Parallel (병렬) is a three-member fictional band formed under SM ENTERTAINMENT. The group contained three known SM Rookies; Klara Blix, Yu Changmin, and Gyo Narae (left to right). Debuting on September 24th 2020, the band faced several setbacks but managed to maintain a somewhat stable fandom. The uniqueness of the group sparked their popularity, as there two female main vocalists while their male counterpart remained mostly as their producer, composer, and background vocals. The group received little promotion with most of their releases failing to chart. As of 2022, SM Entertainment has announced that Parallel will be go on an indefinite hiatus.
THE DEBUT.
With rumors of Changmin joining NCT and both Klara and Narae joining the lineup for SM’s new girl group, all was shut down when SM Entertainment officially announced Parallel’s debut on May 19th, 2020. They debuted with their first single, “Can’t Hide It” the following September after multiple delays and postponements. While they received praise for their vocals and their self-produced debut, many believed that the band had no genuine future. Alongside being a co-ed group, the public became wary of them as more and more people viewed their debuts as disingenuous on SM’s part, earning them the nickname of “The Filler Group”. Can’t Hide It had a total of five performances during its promotional period before becoming to an abrupt end.
THE COMEBACK.
After their debut, the group has gone completely silent. Seeming bare-boned social media accounts and absence from SMTOWN due to ‘unknown illness’ raised the suspicion of band’s abandonment. It wasn’t until SM had released their quarterly report, with Parallel’s first comeback being nine months after their first single. Their Summer mini-album “Salty & Sweet” was released June 10th, 2021 with the title track “I Swear”. Despite the sudden concept change from their previous song, it was received well. Parallel began to gain real traction as both their title and one of the b-sides, “Holiday”, Klara’s solo track, had caught the general public’s attention. Holiday became the group’s first song to chart top 100 on streaming platforms. This became the longest promotional period of any of Parallel’s releases, being exactly a month and two weeks. Performed at SMTOWN in 2021, it became the event’s most viewed video pulling Klara coming into the limelight.
THE END…?
However the band’s minimal success did not last long. Parallel released their second and last mini-album “For You” on January 5th, 2022. “Galaxy” became Parallel’s unofficial goodbye as what followed was their continued silence from the members and the company. Fans expressed their concerns in forums, questioning why the rookie group had disappeared from any of future events. On May 15th 2022, SM Entertainment announced that the band will go on indefinite hiatus for unspecified reasons.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
In coming years, the members of Parallel had gone their separate ways. Changmin had terminated his contract with SM Entertainment in November 2022, temporarily leaving the industry. He returned in February 2023 and released a couple of singles such as “DIE 4 YOU”. He decided to focus on being a producer, working with groups across the music scene and even writing tracks for NCT 127 and NCT DREAM. Narae went on to pursue acting under Mystic Story, a SM Entertainment subsidiary. She has sang several OSTs and has found success of her own as an upcoming actress. Last but certainly not least, Klara Blix debuted under SM’s co-ed group RIIZE in September of 2023. After it was released that Klara would be apart of the lineup, Narae shared a photo of the three of them on her Instagram page, commemorating their brief and bittersweet time together as they went on their own paths. Til this day, the band does not speak of their time together and actively avoids references or mentions of the group, leaving their music behind to be the only evidence of Parallel ever existing.
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