Ateez held a media showcase to bring out a new album in Seoul Thursday.

The EP “The World Ep. 1: Movement” is the beginning of a new series, said Mingi, and aims to awake people who feel like they are repeating an endless rounds of routine.

It also is a challenge for the bandmates as they tried a new style in terms of music, said Yeosang. The seven-track EP includes focus track “Guerrilla” that features psychedelic sounds.

“To many, Ateez signifies strong performances. If we’ve been trying to approach with familiar sounds, we wanted to be bold in sounds as well this time,” said Hongjoong.

The EP sold over 1.1 million units in pre-orders, hailing the band’s first million-selling album. Hongjoong admitted that they were at the same time grateful and amazed. But they would do their best and repay fans rather than caring too much about the numbers, said the leader.

NCT Dream cancels concert due to COVID-19

NCT Dream decided to cancel its concert as Renjun tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.

He is the second member of the seven-member act to contract the virus. Mark was the first, and when the test result came out positive on Monday, label SM Entertainment announced that he will be absent from the concert that will be held in Seoul on July 29-31.

But two members missing from the stage meant that the band cannot put on the best performances at what was to be its second standalone concert In A Dream, added the company.

The septet was to hold the concert, over 2 1/2 years since its first concert. The concert was expected to draw approximately 1.6 million fans in person. The last day’s live show was to be broadcast online as well.

Twice tops Oricon chart with 4th Japanese LP

Twice put its fourth Japanese studio album at the top of Oricon daily album chart, said label JYP Entertainment on Thursday.

The LP “Celebrate” came out on Wednesday to mark its fifth anniversary since its debut in the country and headed straight to the top of the ranking. The titular track was released in advance on July 15 and was No. 1 on Line Music’s Daily Song Top 100 chart for four days in a row. The music video for the main track garnered over 15 million views on YouTube as of Thursday.

The nine-member act has appeared in a series of major music programs on Japanese television. NHK’s “Venue 101” aired a special episode featuring the band.

Separately, the band will come out with 11th EP “Between 1&2” on Aug. 26, about nine months since its third LP “Formula of Love: O+T<3.”

Fromis_9 loses Jang Gyuri

Gyuri of fromis_9 has left the group, and the band will continue as an eight-member act.

She will terminate her activities and contract as a member as of July 31, said Pledis Entertainment on Thursday. All her bandmates signed with the company in August last year, while Jang maintained her contract with their first agency, Off The Record. Pledis Entertainment, however, has been supporting her activities, both as a team member and as an individual.

She has branched into acting with the drama “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay,” and will appear in the drama “Cheer Up,” scheduled to air soon.

The girl group debuted through an audition reality show in 2017 and its most recent album, the fifth EP “from our Memento Box” topped Oricon’s daily album chart last week. It also came in first place on television music chart shows five times with the lead track “Stay This Way.”

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