PRETTYMUCH aren’t here to be your typical boy band – we’re “not afraid to take risks”

PRETTYMUCH doesn’t want to do the usual “s— that a boyband should do.” They want to change things.

With a new label and the release of “Stars”, the group’s first single in over a year, PRETTYMUCH is “not afraid to take risks” by taking charge of its music and its stories.

The boys — Brandon Arreaga, Edwin Honoret, Zion Kuwonu, Nick Mara and Austin Porter — talk with PEOPLE about their upcoming EP The Smackables and their growth and brotherhood since their creation in 2016.

“We felt like we were within the confines of our last label,” Honoret, 21, tells PEOPLE. “We just said, ‘Hey, we’re going to start from scratch, we’re just going to let go of all the boundaries, all the limitations and move forward.'”

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“It’s liberating,” adds Arreaga, 21. “It’s that difference between having a job to do and doing what you love.”

And it’s clear that today, boys are doing what Exactly what they love, leading the production and writing of their new music. “Stars” — and its The midnight gospel-inspired video—features the love lyrics and choreographed moves that the group’s fans are accustomed to, but with a fresh, R&B, and mature vibe that sets the boys apart from other groups.

“The stars above are your eyes. I just wish you could see them,” they sing on the track. (“Just because we’re getting older doesn’t mean we can’t talk about love anymore,” Honoret says.)

2021 is a turning point for the group who toured with Khalid in 2018, performing their hits “Summer on You”, “Would You Mind” and “Jello”.

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5 things to know about the PRETTYMUCH group

5 things to know about the group PRETTYMUCH

“When we were doing everything before, there was definitely a part of us in there. Our emotions, our stories, our life, there was a little bit of us in there,” Porter, 23, says. “But I feel like now everything that comes out is 90 or 100 percent from us.”

“We fully believe in everything we put out. We prove ourselves wrong – I can’t speak for everyone, but I know I’ve doubted it a little at times,” he adds. “And when you take so many shots and you mess up all the time, it’s like, ‘Am I ever going to get one?’”

They’re not afraid to take their own photos – together. The key to their brotherhood? “Communication,” says Arreaga.

“We all have to be on the same page,” he says. “Also, I think to keep each other in our element, we all have healthy communication with our own family, our own friends. We take enough time for ourselves.”

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“We already know each other quite well. I think it’s just about respecting each other’s opinions and decisions and making sure everyone is respected,” adds Honoret. “We’re just five minds with different backgrounds, aesthetics, styles and musical tastes. We’re just trying to figure out what PrettyMuch, the character – if PrettyMuch were one body – what it would look like. In reality, it It’s just all of us together.”

For the boys, the upcoming EP is a sign of how they are the “anomaly” of the boy band.

“There was a lot of speculation about whether we had broken up or whether we were going to continue to give up music,” says Honoret. “And I think it’s not even about people unfollowing us or anything, it’s more about the audience saying, ‘Look, we did this. This is what we worked on and we are I will not let any speculation deteriorate the efforts we have made to work from the age of 16 until now 21, 22, 23 years old.

“We are starting to realize that the safest decision is usually the wrong one,” Kuwonu adds.

“Stars” is now available. THE The Smackables The EP arrives January 29.