Girl group aespa to release new album on May 8

Girl group aespa [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

Girl group aespa will release a new album on May 8, announced its agency SM Entertainment on Friday.

"aespa will make a comeback on May 8. Details, including [the girl group's] promotional schedule, will be unveiled soon," SM Entertainment confirmed with the Korea JoongAng Daily on Friday.

The upcoming album comes after the group’s second EP “Girls,” released in July 2022.

During the girl group’s first concert, “Synk: Hyper Line” in February, aespa performed 11 new songs — “Menagerie,” “Lips,” “2Hot4U,” “Wake up,” “Thirsty,” “I’m Unhappy,” “Don’t Blink,” “Hot Air Balloon,” “YOLO,” “Salty & Sweet” and “Till We Meet Again.” Though it was not officially announced, many have speculated that the songs revealed during the concert will be included on aespa’s upcoming album.

The quartet debuted in November 2020 with four members: Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning. It is best known for its hit songs “Black Mamba” (2020), “Next Level” (2021) and “Girls” (2022). The girl group is currently continuing its first Japanese tour, "Synk: Hyper Line in Japan," performing a total of 12 performances in four cities, including a two-day performance at Tokyo Dome, Japan's largest performance hall.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]