The pop star-making gene apparently runs in the Marsh family. Olivia Marsh, the older sister of Danielle Marsh from the K-pop girl group NJZ (formerly known as NewJeans) has made her musical debut with Meanwhile, a 5-track EP of fizzy, ’00s throwback R&B.
The mini album, released on Thursday, February 13, is a sweet little introduction to Olivia and her musical interests, and it seems aligned with air of nostalgia that perfumes the music Danielle makes in NJZ. I think my favorite out of the batch is “Strategy,” a funky number with a slinky synth-line that sounds like something taken from Timbaland’s beat book. There’s also a cute accompanying music video with Marsh hanging out on the tennis court with her pals, pining after her crush, and is filled with a bunch of turn-of-the-century paraphernalia: a cassette tape, retro video games, and a very large hat.
According to an interview with Teen Vogue, Olivia has actually been making music for a while though she started in a totally different field: scoring for films. The 24-year-old majored in Interactive Composition at the University of Melbourne, where she worked on movies, art installations and more. She eventually found her way to writing her own songs, citing Tame Impala, Kendrick Lamar and Phoebe Bridgers as inspirations as much as K-pop groups like 2NE1 and Big Bang.
Here’s hoping a collab between Danielle and Olivia is in the cards soon, especially now that NJZ has seemingly been freed from their former label ADOR and is operating independently (though their label says otherwise). Take a listen to Meanwhile, below.