ILLIT to release fifth EP 'Break Even' on Oct. 26

Girl group ILLIT will release its fifth EP “Break Even” on Oct. 26, its agency Belift Lab announced Monday. 

The album's title draws from the economic term “break-even point,” describing a state of neither profit nor loss — the album's declaration that it will no longer invest time and effort into relationships that don't reciprocate. It marks a distinctly different mood from the group's earlier songs, which tended to be more direct and open in pursuing a lover.

The comeback follows the success of “It's Me,” the title track of ILLIT's fourth EP, released in April. The techno-tinged song reached No. 2 on the Melon chart and No. 67 on the Billboard Global 200 and won four trophies on Korean music weekly shows. 

ILLIT this year has also collaborated with HYBE girl groups Le Sserafim and Katseye for “Iconic By Mistake,” which reached No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 22 on Britain's Official Singles Chart upon release in June. Last month, it released the Japanese single “I Got Your Back,” featuring Jisoo and Momoka of the group Hana, which was selected as the opening theme for a Japanese drama, “The Rules of Vacation” (translated), and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.

The group also embarked on its first-ever tour, “ILLIT Live 'Press Start,'” in March, selling out all stops in Seoul, five Japanese cities and Hong Kong. It is set to hold encore shows in Incheon in October and conclude the tour in Chiba, Japan, in December.

ILLIT is a five-member girl group consisting of Yunah, Minju, Moka, Wonhee and Iroha, formed through the 2023 JTBC survival show “R U Next?” and managed by Belift Lab, a label under HYBE. The group debuted in March 2024 with the single “Magnetic,” which made it the fastest K-pop act at the time to enter the Billboard Hot 100.

BY LEE JIAN [[email protected]]