Cover to Rain's comeback album revealed

The cover to Asian pop sensation Rain's special album due out April 1 has been unveiled.

The record, titled "BACK TO THE BASIC," showed a close up shot of the singer and actor in medium-lengthed curly hair photographed in black and white.

Rain had announced last week that he will be returning to the K-pop scene for the first time in over a year with the album he will promote for two months.

Several online websites, including record chain Hot Tracks, shopping mall Interpark and bookstore Aladdin, started receiving advanced orders for Rain's new album today.

"We got a flood of inquiries from fans from both Korea and overseas about the album so we decided to receive advanced orders although we hadn't planned on doing so originally," an official at Rain's agency J.Tune Entertainment was quoted as saying in a press release on Monday.

Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, has been one of Asia's hottest entertainers since his debut in 2002. He gained fame throughout the region through several albums and drama appearances.

He made his Hollywood debut in the Wachowski Brothers' action flick "Speed Racer" in 2008, which led to his star turn in the martial arts movie "Ninja Assassin" last year.

Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr