2NE1 to release new album this month

South Korean girl group 2NE1 will release a new album this month, the group's management agency said Thursday.

"We will upload the group's second full-length album, 'Crush,' on major online music services at midnight on Feb. 24," Yang Hyun-suk, chief of YG Entertainment, said in a posting on the company's official blog. The album will hit the shelves of local record stores a week later, he added.

"2NE1 released its first full-length album in September 2010, made by simply adding a few new songs to already released singles," Yang said. "It will be the first time in six years for the group to release an album full of new songs."

"Crush" has 10 songs, all of which are new except for one that is the Korean language version of a song previously released in Japan, according to Yang. Among them, three were written and composed by the band leader CL.

The four-member band is set to present the new songs for the first time at concerts in Seoul on March 1-2. (Yonhap)