serious self-awareness with playful absurdity.

The band, completed by Miyawaki Sakura, Nakamura Kazuha and Hong Eunchae, debuted in 2022, with sophisticated, bass-heavy dance tracks like Antifragile and Unforgiven.

Their name is an anagram of the phrase "I'm Fearless", and those early songs channelled the girl group trope of combative, bulletproof confidence.

But their resolve was tested by a particularly nasty online hate campaign that targeted everything from their live vocals, to their appearance and even their families.

"I don't understand why I'm doing this, suffering and crying," sobbed Sakura – a pop veteran, who'd never encountered such vitriol in her previous bands, HKT48 and Iz*One.

Against that background, however, Le Sserafim became one of the world's biggest pop acts, with five Top 10 albums in the US, and more than 33,000 appearances on Spotify's global charts.

As they've matured, their music's become more quirky and adventurous.

PinkPantheress is a fan, collaborating on a remix of Crazy, and calling the band’s music “way ahead of its time”.

Katseye, who share a label with Le Sserafim, say the senior band helped when they encountered their own internet trolls.

"Yunjin, I talk to her almost every single day," says Katseye's Sophia Laforteza.

"I feel like, if there is anyone that would understand us, it's them," adds her bandmate Lara Raj.

And if you ever need a masterclass in handling criticism, you don't have to look further than Spaghetti.

A one-off single, released last October, it's a delicious takedown of Le Sserafim's haters, that asks the question: "If we're really that terrible, how come you're so obsessed?"

Dripping with sarcastic self-confidence, it has hooks within hooks, not to mention a guest verse from BTS star J-Hope.

A massive viral hit, Spaghetti was also "a turning point", says Yunjin.

"We realised how positive and energetic we are, especially on tour.

"It turns out that having fun looks really good on us.

"That helped us narrow down what we want to do for our new music, and that's how Spaghetti came along."

The song renewed Le Sserafim's spirit.

Take the album track Saki. A raucous posse rap, it uses Sakura's alter-ego as a vehicle for scurrilous rumours about the band.

"It's kind of satire," says Yunjin. "Everybody's like, 'Who the heck is Saki?' Why is everybody so obsessed with her? Is she a nepo-baby? I heard she's the rudest person. No, I've heard she stays sober and drives everyone home from parties."

"She's actually someone who never goes to parties," laughs Sakura. "She's very introverted. She likes to stay home and do little hobbies. She knits and crochets."

"I'm kind of afraid to just be 'Sakura from Le Sserafim'," says the singer.

"That's why I try to take on a lot of different hobbies, because even if you're going through hard times, when you go into the world of crochet, all those fears are brushed away."

When it comes to the crunch, however, the band are as tight-knit as Sakura's head scarves and the story of their album is one of solidarity.

Before they recorded a note, Yunjin (who co-wrote most of the songs) interviewed her bandmates about their feelings.

"She's one of our closest friends," says Kazhua. "We've been through the same things and shared a lot of different emotions. The fact that she can make that into a song for us, so we can speak through the lyrics, means a lot."

"Overall, we had the same sentiment," Yunjin recalls. "We wanted to talk about how this sisterhood helped us become resilient, so that we're able to dream and to run again."

"During our early days, fearless meant that we're free of fear, and that's why we're strong," says Sakura.

"In the era of 'Fearless 2.0', we don't deny fear but we embrace it. We use fear as fuel to go forward."

But maybe Le Sserafim's most fearless move is sampling 1990s novelty song The Macarena for their current single, Boompala.

It shouldn't work. I didn't want it to work. But, damn it, it works… Harnessing that chirrupy chorus to a thumping Latin House beat and the zen-like lyric: "You can't hold on to the clouds in the air".

For fans who've stuck with Le Sserafim through thick and thin, it's heartwarming to see them enter a new and happier phase.

Repaying that support, the band launch their second world tour this July, including their first UK show in London on 16 October.

Eunchae says it'll build on the party atmosphere of last year's EasyCrazyHot dates.

"On tour, we kept thinking, 'Maybe we can try this kind of performance or that kind of stage direction next time'. So we've added lots of those ideas. I think it's going to be a visual and aural feast."

And Yunjin hints we might even get more new music before the shows wrap up in December.

"The album's called Part 1... So you know there's going to be more coming later."

With thanks to the band’s translator, Minji Son.

Tickets for Le Sserafim’s show at the O2 Arena are on sale now.