Hello and welcome to another great edition of In Case You Missed It! This week, we saw fantastic new comebacks from artists such as Cravity, Kenshi Yonezu, woo!ah! and more! In addition, a few previously-on-hiatus artists such as SHINee’s Onew & a few members of Billlie announced their intention to return to public schedules. All of this and so much more in this week’s update to In Case You Missed It. So make sure to keep reading if you’d like to stay updated!
BY POLARIS_TAE
MONDAY
#1- To start our week, we had a new TV pilot announcement. Yoo Jae-suk will be joined by aespa’s Karina, SEVENTEEN’s Hoshi & BTOB’s Yook Sungjae alongside Lee Juck & Lee Yong-jin in the new KBS variety, ‘Synchro‘. Are you looking forward to seeing them in this new pilot variety?
TUESDAY:
#1- We had a few updates regarding idols currently on hiatus. SHINee’s Onew will be re-joining the group next month for the encore of their ‘SHINee World VI’ concert tour. In addition, it has also been shared that the group will be making a new comeback alongside the concert. This will be the idol’s first public schedule with SHINee since his 2023 health-related hiatus. Also announcing their intentions to return this week is Billlie‘s Moon Sua & Suhyeon. The pair went on hiatus in September and June of last year respectively. We can’t wait!
WEDNESDAY:
#1- Sad news for fans of NewJeans this week. It’s been shared that Hyein will be temporarily halting her activities after sustaining a fracture on her foot. We wish her a speedy recovery.
THURSDAY:
#1- A few more artists announced their intentions to return with new music this week! In May, we’ll see YOUNITE returning with their 6th EP, Another. Then in June, we’ll see comebacks from both FANTASY BOYS & TWICE’s Nayeon. Nayeon will be making her solo comeback in June during a currently unconfirmed date. Meanwhile, FANTASY BOYS will make their debut in Japan on the 19th of June with the EP, MAKE A FANTASY. But that’s not all! The group will be holding a ZEPP Tour throughout May. Which releases are you looking forward to seeing the most?
#2- We had some updates to contract negotiations on Thursday as well. On Tuesday, SM Entertainment announced that the remaining two SHINee members, Key & Minho, had renewed their contracts with the label. This comes following last week’s announcement that Onew & Taemin had officially left SM Entertainment. Moving on, and two artists signed contracts with new labels this week! NINE MUSES Kyungri & BLACKPINK’s Lisa signed contracts with LABEL SAYU & RCA Records respectively. Meanwhile, it was announced that Baek Yerin had parted ways with Blue Vinyl following her contract expiration. In addition to Baek, it’s been shared that Go Hyung-suk (AKA Cloud) & the volunteers — a band that Baek is a member of — will also be leaving the label. We wish them all the best in each of their future endeavours.
#3- SM Entertainment has shared that they will be pursuing legal action against people found to be spreading libel and malicious rumours about their artist BoA both in Korea and abroad. Do you think this will help to effectively lessen the hate that she has been on the receiving end of lately?
#4- Our final update for Thursday concerns the Japanese idol group, ARASHI. The members released a joint announcement on the STARTO ENTERTAINMENT official website declaring that the five members had officially launched a new company. What do you think this means for the group? Do you think a comeback is on the horizon? Or will they be maintaining their focus on solo activities in the near future?
FRIDAY:
#1- We had some entertainment updates on Friday. Eric Nam will be joining the cast of the upcoming ‘Avatar The Last Airbender’ animated movie as the adult voice of Aang. Meanwhile, BBGIRLS will be making an appearance at the 2024 Yuseong Hot Spring Culture Festival on the 10th of May. We can’t wait!
#2- In a strange turn of events, two idols found themselves hospitalized with the same condition. On Friday, both aespa’s Winter & BABY MONSTER’s Rami presented to the hospital with suspected collapsed lungs. The pair were each later diagnosed with pneumothorax. In this condition, air collects outside of the lung but within the pleural cavity (i.e. the chest cavity directly outside of the lung) which can apply pressure on the lung and lead to its collapse. We wish them a speedy recovery.
#3- On Friday, it was sadly announced that Superstar K2 alum, Park Boram had passed away from a suspected cardiac arrest on Thursday following a reported heavy night of drinking with friends. The soloist was reportedly discovered slumped over a sink in the bathroom by her friends, who subsequently attempted to perform CPR on the artist. She was pronounced dead at Hanyang University Hospital roughly an hour later. We send our condolences to her friends and family.
SATURDAY:
#1- On Saturday it was announced that NCT Dream’s Renjun would be taking a break for health-related reasons. We hope to see him back to full health soon.
SUNDAY:
#1- There was no relevant news on Sunday.
BY POLARIS_TAE
#1. WOO!AH! – BLUSH
It’s been a hot minute since we’ve reviewed woo!ah! for In Case You Missed it! A little over three years, in fact, since the release of ‘Bad Girl’. A song that initially drew me into the group with its punchy chorus and teen-crush concept. It was following the initial release of ‘Bad Girl’, that I found myself almost getting into the group. In my initial review of Qurious, I shared that their follow-up to their somewhat messy-sounding debut of ‘woo!ah!’ had blown me away in the musical department. Sharing my hopes that they would continue with the current momentum and teen crush musical style of ‘Bad Girl’ in order to successfully carve out a niche in the ever-expanding Kpop market that only really Weki Meki & ITZY had managed to occupy at that point in their careers. Sadly, I was met with disappointment from the group yet again, as their management chose to give them, not just one, but two extremely grating songs in the form of ‘Purple’ & — to a lesser extent — ‘Catch the Stars’. It was only during their 2022 release, ‘Danger’ that they managed to get anywhere close to their initial ‘Bad Girl’ sound. This week the group made their return with their latest digital single, ‘Blush’. Their first release in over a year since 2022’s Pit-a-Pat single album and its accompanying lead single, ‘Rollercoaster’. The group has once again diverged from the teen crush that I enjoy the most from the group. However, unlike their early mistakes, the group has managed to deliver an almost dreamlike hip-hop-inspired EDM single with ‘Blush’. Like most of the group’s previous releases, ‘Blush’ isn’t the most vocally challenging single in their roster and instead takes inspiration from the more recent NewJeans-esque Y2K dreamlike aesthetic. As seen through the single’s retro and dreamy atmosphere. Overall, ‘while I will probably always be disappointed in the group’s direction post-‘Bad Girl’, I feel that ‘Blush’ is a step in the right direction. While very unlike their more recent singles of ‘Roller Coaster’ & ‘Danger’, it has instead allowed the group to experiment with a new sound to keep their very small selection of a discography updated and fresh! Despite my criticisms towards the group — and the management team behind them — I’m overall satisfied with this release, and looking forward to seeing what the group returns with for their next release too. Though hopefully, we won’t have to wait as long for their next release.
#2. KENSHI YONEZU – SAYONARA, MATA ITSUKA
The last time we reviewed Kenshi Yonezu was for the 2023 yearly wrap-up with his Hayao Miyazaki-commissioned work, ‘Spinning Globe’. Which acted as the OST for the director’s most recent work — and first feature-length film in over a decade — The Boy and the Heron. The soloist got his start on the Nico Nico Douga video-sharing service as the Vocaloid producer, Hachi, with chaotic masterpieces such as ‘MATORYOSHKA’ & ‘Donut Hole’. While they seemingly sound chaotic at first listen, his releases under Hachi are actually quite purposefully chaotic. Yonezu grew up with a low socio-economic background and spent his youth feeling like he didn’t belong anywhere. It was only later in life — during his early 20s — that he was diagnosed with autism and was able to successfully understand why he had struggled so much with building relationships throughout his childhood. In an interview, the Japanese singer stated that he was never able to “properly converse with people” and that the way that he saw his classmates “wasn’t even like ‘foreigners’, but as ‘animals‘” instead. Thus displaying signs of his neurodivergence throughout his teenage years prior to his late diagnosis. The genre-hopping Japanese soloist made his return this week with yet another soundtrack. This time, with ‘Sayonara, Mata Itsuka‘, the theme song for the recently premiered NHK drama, ‘Tora ni Tsubasa’. A WWI-era drama that tells the story of Inotsume Torako and her journey to become a judge within the male-dominated legal profession. This release, like last year’s ‘LADY’ & ‘Shinigami’ is an upbeat and jazzy single that encapsulates the auteur’s approach to both singing and songwriting perfectly. Its accompanying music video only further heightens this through its unique structure and composition. One of my favourite techniques used within the music video has to be the technique of rewinding the footage as a storytelling method. Overall, ‘Sayonara, Mata Itsuka’ is a fantastic release from an artist that I can personally name as one of my favourites, and I can’t wait to see what he comes back with later. Hopefully, next time it’ll be a new album!
#3. XG – UNDEFEATED
XG is an internationally focused girl group produced by DMTN’s Simon — now going by the name of Jakops — who also happens to be the CEO of their label, Xgalx. The group are back this week with a new single, ‘Undefeated‘. a sponsored K/DA-esque collaboration between XG & Riot Games, the studio behind League of Legends and VALORANT for the upcoming VALORANT Champions Tour 2024: Pacific (VCT Pacific). The VALORANT Champions Tour 2024: Pacific Kickoff is set to begin on the 17th of February in Seoul, South Korea with Park Jin-young (yes, that JYP) set to participate as a broadcast commentator for the Korean broadcast of the league. The 2024 VALORANT Champions Tour 2024: Pacific will run from April throughout the year until early July. With this release, XG has employed the classic hype-music strategy of a heavy-handed bassline alongside their signature dreamy synthesizer sound to allow their unique personalities to shine through what would otherwise be a simple sponsored single. Overall, it’s a great release, and we’re looking forward to seeing the group return again in May.
#4. CRAVITY – C’EST LA VIE
Children’s Day came early for Cravity this week when the Starship group got kidnapped by literal children in the music video for ‘C’est La Vie’ on Tuesday. Their follow-up single to March’s ‘Love or Die’ off their 7th EP, Evershine. Through this release, the Cravity members ask us to abandon our past inhibitions and responsibilities in order to embrace the carefree attitude of ‘C’est La Vie’ (lit. meaning: that’s life; that’s how things happen). Now as for the b-sides, the bubble-gum pop anthem of ‘Cherry Blossom’ & the sensual ‘Worst Thriller’ were the strongest additions with this release, while their title track, ‘Love or Die’ — whose run-time is somewhat on the short side — is probably the most solid title track they’ve had for a while, and I can’t wait to see what they come back with next!
#5.MOMOIRO CLOVER Z – HEROES
Momoiro Clover Z is a 4-member Japanese idol group under the label of Stardust Promotions. Who is also known for groups such as TEAM SHACHI, Batten Girls, M!LK & Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku. The quartet returned on Sunday this week with ‘Heroes‘, the lead single off their upcoming 15-track album, Idola, which is set to release in early May. If I had to personally describe Momoclo’s music — especially when compared to other 3B Junior groups such as TEAM SHACHI — it would be a bright and upbeat style of music that makes you feel like you’re at a festival and, as always, this release showcases this exact style! Presenting a bright and heroic release that showcases each of the members’ distinct personalities and vocal talent which the music video further develops by presenting a visually stunning atmosphere throughout its music video. Telling the story of a village that is plagued by a flower-stealing monster. The Momoiro Clover Z members must overcome this monster by working with each other to defeat it through the power of friendship! Overall, it’s a great release. It’s just a shame that we have to wait so long for their new album to drop.
BY POLARIS_TAE
#1- MelOn’s longest charting single and BTS’ mega smash-hit ‘Spring Day‘ found its way back in the top 50 of the MelOn weekly chart this week! The single rose a whopping 8 positions to #45. Becoming the single’s first top-50 placement in three years. Congrats!
BY POLARIS_TAE
For this week’s H+ Station Chart update! ILLIT took the #1 slot with ‘Magnetic’, while LE SSERAFIM’s ‘EASY’ made its return at #7 & BoA ‘Emptiness’ made its debut at #10. Make sure to check out our chart to see where all of your favourite songs ranked!
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This brings us to the end of In Case You Missed It for another week! Was there anything in particular that interested you this week? What about comebacks? Did you listen to any of the featured releases, and if so, which one was your favourite? As always, our staff teams — Social Media – Press, Blog Team & Awards — are currently on the lookout for new team members to join our teams. So if any of these positions interest you, then feel free to apply through the linked recruitments above. Our In Case You Missed It team is still on the lookout for a dedicated Kpop music reviewer. So why not consider pitching in? If you’re not aware, we are active on both Twitter — now known as x.com — and Instagram, so feel free to follow us there for more fantastic updates! We’re still accepting feature and promo requests via our feature thread here. Let us know what you enjoyed the most this week in the comments below, and we’ll see you again next week for another great update!
GFX BY @chomp chomp
FEATURED ARTISTS Wooyeon (woo!ah!), Key, Ayaka Sasaki (Momoiro Clover Z), Hyeongjun (Cravity), Jurin (XG)
