K-pop girl group LOONA set for official debut in Japan next week

K-pop girl group LOONA will make its official debut in Japan with its first Japanese language songs next week, its management agency said Thursday.

The 12-member group will pre-release four songs Wednesday, including double main tracks of its upcoming Japanese album -- “Hula Hoop” and “Starseed: Kakusei” -- according to Blockberry Creative. The group‘s first Japanese album will hit shelves on Oct. 20.

K-pop producer Ryan Jhun co-composed “Hula Hoop,” while J-pop producer Akira wrote the lyrics. “Starseed: Kakusei” was penned by rising producer Kubo Naoki and female band Silent Siren‘s vocalist and guitarist Suu, both based in Japan.

“The songs will deliver freshness to listeners, showing traits of both K-pop and J-pop,” the agency said.

Since debuting in South Korea in 2018, LOONA has released a number of songs, including “PTT (Paint the Town),” “Why Not?” and “So What.”

The K-pop act made a surprise debut on the Billboard 200 chart last year with its third EP “12:00,” released in October.

The group also cracked Billboard’s competitive Pop Airplay chart with its English-language song “Star” earlier this year, becoming the second K-pop girl group to achieve the feat after BLACKPINK.

“Star” also made Mediabase‘s Top 40 chart, a key weekly table tracking airplay at radio stations in North America, for nine straight weeks, the longest streak for an all-female K-pop act. (Yonhap)