GOT7’s 11th Anniversary Comeback with ‘WINTER HEPTAGON’; PLAVE and WEi to Release New Albums in February

K-pop groups are releasing new music at an accelerated pace. The boy group iKON, also known as GOT7, is preparing for a three-year-long comeback with their new mini-album ‘WINTER HEPTAGON’ to mark their 11th anniversary. On January 9 and 10, GOT7 unveiled individual and group concept photos for the WINTER version. Within a single day of release, the individual concept photos garnered over 300,000 retweets on Twitter and over 2 million likes on Instagram, reflecting high levels of anticipation. In these concept photos, the seven members—JAY B, Mark, Jackson, Park Jin Young, Youngjae, BamBam, and Yugyeom—adopted a uniform all-black aesthetic, creating a mysterious and sophisticated atmosphere through bold wide-angle lenses, scar makeup, and snake-patterned outfits and props. The group concept photo for the WINTER version highlighted strong teamwork and unity among the members. GOT7 is set to showcase a more mature and cohesive image with this new album, and their collaboration with Kakao Entertainment has further amplified interest in the project. The virtual boy group PLAVE will release their third EP, ‘Caligo Pt. 1’, on February 3. According to a statement released by PLAVE’s agency, Vlast, on the 10th, this new EP marks their first release in about five months since the digital single ‘Pump Up The Volume!’ in August last year. This is PLAVE’s third EP, following ‘Asterum: The Shape of Things to Come’ in August 2023 and ‘Asterum: 134-1’ in February 2024. Founded in 2021 as a special project by MBC, Vlast debuted PLAVE in March 2023. In March 2024, PLAVE became the first virtual idol to win first place on a Korean regular music show when they performed ‘Way 4 Luv’ on Mnet’s ‘Show! Music Core’. Various pre-release content is planned for this new release, including concept film images, tracklists, concept photos, highlight medleys, and music video teasers. PLAVE will also offer a preview of the physical album for the first time, with the full album dropping at 6 p.m. on February 3 via music streaming platforms. The K-pop boy group WEi will release their new mini-album ‘The Feelings’ on January 15, marking their first new music release in about 1 year and 7 months since their sixth mini-album ‘Love Pt. 3: Eternally’ in June 2023. The concept photos unveiled on January 9 and 10 depicted two versions—‘Apprehensive’ and ‘Delight’—to express the complex emotions of youth. The ‘Apprehensive’ version featured members staring intently at the camera with fierce expressions against a dreamy backdrop, symbolizing the excitement amid uncertainty. In contrast, the ‘Delight’ version conveyed the sense of liberation that comes from letting go of worries and embracing the future, shown through members smiling brightly and shouting toward the sky to represent moving forward without fear. The album covers four overall concepts—‘Turmoil’, ‘Manic’, ‘Apprehensive’, and ‘Delight’—to reflect the varied emotions of youth, ranging from confusion to excitement, frustration, to anxiety. ‘The Feelings’ contains five tracks, including the Title Track ‘NOT ENOUGH’. Member Jang Dae-hyun participated in composing and writing both the Title Track and the B-side track ‘겁이나’. The album will be available on streaming platforms at 6 p.m. on January 15, and on the same day at 8 p.m., the 2025 WEi SHOW-CON ‘The Feelings’ will be held at the Yes24 Wonderlock Hall in Seoul.