[Today’s K-pop] Seventeen is back, full of love, confidence

Seventeen held a media conference in Seoul on Friday to celebrate the release of its eighth EP “Your Choice.”

The band is returning eight months after its last release and leader S.Coups thanked fans for loving and waiting for them.

The main theme of the new music is the power of love, “a story of mature love seen from Seventeen’s perspective,” said Woozi.

“In addition to the addictive sounds and strong performances, we are focusing on showing new sides,” said Seugnkwan confidently, adding that many listeners will feel how many challenges they have taken and how much thought went into it.

The bandmates were happy that they had a chance to work with producer Bang Sihyuk, the head of its agency’s parent company Hybe.

“I’ve grown up listening to music he made, and it was an honor to work with him. Besides being the chairman of the company, he is a senior songwriter and I’m grateful that he respected me as a one,” said Woozi.

The 13 members confessed that they have set their sights high, hoping to enter Billboard’s main chart.

“We’re putting our neck on the line,” said The8, while Hoshi candidly admitted that he wants the EP to top the chart.

WJSN to meet fans in person 

The members of WJSN will host a fan party in July in Seoul, said NCSoft and its entertainment arm Klap on Friday.

It will be a physical gathering for 350 fans who will be picked randomly. Fans can send in an application next week on the Universe app, a K-pop fandom application offered by Klap.

The fan meet event is called “Welcome to Usoga,” an acronym of house of WJSN in Korean, and will be held on July 10. All participants will get a range of merchandise including photo cards and a poster of the band and the event will strictly follow guidelines for COVID-19 preventive measures.

Recently, the band has been busy with individual and group activities. It launched the unit WJSN The Black last month while SeolA is scheduled to appear in an upcoming web drama. Yeonjeong appeared on an original soundtrack for a drama that came out earlier this month and Dayoung shared her cover of Justin Bieber’s “Peaches” online on Thursday.

DAY6 subunit to release new music in July 

The first subunit of DAY6, Even of Day, is returning with a second EP on July 5, label JYP Entertainment said on Friday.

The trio of Young K, Wonpil and Dowoon is releasing an EP titled “Right Through Me.” Young K and Wonpil co-wrote all of the tracks, as they did for the first EP, “The Book of Us: Gluon - Nothing Can Tear Us Apart” which was released last August. The EP consists of seven songs.

The subunit met its fans in January via an online event named “The Arcane Salon.” The fan meet was originally planned as an offline event slated for December last year but was rescheduled and changed to an online occasion due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, DAY6 as a five-piece act released its seventh EP “The Book of Us: Negentropy - Chaos Swallowed Up in Love” in April, the fourth and last installment in its “The Book of Us” series. Leader Sungjin started his mandatory military service in March, after having completed the album.

Omega X gears up for debut showcase

Boy band Omega X announced its debut showcase and the release of its debut EP for June 30 with a poster.

The members of the 11-piece act struck poses for the camera in white tops, standing out against a black background. The poster also revealed the name of the EP -- “Vamos” -- as well as the venue and date of the showcase.

This is not the first time the performers will be on stage, however. The bandmates are all former members of other groups: Hangyeom from Seven O’Clock, Junghoon, Hyuk and Kevin (then Jinwoo) from ENOi, Jaehan from Spectrum, Yechan from 1The9, Taedong from Gidongdae, Hwichan from Limitless, Sebin from Snooper, and Jehyun and Xen (then Jinwoo) from OneTeam.

Many of the members were participants on TV audition programs including “Produce 101 Season 2” and “Mix Nine.”

It took the agency about a year to form the band, and since then, Omega X has kicked off its own reality show and became faces of PR campaigns, including one for Jeju Island.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)