The group Stray Kids officially released their mini album 'Hollow' today (18th) in Japan.
The new work 'Hollow' is a mini album that Stray Kids presents in Japan after approximately three years since the release of their mini album 'CIRCUS' in June 2022, adding special significance as it is composed entirely of original Japanese tracks for the first time since their local debut. This time as well, the producing team 3RACHA, consisting of Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han from the group, participated in the production of all tracks including the title song 'Hollow', showcasing their prowess as a 'self-producing group'. The new album includes a total of five tracks, led by the title track 'Hollow', as well as 'Parade', 'Never Alone', 'just a little', and '宿命'.
The title track 'Hollow' was named by combining the English word 'Hollow', meaning 'empty', with the Korean word '홀로', which means 'lonely' or 'alone'. The song, characterized by a strong synth lead, electric guitar, and emotional piano touches, captures feelings of sudden emptiness or being hollow. Stray Kids first unveiled the stage of 'Hollow' at their Shizuoka concert, which drew a total of 220,000 audiences over four days from May 10-11 and 17-18, marking their first entry into Japanese stadiums.
Stray Kids pre-released the audio and music video for 'Hollow' a week before the official album release on the 11th. The audio dominated various local music charts, including the RecoChoku Daily Single Ranking and AWA Real-Time Rising Songs Top 100, and topped the Japan iTunes Song Chart. In addition, it ranked first in the overall iTunes Song Chart in eight overseas regions, including Mexico, Sweden, and Poland. The music video, which visually expresses the poignant lyrics with a performance of the catchy chorus and the wire action of members Hyunjin and Seungmin, topped the YouTube music video trending worldwide chart on the same day, the 11th. It also ranked fourth in the U.S. and appeared on popular rising video rankings in Japan, Brazil, and the U.K., showcasing global popularity.
Along with the album release, there's some exciting news. The song 'Parade', which occupies the second track of the album, has been selected as the theme song for the movie 'Finding the Body THE LAST NIGHT', which will be released in Japan on September 5. 'Parade' features edgy sounds based on hip-hop and overwhelming beats, and is expected to elevate the heartbeat of viewers of the looping horror genre film 'Finding the Body THE LAST NIGHT', characterized by relentless fear. It is particularly noteworthy that this is the first time Stray Kids is responsible for a movie theme song in Japan. Leader Bang Chan commented, "I'm happy because the released trailer and the song's atmosphere seem to complement each other well, enhancing the film's worldview. I hope 'Parade' receives a lot of love."
Stray Kids will appear on Fuji TV's music variety program 'Weekly Nainai Music' airing in the afternoon of the 18th to present the stage of 'Hollow' and will share stories about the new album on TBS's late-night variety show 'Yoru Noburanche'.
[Photo] Provided by JYP Entertainment.
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