Play in this article ↓LE SSERAFIM UNFORGIVEN: A First Studio Album About Paving Your Own Way
Published:
- Category: Album guide
- Artist: LE SSERAFIM
KPOP NO1 Editorial · Sources checked November 4, 2026
"We don't care what other people think." That's the line SOURCE MUSIC put at the top of its notes for UNFORGIVEN, LE SSERAFIM's first studio album. It came out on May 1, 2023, about a year after the group's debut. The lead single, UNFORGIVEN (feat. Nile Rodgers), brought in a world-class musician as a featured artist.
The album is also a looking-back record. Six of its thirteen tracks come from the two mini albums before it. Here's how the album is built, what's new on it, and which official videos to open.
Where UNFORGIVEN fits
SOURCE MUSIC frames the album as the third step in a story. The five members, KIM CHAEWON, SAKURA, HUH YUNJIN, KAZUHA and HONG EUNCHAE, had told stories only they could tell through the two mini albums released the year before:
- In FEARLESS, they candidly expressed their desire to become the best.
- In ANTIFRAGILE, they resolved to grow and become even stronger as they met hardship.
- In UNFORGIVEN, they portray their will to pave their own way, paying no mind to what others think.
According to SOURCE MUSIC, the five members declare in song that they'll march ahead in the direction they see fit, freeing themselves from other people's standards. Official UNFORGIVEN page
The run-up started with a trailer. HYBE LABELS published UNFORGIVEN TRAILER 'Burn the Bridge' on April 10, 2023 (Korean time). Burn the Bridge is also track 7 on the album; you'll find the trailer in the table at the end.
Start with UNFORGIVEN, the lead single
The lead single sits at track 8: UNFORGIVEN (feat. Nile Rodgers). SOURCE MUSIC introduces it as a collaboration with a world-class musician, one year into the group's debut. The members explained it at the release press event at YES24 Live Hall in Seoul, as The Korea Times reported. KIM CHAEWON said UNFORGIVEN shows the group's determination to pioneer its own path without following the standard set by the world. The paper noted that it was Nile Rodgers' first collaboration with a K-pop artist. HUH YUNJIN said she was surprised, because Rodgers had made so many songs she listened to growing up, and that it still felt surreal. SAKURA said producer Bang Si-hyuk proposed sampling the main theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The Korea Times on the UNFORGIVEN press event, May 2023
Our reading of the title: going your own way even if others won't forgive you for it. That fits SOURCE MUSIC's framing of the album, though the page doesn't spell out the title.
The music video went up on HYBE LABELS on May 1, 2023.
The group's own channel posted the Dance Practice (Fix ver.) three days later, on May 4.
Official video · LE SSERAFIM / YouTube
Watch the original on YouTube ↗Our take: the title sounds like a threat, but the notes read it as freedom. Which way do you hear it?
How the album is built
The official track list makes the structure easy to see. It runs in three parts:
| Tracks | Songs | Where they come from |
|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | The World Is My Oyster (2023 Ver.), FEARLESS (2023 Ver.), Blue Flame (2023 Ver.) | 2023 versions of songs from FEARLESS |
| 4–6 | The Hydra, ANTIFRAGILE, Impurities | Songs from ANTIFRAGILE |
| 7–13 | Burn the Bridge, UNFORGIVEN (feat. Nile Rodgers), No-Return (Into the unknown), Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard's wife, FEARNOT (Between you, me and the lamppost), Flash Forward, Fire in the belly | Songs that are new on this list |
The first three titles are marked "(2023 Ver.)" on the official list. All three come from the debut mini album FEARLESS, where FEARLESS was the title track, so the album starts by revisiting where the group began. Official FEARLESS page The Hydra, ANTIFRAGILE and Impurities follow under their original titles.
If you already know FEARLESS and ANTIFRAGILE, this layout works like a recap before the new chapter. If you don't, it's an easy way to catch up in one sitting. Here's a question to bring: does the new half sound like a continuation or a break?
The new songs
Seven titles come after the recap. Two of them have their own videos.
Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard's wife got a music video on HYBE LABELS on May 23, 2023, three weeks after release. On YouTube its Korean title is 이브, 프시케 그리고 푸른 수염의 아내.
Official video · HYBE LABELS / YouTube
Watch the original on YouTube ↗The other new titles are No-Return (Into the unknown), FEARNOT (Between you, me and the lamppost), Flash Forward and Fire in the belly. FEARNOT shares its name with the group's official fan club, FEARNOT MEMBERSHIP.
SOURCE MUSIC's page doesn't describe these songs one by one, so we don't either. The song titles are worth reading as a set, though: an unknown road, no return, a fire inside. How well do they fit the album's message of paving your own way?
Archival photo: LE SSERAFIM at Music Bank, May 12, 2023, during the UNFORGIVEN promotions. Credit: K-POPIT 케이팝잇 TV10, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. Linked from Wikimedia Commons at a smaller size; no other edits by KPOP NO.1.
A first top 10
UNFORGIVEN was a chart milestone. Yonhap, reported via The Korea Times, said it debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, with 45,000 equivalent album units in the week ending May 11, 2023. Of those, 38,500 were traditional album sales. It was the group's first entry in the chart's top 10; ANTIFRAGILE had previously reached No. 14. The Korea Times on UNFORGIVEN's Billboard 200 debut, May 2023
The songs also went on tour. In June 2024, LE SSERAFIM's channel posted UNFORGIVEN (feat. Nile Rodgers) from the 2023 LE SSERAFIM TOUR 'FLAME RISES' IN SEOUL.
Official video · LE SSERAFIM / YouTube
Watch the original on YouTube ↗Official UNFORGIVEN videos
Dates are the YouTube publication dates in Korean time.
| Type | Official video | Channel | Published, KST |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trailer | UNFORGIVEN TRAILER 'Burn the Bridge' | HYBE LABELS | April 10, 2023 |
| Music video | 'UNFORGIVEN (feat. Nile Rodgers)' OFFICIAL M/V | HYBE LABELS | May 1, 2023 |
| Dance practice | 'UNFORGIVEN (feat. Nile Rodgers)' Dance Practice (Fix ver.) | LE SSERAFIM | May 4, 2023 |
| Music video | 'Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard's wife' OFFICIAL M/V | HYBE LABELS | May 23, 2023 |
| Stage cam | UNFORGIVEN @ 2023 TOUR 'FLAME RISES' IN SEOUL | LE SSERAFIM | June 23, 2024 |
Keep exploring
Want the songs this album looks back on? The ANTIFRAGILE guide covers The Hydra, ANTIFRAGILE and Impurities.
New to the group? The LE SSERAFIM starter guide introduces the five members.
The newest chapter is in the 'PUREFLOW' pt.1 guide, the second studio album.