South African-founded global pop group KATSEYE opens their third EP “WILD” with “Pinky Up,” the lead single released April 9, 2026.
The rollout carried real weight before the EP even had a name. KATSEYE dropped “Pinky Up” as a standalone single one week ahead of their Coachella 2026 performance, and teasers built anticipation with artwork like the Mona Lisa depicted with her little finger raised. That kind of playful visual language matched the song’s confident, slightly mischievous attitude perfectly.
Musically, the track leans into hyperpop, techno-pop, and EDM textures, a noticeably different lane from the group’s earlier, more traditional pop-leaning work. Songwriters David Wilson, Justin Tranter, Magsy, Sorana, and Skyler Stonestreet built the record with HYBE chairman “Hitman” Bang, Dwilly, and Frants handling production. That combination gives “Pinky Up” a sharper, more electronic edge than anything on KATSEYE’s debut EP “SIS (Soft Is Strong).”
Placing “Pinky Up” as track one on “WILD” also signals intent. Rather than easing listeners into the EP, KATSEYE opens with their boldest sonic experiment yet, setting a high-energy tone before the project moves into cuts like “Hootie Frutti” and closer “That Way.”
Coachella crowds got this one first, and now the full EP carries that same electric opening statement – does the hyperpop shift work as well on record as it clearly did live?
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