Kep1er have been confirmed to be gearing up for their final album as a group, and are also currently in talks to extend their contracts.
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The K-pop girl group’s contracts as a temporary project are due to officially expire this year on July 3. This was a condition set by the survival show that formed Kep1er, Girls Planet 999, which stipulated that the winning line-up would embark on a two-and-a-half-year contract when the show concluded in October 2021. The group made their official debut in January 2022.
Earlier today (April 3), the band’s managing company, WAKEONE, confirmed that the nine-piece are currently amid preparations for their final album as a group. It provided a brief statement to Dispatch, per Soompi: “Kep1er is preparing for a new album. We are currently in positive discussions with each member’s agency to extend the group contract.”
While specifics about Kep1er’s next music are scarce, initial reports claimed that the band are aiming to release the record sometime in May, however that was not explicitly confirmed by WAKEONE. More details such as a title, format, release date and tracklist will be announced at a later stage.
This comes less than two months since Kep1er announced the ‘2024 Kep1ine’, which detailed plans for the group to release two new albums for the coming year – one in Japanese and the other in Korean.
Currently, Kep1er are in the lead-up to the release of their first release of the year, which is the Japanese album ‘Kep1going’ slated for release on May 8. The album will be led by title track ‘Straight Line’.
Although WAKEONE claim to be in “positive discussions” about contract renewals, these talks were revealed to have been ongoing since as early as September 2023. At the time, the company described it as “a meeting to establish a roadmap and strategy for the artists’ long-term activities”, however no updates have been publicly disclosed as of writing.
Their last domestic release was the mini-album ‘Magic Hour’, which dropped in late September 2023. The record was led by title track ‘Galileo’, and included four other B-sides: ‘The Door’, ‘Love on Lock’, ‘Tropical Light’ and ‘Tape’.
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