5 MAY — POLARIS are preparing to make their comeback on May 26, according to Dimensions Entertainment.
The Grammy-nominated sextet have been busy since releasing their last chart-topping single “Dynamite”, but fans can finally look forward to a comeback from the group. After a surprise logo teaser video was released onto YouTube, Dimensions Entertainment confirmed that Polaris will be releasing their second fully English single “Butter” later this month.
1 MAY — TITAN have released their new single album Maverick!
In their latest musical venture, the six member group declares themselves indisputable “Mavericks”. The music video that accompanies the title track sees the members face off against each other in an intense showdown.
The single album includes two other tracks. The physical album is available in three different versions: Doom, Mood and Story Book.
Track List:
1 MAY — April saw comebacks from Platinum, Candy, and Mirae and a solo debut by Hayi. In the television sector, Hyojung, Hayi, and Jace were on-trend.
COMEBACK
PLATINUM made their comeback with single album Fate Number For and dual title tracks “Really Really” and “Fool”. The group held a three-day concept showroom leading up to the comeback. “Really Really” debuted and peaked at #1 on the weekly digital Circle Chart in its first week, while “Fool” debuted and peaked at #6. “Really Really” became popular on social media, quickly trending on apps such as TikTok and Instagram for its catchy chorus, and netted five wins on music shows.
EQUINOX released Japanese studio album Bloom and single “Wildside” and debuted at #5 on the Oricon Albums Chart.
POLARIS released their first new music since hit single “Dynamite” with Japanese single “Film Out”. The track served as the ending theme for the film Signal and debuted at #1 on both the daily and weekly Oricon Singles Chart.
Making good on BC Entertainment’s promise to continue to evolve, CANDY came back with mini-album Fancy You and lead single “Fancy”. “Fancy” peaked at #3 on Circle’s weekly digital chart and the mini-album charted at #2 and #1 of the week in South Korea and Japan respectively. “Fancy” took home three music show wins.
MIRAE made her solo comeback with “Siren”, which went on to top the Circle Chart for two weeks (April 16 - 22 & April 23 - 29). “Siren” took home a grand total of six music show wins.
CATALYST made their return in Japan with album Piece and its single “Puzzle”. The album sold more than 55,000 copies in Japan and came in at #3 on the Oricon weekly Japanese albums chart.
Lily member HAYI made her solo debut this month. Previewed with pre-release single “5 Star”, Holo was released on April 29 with main single “Solo”. “Solo” quickly rose to the top of the charts as the month came to an end.
LILY became the next artist to release a song through Homebase’s FM202.3 project. “Everybody Ready” was released onto streaming sites with the music video available exclusively on the Homebase app for paying subscribers until the end of May.
TELEVISION
TVING program Transit Love came to an end in April. The program featured Lily’s HAYI and Selene’s HYOJUNG as panelists and trended several times during its run among online communities.
tvN’s Sixth Sense, also featuring HAYI, came to an end as well. The final episode earned nationwide Nielsen ratings of 3.339%, placing it second in its time slot.
FASHION & BRANDS
Gucci announced its new Korean brand ambassador: Selene’s HYOJUNG. The idol-actress starred in a new campaign film for the brand on their Korean website.
After returning to Calvin Klein as the brand’s face last year, Polaris’s TAEYONG was officially announced as Calvin Klein’s new global ambassador in April. The brand released their new global jeans and underwear campaign featuring the “icon” along with the announcement.
Selene’s MIRAE took to the runway for Louis Vuitton’s pre-fall show in Seoul.
OTHER
Equinox’s MINJUNG and Polaris’s TAEYONG both performed as part of the lineup of this year’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival. Minjung performed Saturday of the second weekend while Taeyong performed Sunday night both weekends.
TAEYONG released a cover of Daniel Caesar’s “Won’t Live Here” through his personal Soundcloud account.
27 APRIL — Selene member Mirae has been announced as a model for Louis Vuitton's Pre-Fall 2023 show.
Louis Vuitton's Pre-Fall 2023 runway show will take place on the Jamsugyo Bridge at the Hangang River in Seoul on April 29. The brand has previously revealed through the press that the director of Squid Game, which Mirae appeared in as Kang Saebyeok last fall, would be participating as a creative advisor for the show's scenography.
Mirae has previously walked the runway for Tokyo Girls Collection, Doii, and Dolce & Gabbana. She is currently promoting her solo single "Siren".
26 APRIL — CATALYST have dropped their new Japanese album Piece. Though Catalyst have been active with releases in Japan as of late, Piece is their first Japanese studio album since 2020. The album includes ten total tracks, including five Japanese versions of previously released Catalyst songs.
The album comes in three versions: a regular edition, limited edition A, and limited edition B.
17 APRIL — Candy have made their comeback after seven months with the drop of their new mini-album Fancy You.
BC Entertainment had previously teased an evolution of Candy’s sound and image to the press. “Fancy” sees Candy keep their fun and upbeat sound while appearing in more chic styling and settings than ever before in the music video.
The Fancy You mini-album includes the title track “Fancy” and five additional tracks. Candy will hold their comeback stage tomorrow on The Show.
10 APRIL — TITAN will be making their comeback in May, according to BC Entertainment.
Earlier today, BC Entertainment released a statement to the press confirming that boy group Titan will be making their comeback in May after over six months since their last comeback with “The Stealer”.
Titan will release their new mini-album Maverick on May 1.
7 APRIL — POLARIS has released their new Japanese single “Film Out”. “Film Out” is a dramatic and retrospective ballad track. The music video for the track shows the members looking back on old memories as time passes and they vanish before them.
“Film Out” has been announced as the ending theme for Japanese film Signal, which begins airing in theaters today.
5 APRIL — EQUINOX have released their new Japanese studio album Bloom. The album includes several previously released songs in addition to new tracks “Wildside”, “Marionette”, “Jackpot”, “Snap Snap”, and “Color of Love”. The album single, “Wildside”, is a building R&B track about self-discovery and self-love.
The album comes in a CD version, a CD+DVD version, a CD_Bluray version, and five individual member versions.
4 APRIL — PLATINUM have made their comeback with a new single album!
Fate Number For includes double title tracks “Really Really” and “Fool”. “Really Really” is an upbeat electronic house track that sees Platinum wanting to confess to the object of their affections. “Fool” is a more melancholic track that looks back on shortcomings in a past relationship.
Music videos were released for both tracks. “Really Really”’s video is a fun black and white clip, while “Fool” has a more reflective and illustrative video.
3 APRIL — CANDY will be embarking on their first ever world tour!
The group’s label, BC Entertainment, announced on Monday morning that the six piece girl group would be beginning their Candylights world tour following the end of promotions for their upcoming comeback with mini-album Fancy You.
The tour will begin in Seoul at the end of May at Olympic Gymnastics Arena. Dates have been announced through August in Asia and Mexico City, with more dates to come.
1 APRIL — A compilation of buzzworthy news and activities in March 2023.
COMEBACK
SELENE returned with the final chapter of their Four Seasons, Four Colors project with White Wind. The lead single “Gogobebe” was choreographed by Polaris’s MIN. The mini-album peaked at #1 on the Circle Weekly Album Chart while lead single “Gogobebe” peaked at #5 on the Circle Weekly Digital Chart. Selene took home seven music show wins for “Gogobebe”.
EQUINOX returned for the spring with The Equinox Festival 2023 - Feel My Rhythm and single “Feel My Rhythm”. Labelmate Platinum’s HAON composed and arranged the track and also participated in lyrics. Member MINJUNG wrote and composed and participated in the arrangement of side track “Bamboleo” while member SUJI wrote, composed, and participated in the arrangement of side track “In My Dreams”. The mini-album peaked at #1 on the Circle Weekly Album Chart and the single peaked at #3 on the Circle Weekly Digital Chart. “Feel My Rhythm” won once on Music Bank on March 31.
CATALYST released special track “Mixtape: On Track” a few days before rounding out the month of Gold Star Media comebacks with The Connect: Deja Vu and lead single “Jealousy” (choreography by Polaris’s MIN). The Connect: Deja Vu peaked at #2 on the Circle Weekly Album Chart and “Jealousy” peaked at #54 on the Weekly Digital Chart. “Jealousy” won once on The Show.
Outside of Korea, TITAN returned in Japan this month with the release of Breaking Dawn, which earned them the fourth position on the Oricon Weekly Album chart.
QUANTUMPHASE also dropped Japanese album Into the Quantumphase
TELEVISION
tvN began airing new variety show Sixth Sense, featuring Lily member HAYI with premiere Nielsen ratings of 3.219% nationwide, putting it first in its time slot. The program continued as first or second in its time slot for the rest of March.
The third season of Great Escape began airing on tvN this month. The show’s fixed cast, including Catalyst’s JACE, returned for the new season with 2.740% Nielsen nationwide ratings for the season three premiere.
FASHION & BRANDS
Platinum’s HAON was the cover star for the March issue of Elle Korea, clad in Chanel as the luxury brand’s Global Ambassador.
Selene member and Yumi’s Cell star HYOJUNG featured in a spring-themed pictorial for Singles Magazine.
Selene’s MIRAE was announced as the new Global Ambassador of luxury eyewear brand Gentle Monster, upgraded from her previous Asia-Pacific Ambassador status.
OTHER
Equinox member MINJUNG went viral this month when one of her parts in recent Equinox release “Feel My Rhythm” earned love from fans.
31 MARCH — Gold Star Media has confirmed that Selene member Mirae will be making her solo comeback after six months in April.
On March 31, Gold Star Media confirmed to Exclusive that Mirae has been preparing a solo single to be released after Selene’s group promotions for “Gogobebe” finish. The idol made her solo debut last year with the single “Bloom” and last promoted as a solo artist with her October hit single “Gashina”. Mirae also reportedly recently finished filming for a new Netflix drama earlier this month.
In a statement, a representative for Gold Star Media shared, “Mirae is preparing to release a a new solo single in mid-April. Further details are forthcoming. Please anticipate and support the comeback.”
30 MARCH — Following the release of Equinox’s new mini-album on March 20, member MINJUNG has recently been earning love for one of her lines in their new song “Feel My Rhythm”.
The part in question has the vocalist singing about blowing confetti as she does charming hand movements, which can be seen in both the song’s music video and in Equinox’s live music show stages. Social media has been abuzz about Minjung’s impressive visuals and her perfect fit with the part.
The moment has earned love across various social media, with compilations of the line during Equinox’s stages being uploaded and fans recreating the moment on apps such as TikTok and Instagram.
[e***]: minjung’s visuals are insane... wow. how is it possible to look so pretty?
[j***]: if minjung smiled at me like that, i would fall in love in an instant
[s***]: whenever i’m feeling down lately, i’ve been watching minjung’s ‘blow confetti’ part and i feel instantly healed
[m***]: i can’t imagine anyone else doing that part as well as minjung. it was really made for her
29 MARCH — CLOUD has returned for their first music release since the news of all members renewing their contract in February. “Fallin’ Flower” is an elegant melodic synth track. The music video shows off the best of Cloud’s flower-like visuals and soft, prince-like charms.
The physical single includes three tracks: the title track and Japanese versions of Cloud’s song “Good To Me” and “Smile Flower”. The single album can be bought in three Limited Edition versions (A, B, and C), a Regular version, and a HEART version.
28 MARCH — Selene has announced their 2023 4Season F/W concert dates!
Selene will hold their concerts in four cities across Asia. They will perform at Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul on April 14-16, Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City on June 10-11, Daegu EXCO in Daegu on June 22-23, and AsiaWorld-Arena in Hong Kong on September 23.
The concerts are a follow-up to their 2022 4Season S/S concerts held last year and, according to a Gold Star Media representative, will serve as the final stage and goodbye to their 4 Seasons, 4 Colors project that began last March.
27 MARCH — Catalyst have made their comeback with a new mini-album!
Following up after their latest comeback, which was only four months ago, Catalyst has returned with the music video for EDM dance pop track “Jealousy” and its accompanying mini-album The Connect: Dejavu. The comeback demonstrates the group’s signature intensity and power as they sing and rap about feelings of jealousy.
The Connect: Dejavu includes seven total tracks including “Jealousy”. Catalyst will reportedly perform “Crazy In Love” alongside “Jealousy” for their early music show promotions.