Boy band Mirae is back after eight months with its fourth EP “Ourturn” and lead track “Drip N’ Drop,” a stylish dance number with refreshing synth sounds.

The new EP, which came out Wednesday, signals the start of the “Boy” series by Mirae (stylized in all caps), following its “Mirae” trilogy which consisted of the boy band’s first three EPs.

Since debuting in March 2021, the seven-member boy band — with members Lee Junhyuk, Lien, Yoo Dohyun, Khael, Son Dongpyo, Park Siyoung and Jang Yubin — has been active with charismatic dance tracks like “Killa” (2021), “Splash” (2021) and “Marvelous” (2022). Their powerful performances brought Mirae a nomination for Best New Male Artist at the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards.

Since Mirae’s group name in Korean, pronounced miraesonyeon, translates to “future boys,” the band has been portraying futuristic concepts throughout its initial phases. Now the band has entered its second phase, emphasizing its youthfulness.

“Our previous ‘Mirae’ trilogy focused more on giving off a majestic image,” Yubin said during a showcase on Wednesday. “This time, with our ‘Boy’ series, we want to show a lot of our fresh, young side.”

“Ourturn” includes five futuristic time travel-inspired tracks: “Drip N’ Drop,” “Welcome To The Future,” “Daydreamin',” “What Are You Doing?” and “Falling Stars.” Members defined “Drip N’ Drop,” a track that incorporates British garage and trap sounds, as a “cosmic refreshing” — a concept that aims to be dreamy and refreshingly boyish at the same time.

“Most people think of bright blue colors when they think of something refreshing,” said Dohyun. “But we think we can also convey that feeling with dark colors too. It had a serious mood and brightness at the same time, which we thought resembled us.”

Having debuted in the midst of the pandemic, Mirae members also expressed excitement to meet fans and make their first in-person music show appearances from Thursday.

Lien, a Japanese member, added he was also excited to have his self-produced song “Daydreamin'” on the EP; a track which he added lyrics to after having already written the beat and melody years ago, in his trainee days.

Khael contributed to writing the lead track’s music and lyrics, while Junhyuk, Dohyun, Siyoung and Yubin participated in writing the lyrics for a B-side track titled “What Are You Doing?”

At the time of its debut, Mirae garnered attention for member Son Dongpyo, who was previously a member of X1 before it disbanded. X1 was a project boy band formed by the 11 finalists of Mnet’s hit audition show “Produce X 101 ”(2019).

Only 16 years old at the time, Dongpyo competed on “Produce X 101” and quickly became a fan favorite as an extremely young but talented hopeful.

He finished in sixth place and debuted as a member of X1 in August 2019, whose debut EP “Quantum Leap” sold over 524,000 copies. It was the first K-pop album by a debuting artist to sell more than half a million copies and still holds the title of highest CD sales by a debuting K-pop act.

Having a large, already-established fan base due to the audition show’s popularity, X1 held its debut showcase and concert at the Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul, one of Korea’s largest performance venues.

After X1 disbanded in 2020, Dongpyo became a member of Mirae. Many of his new bandmates were relatively high-profile trainees before their debuts: Junhyuk was also a contestant on “Produce X 101” while Khael and Siyoung competed on MBC’s idol audition show “Under Nineteen” (2018-19).

Since his debut, Donpyo has been actively appearing on television and radio shows, both alone and with his group. He is currently a host on the weekly web entertainment show “Square’s Dream” (2022) and has been announced as a co-host with comedian Lee Yong-jin on the new web show with the translated title “I Don’t Know MZ” last week.


Son Dongpyo

Date of birth: Sept. 9, 2002
Zodiac Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang
Debut: August 2019 as a member of boy band X1
Agency: DSPmedia

Son Dongpyo first became known to the public as a contestant on Mnet’s hit audition show “Produce X 101” (2019) at the age of 16. He finished in sixth place and debuted as a member of project boy band X1 the same year, which still holds the record for highest CD sales by a debuting K-pop artist. After X1 disbanded in 2020, he joined boy band Mirae in March 2021. The other Mirae members are Lee Junhyuk, Lien, Yoo Dohyun, Khael, Park Siyoung and Jang Yubin. Son is active on television and radio shows.

This information was confirmed by DSP Media on Sept. 28, 2022.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]