[Today’s K-pop] Twice gives peek at 5th Japan LP

Twice gave fans a taste of its upcoming fifth studio album in Japan on Thursday.

It is poised to bring out LP “Dive” on July 17, about two years after its fourth LP, “Celebrate,” with which the group marked the fifth anniversary of its debut in the country. The last LP claimed No. 1 on Oricon’s daily album ranking.

In the meantime, the nonet will embark on the Japan leg of its fifth international tour later this month. It is set to hit three stadiums, in Osaka, Tokyo and Kanagawa, between July 13 and 28. It will be the first non-Japanese female act to host a standalone concert at Nissan Stadium in Kanagawa, one of the largest concert venues in the country.

TXT’s Japan single debuts atop Oricon chart

Tomorrow X Together’s Japan single “Chikai” headed straight to the top of Oricon’s daily single ranking, according to label Big Hit Music on Thursday.

The five members unveiled focus track “We’ll Never Change” on Fuji TV’s annual live show “2024 FNS Music Festival Summer” on the day of release on Wednesday. The song was chosen as a theme song for a Japanese morning show ahead of the full release of the three-track single album.

The band is running pop-up stores in Tokyo and Osaka to mark the release of the album and its first dome tour in the country. The Japan leg of its “Act: Promise” tour will begin next week at Tokyo Dome. The group left for Japan on Tuesday.

BTS’ Jimin hits UK’s Big Top 40 chart at No. 7 with solo single

Jimin of BTS landed at No. 7 on the UK’s The Official Big Top 40 chart, the only entry from a K-pop artist among this week’s top 10.

He claimed the rank on the largest radio chart show in the nation with “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band (Feat. Loco)” which came out only two days before. The single was released on June 28, with a second solo single, “Muse,” due out on July 19.

The pre-release swept music charts across the world, topping iTunes Top Songs chart in 108 regions as well as Oricon’s daily digital single ranking. On Spotify, it was streamed over 66 million times and ranked No. 4 on its Daily Top Songs Global chart.

The accompanying track video logged over 11 million views as of Thursday.

Zerobaseone best K-pop rookie in Japan

Boy band Zerobaseone logged the most sales in Japan among K-pop artists, according to the semiannual sales ranking for the first half of this year listed by Oricon.

The rookie band ranked No. 2 in the “newcomers ranking” category, only after Japanese idol group Ae!group.

It debuted in the country in March with single “Yurayura – Unmeinohana,” which went double platinum for 500,000 shipments. It broke the sales record for a debut single from an international artist and claimed the top spot on Oricon’s weekly, weekly combined and monthly single rankings.

Next month, it will join the lineup for Summersonic 2024, a major music festival in Japan, and will embark on its first international tour in September.