Fans Pick XG’s “Gala” as This Week’s Favorite New Music

“Gala,” the latest single from Japanese-Korean septet XG, was selected as the favorite new release in Billboard’s fan poll.

The poll, published Friday, September 19, 2025, saw listeners choosing XG’s fashion-forward track as their top pick. Released alongside new music from artists such as Cardi B, RAYE and Miley Cyrus, “Gala” captured a commanding 65% of the vote.

“Gala” serves as a pre-release single ahead of XG’s highly anticipated debut studio album, which is scheduled for release on January 23, 2026. The group first revealed the album date in early September 2025.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, MAYA said the track draws inspiration from the glamour and spectacle of the Met Gala. “We tried so many new things, choreography wise, music wise and fashion wise, so we’re really excited to showcase that. I feel like this song is really XG,” she explained.

HARVEY reflected on the group’s artistic growth: “I think it’s fair to say that we’ve grown a lot since we first debuted, but personally I think we became a lot more fearless when it comes to challenging ourselves to new things. Especially with ‘Gala,’ I think we can see that come into play fully. We’ve challenged ourselves to try many different dances and a new sense of fashion that we haven’t done before to become bolder. In that sense, I think we’ve seen ourselves come a long way.”

COCONA added that the group experimented with multiple movement styles: “We tried voguing, break dancing and some acrobatics this time. It was very, very hard to learn, but a great experience for us, and we wanted to make ‘Gala’ feel more like a show.”

Trailing behind “Gala” in this week’s vote were Cardi B’s album Am I the Drama? (4% of the vote), followed by tracks from RAYE and Miley Cyrus.

View the final poll results below.

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