When it comes to K-pop, autumn is considered one of the most peculiar times for any K-pop act, especially the ones who are established, to make a comeback. It is usually better for them to come back during the spring or summer seasons while leaving the winter season alone for their sub-groups (if said K-pop acts have any) to comeback with Holiday specials.
To be frank, the autumn season is usually a prime time for entertainment agencies to debut their newest groups. Pertaining to the “Big Three” agencies, SM Entertainment did it with Red Velvet (August 1, 2014 with “Happiness”), JYP Entertainment did it with Twice (October 20, 2015 with “Like OOH-AHH), and YG Entertainment did it with Black Pink (August 8, 2016 with “Whistle” and “Boombayah”).
#???? #???? #???? #apink #wallpaper #pcwallpaper #comeback #revolution #chorong #bomi #eunji #naeun #namjoo #hayoung pic.twitter.com/GtF8OEuMra
— ???? (@soyoung001016) September 13, 2016
Still, many established K-pop groups bunk the trend and find the autumn season to be a fine time to stage their comeback. Wonder Girls and Girls’ Generation are both known for having most of their comebacks in the autumn season with their last released studio albums, Reboot and Lion Heart respectively, releasing during that time. Red Velvet even had their 2016 comeback during this season with their third extended play (EP), a mini-album titled Russian Roulette .
Now the latest K-pop group to make their 2016 comeback this autumn season will be Apink. The popular K-pop girl group created under Plan A Entertainment released numerous photo and video teasers for Pink Revolution .
Prior to any official statement made by Apink or their agency Plan A Entertainment pertaining to their comeback, the first hint possibly foreshadowing their comeback was probably on Weekly Idol . It was made known that the Apink would be the guest on the episode Jung Hyung Don would make his return. Though Apink did not release any details of their comeback at the time, Plan A Entertainment probably set them up to be guests to put them in front of the general K-pop public.
For most of 2016, Apink performed on tours or attended awards shows. They had a North American tour starting on January 5 in Vancouver, Canada, followed by shows in Dallas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Apink also had their second Japan concert tour starting with Sapporo on July 7, following up with six concerts in five cities leading up to the release of their sixth Japanese single “Summer Time” on August 3. Promotions for the song were made through release events in seven different cities: Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Tokyo, and Niigata.
Getting back to Apink’s comeback, two days after their guest appearance on Weekly Idol , they along with Plan A Entertainment announced their comeback through two videos . According to Soompi , one of the videos features teasers of all the songs on Pink Revolution . They are “Only One,” “Oh Yes,” “Boom Pow Love,” “Fairy,” “Drummer Boy,” “To. Us,” “Ding Dong,” “Catch Me,” and “When You Beckon.”
As for the other video, it is a teaser for the music video of their title track “Only One.” From what we can discern from the teaser, the upbeat song is complimented by vibrant cuts of the girls. The shade filter provides a contrast to the song and scenes but works quite well. As for the song itself, it was written by Black Eyed Pilseung, the minds behind Twice’s “Cheer Up,” Sistar’s “I Like That,” and Miss A’s “Only You.”
Apink continued the hype with more promotions of their comeback, this time with group concept images , as reported by AllKpop . The two images are different as day and night actually showing two different sides of Apink. The first image (used as the featured image) shows the girls in an outside setting surrounded by greenery. They are all wearing matching outfits consisting of light colors preferably white, pink, and light brown. In short, it is a very innocent image.
The second image expresses a bit of fierceness. It is a black and white photo in which the girls are wearing darker colors. They stand together, arm in arm, in a manner old friends usually express, but they still show confidence.
Apink will release their upcoming third studio album, Pink Revolution , this coming Monday (KST) on September 26. Until then, it is expected that Apink will release more previews and teasers including individual images and the music video for “Only One.”
[Featured Image by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images]