[Today’s K-pop] EPEX makes confident debut

Boy band EPEX held an online showcase event to announce its debut on Tuesday.

The name of the band means “the gathering of eight youths reaches eight different zeniths,” explained leader Wish. He was under enormous pressure, he admitted, but felt confident that the band would live up to expectations because he and his seven bandmates had prepared with all their might.

Its first EP, “Bipolar Pt. 1 Prelude of Anxiety,” hails the beginning of its narrative and sings of the worries felt by all young people, including the performers.

They had talked about their own anxieties with the songwriters, who based the new music on them.

“I could be frank as I loved that the narrative is based on our stories,” said Keum Donghyun. He acknowledged that there had been many proposals after “ProduceX101” but he’d chosen to concentrate on preparing for the band’s debut. The audition show made Keum famous, but he was robbed of his chance due to vote tampering by producers.

NCT Dream to release repacked 1st LP

NCT Dream hopes to boost the success of its first studio album, “Hot Sauce,” with a repack, said S.M. Entertainment on Tuesday.

Titled “Hello Future,” the repackage consists of the title track, three new songs, “Life Is Still Going On” and “Bungee,” as well as 10 songs from the LP.

The seven-piece act sold over 2 million copies within 16 days of the album’s release in May. The LP swept major charts at home and abroad, topping iTunes’ top album charts in 37 regions.

The band also is putting out two remixes of the track “Hot Sauce” on June 10. It has teamed up with DJ/producers Hitchhiker and Minimonster and the singles will be released through ScreaM Records, an EDM label under S.M. Entertainment.

“Hello Future” will be fully unveiled June 28.

IZ*ONE’s Kang Hyewon publishes photo book 

Kang Hyewon of now-disbanded IZ*ONE took her first steps out on her own with a photo book.

Her agency, 8D Entertainment, shared teaser images from the book, titled “Beauty Cut,” Tuesday. In the two photographs, the idol shows off her fresh and innocent look.

It captures her “most beautiful moments from the loveliest age” and shows a new side of her as she stands at the starting point of her career as an artist, said the agency. The project was organized by an arts and fashion magazine director and the photos were taken by two established photographers.

She opened her Instagram account in May with a black-and-white profile photo along with a heart emoji and has posted a series of selfies.

IZ*ONE was formed through an audition program in 2018 and disbanded after 2 1/2 years at the end of April -- after controversy about rigging votes in the program -- as the contract expired and the 12 members have gone their separate ways.

Loona to meet fans onstage after 2 years

Loona will host an online fan meet event and a digital concert, taking to the stage as a group after almost two years, said agency Blockberry Creative on Tuesday.

The 12-piece girl group is releasing a new EP called “&” and will meet fans June 27 at an event titled “Loona Premier Greeting - [D&D].” D&D stands for Destiny and Discovery, the band’s new slogan, and is in line with the theme of its previous EP. By playing together the artists discovered their destiny -- to meet Orbit, their official fandom.

The next day they will perform onstage for an online concert, “Loona On WAave [LoonaTheWorld: &].” It will be Haseul’s first time joining the band since January 2020, when she suspended all activities for health reasons. Despite her absence Loona has done well, entering the Billboard 200 and topping iTunes album charts in 51 regions with last year’s hits “#” and “12:00.”

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