GFriend set to drop 'Labyrinth: Crossroads' and 'Song of the Sirens: Apple' to mark Japanese comeback
Japanese fans of the K-pop group GFriend are in for a treat. The all-girl group from South Korea announced on Sunday, September 13, that they would be making a return to music with brand-new Japanese singles. According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, the two new tracks are scheduled to arrive in October and will be released digitally within two weeks in a row. The first single is called 'Labyrinth - Crossroads' and it will release on Wednesday, October 14, while the second, 'Song of the Sirens - Apple', will be out on Wednesday, October 21.
The new songs will be GFriend's first Japanese music since their first Japanese studio album 'Fallin' Light' which released in November last year. The songs are combined songs from previous EPs: 'Labyrinth - Crossroad' brings Japanese versions of both 'Labyrinth' and 'Crossroads' from their eighth EP 'Labyrinth' (released in February 2020). 'Song of the Sirens - Apple' will consist of Japanese versions of 'Apple' and 'Tarot Cards' from their latest extended play 'Song of the Sirens' which dropped in July in South Korea.
For those unacquainted with the band, GFriend is a six-member K-pop girl group formed by Source Music in 2015. They consist of members Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB and Umji. The group released their debut EP 'Season of Glass' in January 2015. GFriend won several female rookie awards in 2015 and steadily gained popularity since then despite being from a small company. According to YouTube, the music video of 'Glass Bead' from their debut EP ranked No. 9 in the top 10 Most Viewed K-Pop Videos Around the World in January 2015. Billboard has also named GFriend as one of the Top 5 K-Pop Artists to Watch in 2015.
The group garnered international attention after a fan shared a video that went viral in September 2015. The video showed GFriend members continuing and completing a performance of 'Me Gustas Tu' despite continuously falling on a slippery stage. The group was praised for their professionalism, especially Yuju, who fell a total of five times and suffered a twisted finger during the performance. Their debut in Japan came in 2018 when they signed to King Record, a major Japanese record company. For their Japanese audience, GFriend has become increasingly popular. Last year, they won the Best 3 New Artists award at the 33rd Japan Golden Disk Awards.
Among a multitude of nominations, the group have won numerous awards both locally and internationally. For the MTV Europe Music Awards, GFriend have won Best Korean Act in 2017 after being nominated twice in previous years. In 2018, the group won Best Female Group at the 13th Annual Soompi Awards in 2018.
