If April was an interesting month for the K-Pop industry with releases from the likes of Suho, BIGBANG and MONSTA X, everyone should have their eyes – and ears – on May comebacks and debuts.
Here are all the K-pop comebacks and debuts from May 2022 you should not miss.
May 2
LE SSERAFIM FEARLESS
HYBE is debuting its first female group, LE SSERAFIM, via their sub-entertainment agency Source Music on May 2nd. LE SSERAFIM will release their first mini-album FEARLESS. The group was introduced with the tag line ‘I Am Fearless’, which is an anagram of the group’s name. The upcoming girl group is formed of six members, former IZ*ONE Miyawaki Sakura and Kim Chaewon, former “Produce 48” contestant Huh Yunjin, and debuting idols Kim Garam, Hong Eunchae, and Kazuha.
The mini-album consists of five tracks, including the title track ‘FEARLESS’.
JUNNY ‘Get Ya!’ (featuring pH-1)
JUNNY is set to make his comeback with the pre-released single ‘Get Ya!’ on May 2, after almost five months since the single ‘nostalgia’ (featuring JAY B). For this release, JUNNY has teamed up with rapper pH-1; about the song, Mauve Company has shared that the pair will harmonize together in a sensuous space with warm colours.
JUNNY and pH-1 already worked together in 2020 on the track ‘AURA’.
May 3
iKON FLASHBACK
iKON are gearing up to release their fourth mini-album, FLASHBACK. This release is iKON’s first comeback after the EP I Decide, released in February 2020. The mini-album is led by the title track ‘But You’ and consists of five tracks on the digital version and six on the physical version, including the track ‘At Ease’. The group have released the first music video teaser for ‘But You’ and announced a YouTube countdown live on May 3 at 5 pm KST, one hour before the album release.
May 4
WOODZ Colorful Trauma
WOODZ is making his comeback with the mini-album Colorful Trauma after releasing the album Only Lovers Left in October 2021. The mini-album has a total of five tracks, including the title track ‘I Hate You’ (Korean title ‘난 너 없이, literally “Without You”). WOODZ has released a highlight medley for Colorful Trauma and the music video teaser for ‘I Hate You’.
In the title track, WOODZ sings how he can keep on going on without their partner but then, in the lyrics, cries out, “How can you leave me when I still love you so much?”. In Colorful Trauma, WOOD has included various genres – hard rock, alternative rock, pop-funk – focusing more on the music and its execution than on the performances.
May 9
TXT minisode 2: Thursday’s Child
After eight months since the release of The Chaos Chapter: Fight of Escape, TXT are making a comeback with their fourth mini-album, Minisode 2: Thursday’s Child. The group shared concept photos for four themes: MESS, END, HATE and TEAR.
minisode 2: Thursday's Child – Concept Photo 'MESS'
💔 https://t.co/Nfqh0z4G4d#투모로우바이투게더 #TOMORROW_X_TOGETHER #TXT #minisode2 #Thursdays_Child pic.twitter.com/8w5hm8OYF7— BIGHIT MUSIC (@BIGHIT_MUSIC) April 22, 2022
minisode 2: Thursday's Child – Concept Photo 'END'
💔 https://t.co/Nfqh0z4G4d#투모로우바이투게더 #TOMORROW_X_TOGETHER #TXT #minisode2 #Thursdays_Child pic.twitter.com/ZZUOidREb8— BIGHIT MUSIC (@BIGHIT_MUSIC) April 24, 2022
minisode 2: Thursday's Child – Concept Photo 'HATE'
💔 https://t.co/Nfqh0z4G4d #투모로우바이투게더 #TOMORROW_X_TOGETHER #TXT #minisode2 #Thursdays_Child pic.twitter.com/oN5umUgknm— BIGHIT MUSIC (@BIGHIT_MUSIC) April 26, 2022
minisode 2: Thursday's Child – Concept Photo 'TEAR' – #수빈 (#SOOBIN)#투모로우바이투게더 #TOMORROW_X_TOGETHER #TXT #minisode2 #Thursdays_Child pic.twitter.com/QRw2dk76LY
— BIGHIT MUSIC (@BIGHIT_MUSIC) April 28, 2022
MOAs (TXT’s fandom) are anticipating a potential collaboration between TXT and American rapper Rich the Kid. In a post on WeVerse, Taehyun wrote, “#Spoiler_for_MOA TRACK 03 💰👶”. Fans have speculated that the two emojis are referring to Rich the Kid and Rich the Kid retweeted a TXT translation account’s tweet about Taehyun’s post.
Minisode 2: Thursday’s Child had already surpassed 1,447,000 pre-orders, making it TXT’s highest number of pre-orders for an album to date.
May 13
WOOSUNG MOTH
Korean American singer-songwriter WOOSUNG – also guitarist of Korean indie band The Rose – will release the all-English EP MOTH on May 13. The upcoming EP will include four tracks written and produced by WOOSUNG around the theme of moth.
WOOSUNG made his solo debut in 2019 with the EP Wolf. Moth marks his first come back since his second EP Genre, released in December 2021.
WOOSUNG has announced a US, Canada, and Europe showcase tour supporting his upcoming EP MOTH. WOOSUNG will take MOTH through the US and Europe this summer, starting in May, visiting cities like London, Berlin, and New York City. Asia dates will be announced soon.
B.I.
Rapper B.I. announced the launch of the album project Love or Loved (L.O.L) Part 1. Love or Loved (L.O.L) is labelled as a “global album project” and will consist of a single and two EPs. The first single will be released on May 13 at 1 pm KST / 12 am EDT.
coming soon pic.twitter.com/UWCWjhzCxW
— 김한빈 (@shxx131bi131) May 1, 2022
May 16
ASTRO Drive to the Starry Road
ASTRO’s third full-length album Drive to the Starry Road will drop on May 16 at 6 p.m. KST. ASTRO’s agency Fantagio has shared the album tracklist, revealing the 11 tracks and the title track, ‘Candy Sugar Pop’; Jinjin and Moonbin participated in writing the lyrics and Rocky contributed to the rap parts.
[#아스트로] 아스트로, 타이틀곡은 '캔디 슈가 팝'…자작곡 포함 높은 참여도
▶ https://t.co/qN0Tgr5SPH#NEWS #ASTRO#Drive_to_the_Starry_Road#CandySugarPop pic.twitter.com/XYeQ21XUWa— 판타지오뮤직 (@fantagiomusic_) April 28, 2022
ASTRO will start releasing concept photos starting Monday, May 2, as announced in the scheduler.
[#아스트로] '5월 컴백' 아스트로, 정규 3집 스케줄러 공개…'별빛 드라이브' 시동
▶ https://t.co/ofOJlWeGDH#NEWS #ASTRO#Drive_to_the_Starry_Road pic.twitter.com/RlhQ7TIAX3
— 판타지오뮤직 (@fantagiomusic_) April 26, 2022
HYO Deep
HYO, also known as Hyoyeon of Girls’ Generation, will release her first EP, Deep.
Deep marks the singer-turned-DJ’s first EP and will feature seven electronic tracks, including the title track ‘Deep’.
Hyoyeon has recently joined the K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment’s female supergroup GOT the beat in January. She debuted in 2007 as a member of Girls’ Generation and she is also a member of Girls’ Generation-Oh!GG since 2018. Since 2018 she has been focusing on her DJ career under the alias HYO.
May 17
ONEUS TRICKSTER
ONEUS will drop their seventh mini-album Trickster on May 17, after the success of their last comeback in November 2021 with the mini-album BLOOD MOON. The mini-album has seven tracks, including the English version of the title track ‘Bring It On’.
[#원어스]
7th Mini Album
[TRICKSTER]▪ TRACK LIST ▪
2022.05.17 6PM RELEASE✔#ONEUS #TRICKSTER pic.twitter.com/cKuQYrQBfI
— ONEUS (@official_ONEUS) April 26, 2022
May 18
AB6IX
On April 27, AB6IX have officially announced they will make a comeback with the fifth EP, A to B. AB6IX’s last release was the special album COMPLETE WITH YOU, released in January 2022.
The group also released the schedule for A to B, from May 2 fans can expect concept photos, tracklist, lyric teaser, album teaser, and more.
AB6IX (에이비식스) 5TH EP 'A to B' SCHEDULE
2022.05.18. 6PM (KST) RELEASE#AB6IX #에이비식스 #전웅 #김동현 #박우진 #이대휘 #AtoB #브랜뉴뮤직 #BRANDNEWMUSIC pic.twitter.com/sf8mCDTpgY
— AB6IX (@AB6IX) April 28, 2022
May 23
GOT7 GOT7
GOT7 officially announced the release date of their much-awaited comeback. The EP GOT7 will be released on May 23 at 6 pm KST.
After the news of their full group comeback was first reported in April by the Korean news media JoyNews24, GOT7 shared the first teaser image for the upcoming EP, GOT7, via their brand new social media channels. GOT7 opened new Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok accounts on May 6.
On April 29, Youngjae posted on Instagram Stories a photo of a coffee/food truck sent by Sublime (Youngaje and Jackson Wang’s agency) and tagged the GOT7 members. The truck shows the message, “We cheer for GOT7”. JAY B has reshaped the Stories, and BamBam also posted it on Twitter. On the same day, fans spotted the seven on a filming location.
Everything we know on GOT7 comeback.
May 24
Kang Daniel
It’s official! Kang Daniel is coming back on May 24 and he confirmed it by uploading a 90-seconds video titled “’The Story’ Trailer” on Kang’s agency (Konnect Entertainment) YouTube and social media accounts. The video gives off a mysterious atmosphere, showing Kang Daniel searching for a story.
May 27
SEVENTEEN Face the Sun
SEVENTEEN will released the full-album Face the Sun on May 27. The group started to tease the upcoming release and its concept with a series of trailers.
The tracklist for Face the Sun will be revealed on May 18, followed by an album highlight medley on May 23, and two teasers on May 24 and 25.
SEVENTEEN (세븐틴) 4th Album 'Face the Sun'
Promotion Scheduler
🌤 2022.05.27 1PM (KST)
🌤 2022.05.27 0AM (ET)#SEVENTEEN #세븐틴#FacetheSun pic.twitter.com/mndE6E1b4l— 세븐틴(SEVENTEEN) (@pledis_17) April 24, 2022
On April 15, SEVENTEEN released ‘Darl+ing’, the group’s first English single that serves as a pre-release for the upcoming album Face the Sun.
May 30
NCT DREAM Beatbox
NCT DREAM are coming back with a repackage of their second full album Glitch Mode. After the incredible success of Glitch Mode, NCT DREAM will release Beatbox on May 30.
Beatbox will feature 4 new songs, including the title track ‘Beatbox’. The other new songs are ‘마지막 인사 (To My First)’, ‘Sorry, Heart'(쏘리, 하트), ‘별 밤 (On the way)’.
NCT DREAM’s Glitch Mode was released on March 28 and surpassed 2.1 million albums sold in the first week.
May 31
VICTON Chaos
VICTON will release the EP Chaos on May 31. According to the agency IST Entertainment, Chaos will be the second part of the “Time Trilogy,” which started with Chronograph.
