XG’s vocal trinity (Chisa, Hinata, and Juria) strip away the group’s signature hip-hop punch on “4 SEASONS,” delivering an acoustic meditation on loss that reveals the emotional range often overshadowed by their more assertive tracks.
Released December 24, 2025, as track nine on their debut album THE CORE, the song carries weight beyond its four-minute runtime.
Producer Chancellor penned this as a tribute to his late mother, transforming personal grief into a seasonal cycle of remembrance that listeners can inhabit with their own heartaches.
The production, helmed by JAKOPS and Chancellor, rests almost entirely on guitar strings and vocal layering.
No trap hi-hats. No bass drops. Just three voices navigating the uncomfortable space between memory and acceptance.
The stripped-back arrangement forces you to notice details that would vanish under heavier production: the way Chisa’s tone shifts from resigned to pleading within a single phrase, how Hinata’s delivery carries just enough nasality to suggest real tears rather than performed emotion, the smoothness of Juria’s runs that somehow avoid sounding too polished.
Chisa opens with verses that sketch the emotional terrain: “Scratching the surface, latching these words inside / It’s more than just a purpose, I know you deserve it.”
The lyrics, co-written by Paulina Cerrilla, Paige Garabito, Xansei, and SEUNGHOO alongside the producers, resist melodrama.
They work through metaphor: seasons standing in for emotional phases, weather patterns mirroring internal states.
January arrives with the disorientation of thinking “it was summer” while wind blows cold. October rushes past in a hurry. Snow falls too early. The calendar becomes a loop, seasons cycling through but never resolving the absence at their centre.
The chorus lands differently than you’d expect from a ballad about missing someone. There’s no cathartic belt, no vocal acrobatics meant to prove anything.
Instead, the three voices layer, building texture rather than volume. “Not a day that goes by without you on my mind / All the time” is more like an admission: the kind you’d make to yourself at 3am, not to an audience.
Hinata carries substantial verse work throughout, her tone sitting in that space between vulnerability and vocal control.
One Reddit critic found her delivery too nasal, claiming it disrupted the song’s flow. But that slight edge in her tone reads less as technical flaw and more as emotional honesty.
Perfect technique would ring false against lyrics about being “caught in the middle, unravel this riddle.” The song lives in messiness.
Juria’s contributions glow with the kind of natural vocal talent that makes effortlessness look easy. Her lines in verse two (“Stuck in this moment, I just need a minute, I’m fine / If only for a second, hearing you will be perfect for the night”) coast on breath control and phrasing that turns simple admissions into something affecting.
The critique that she deserves more moments to showcase her range holds merit. “4 SEASONS” uses her voice for texture and smoothness rather than fireworks. A conscious choice that serves the song’s mood even if it leaves you wanting more.
The bridge shifts the sonic palette. Chisa’s vocals get drenched in reverb, her voice bouncing off invisible walls as she admits “I don’t know why I could never sleep / I tried, but I couldn’t figure it out.”
The production mirrors being stuck inside your own head, thoughts echoing without escape. “Call me a fool ’cause who am I to blame? / So please just stay” arrives not as plea but as surrender.
Juria closes with the outro, rain imagery washing over the track: “Rain drops fall down all seasons somehow / Can’t help but think of you in the sound.”
The metaphor extends. Rain as constant companion, as memory trigger, as the thing that connects all seasons into one long ache.
“Waiting for days to come around” ends the song without resolution, because grief and longing don’t resolve. They just continue, cycling like weather patterns.
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The music video, released alongside the track, follows the members through seasonal transitions, landing on Christmas imagery.
Cosy winter aesthetics, hot chocolate weather, the kind of visual shorthand for comfort that makes the emotional content hit harder by contrast.
At four minutes thirty-six seconds, the track moves quickly despite its slow tempo. Testament to writing that trusts listeners to feel without being told what to feel.
XG built their reputation on tracks like “GALA” and “HESONOO,” songs that let their rap line dominate while vocals provided melodic anchors.
“4 SEASONS” flips that formula, giving the vocal line space to carry an entire track. It’s their first proper unit song on the album, and the choice to go fully acoustic signals confidence. They don’t need production tricks or genre fusion to hold attention.
Chancellor’s revelation that the song honours his mother reframes every line. “Missing you ever more as I’m passing these / Four seasons by” stops being abstract metaphor and becomes specific grief: the way holidays sharpen absence, how weather changes mark time passing without the person you’ve lost.
The dedication doesn’t demand you read the song through that lens, but knowing it exists adds layers to already weighty material.
“4 SEASONS” bets on simplicity. Acoustic guitar. Three voices. Honest emotion. When executed well (and here it is), that directness cuts deeper than production wizardry.
Does “4 SEASONS” rank among XG’s most essential tracks? That depends on what you value. It won’t convert anyone looking for the group’s aggressive hip-hop side.
It serves a different purpose: proof that their vocal line can anchor a track without rap verses or production flourish, that they can do vulnerable without sounding manufactured.
As a unit song, it succeeds completely. As a moment of reflection within THE CORE‘s tracklist, it provides necessary breathing room. As a showcase for Chisa, Hinata, and Juria’s vocal chemistry, it delivers.
The song doesn’t reinvent the acoustic ballad. It just executes it with care, trusting that three talented vocalists, solid writing, and genuine emotion will be enough. In an industry obsessed with “more,” that restraint feels almost revolutionary.