The group Close Your Eyes (CLOSE YOUR EYES, 클유아) proved their stature as the "rookie of 2025."
On the 18th, according to a statement released by the U.S. music outlet Billboard, Close Your Eyes (Jeon Min-wook, Mazine Siang, Jang Yeo-jun, Kim Seong-min, Song Seung-ho, Kenshin, Seo Kyung-bae)'s debut album 'Eternalt (ETERNALT)' made the list of "The 25 Best K-pop Albums of 2025: Staff Picks (THE 25 BEST K-POP ALBUMS OF 2025: STAFF PICKS)."
Billboard praised, "Unlike most K-pop debut albums that emphasize an innocent and fresh image, Close Your Eyes chose a direction that summons early-2000s R&B sounds based on smooth harmonies and polished production."
It continued, "The album's opening ballad 'Close Your Eyes (Close Your Eyes)' showcases dreamlike harmonies, and the notably mature title track 'All the poems and novels inside me' evokes vocally strong boy bands from the Y2K era. Also, faster-tempo tracks such as the 1980s synth-sound–tinged 'How to dance in the rain' and 'Play dumb,' which lightly mixes playful rap with restrained piano production, further establish this rookie group as a new inheritor of retro-flavored K-pop," offering high praise for each track.
Close Your Eyes captured global fans with a rough charm completely different from the cheerful boyishness of their previous album through promotions for their mini album 3 'blackout,' released last November. Amid intense interest, they recorded first-week sales (sales in the week after release) of 570,000 copies, achieving both a career high and a half-million seller (more than 500,000 single-album sales), demonstrating unmatched popularity.
Moreover, with cumulative sales of 1.2 million copies across mini albums 1, 2 and 3, they expanded their global fandom relentlessly with explosive growth, shining with the presence of "the biggest trending group" in the global music market.
Riding this momentum, Close Your Eyes will hold their first solo debut concert "Beyond Your Eyes (BEYOND YOUR EYES)" in 2026, starting in Seoul in January and touring Japan with stops in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka in February to meet fans. They also signaled plans to gradually expand cities to meet more global fans.
Meanwhile, Close Your Eyes will appear at the "40th Golden Disc Awards" held at Taipei Dome on Jan. 10, 2026, and present a spectacular stage.<
[Photo] Uncore
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