FTIsland to return to Korea with new album

Teaser image of FTIsland's 3rd mini-album "RETURN" [FNC Music]

Korean rock band FTIsland will return to the local music scene with a new album set for release later this month, revealed their agency FNC Music on Thursday.

A press release by FNC announced that FTIsland's third mini-album “RETURN” is set to hit stores on May 24, their first release in Korea in over a year from pursuing a singing career in Japan.

FNC also revealed a teaser image for the upcoming release while stating that a teaser clip is set for disclosure on May 20.

“The members are practicing hard, looking forward to the day they will meet with fans at home again,” an official at FNC was quoted as saying in the statement.

While in Japan, FTIsland saw their single album “SATISFACTION” reach No. 2 on the weekly Oricon singles chart upon its release in April and its title track selected as an ending theme song for Japanese animation “toriko” currently being aired on Fuji TV.

More recently, songs "Haruka (ハルカ)" and “Itsuka (いつか)" from FTIsland’s first regular album in Japan “FIVE TREASURE ISLAND” set for release on May 18, have been chosen as the soundtracks to Japanese drama “Muscle Girl” starring FTIsland’s lead singer Lee Hong-gi and Japanese actress Yui Ichikawa which premiered on April 19.

Backed by their success in the country, the rock quintet are now set to tour Japan in the summer, including a performance at Nippon's Budokan on July 29 which will make them the first Korean band to take to the stage of the venue.

Their "Tour 2011 Summer Messenger" will kick off in Nagoya on June 29 be followed by shows in Osaka on July 2, Tokyo on July 6, Fukuoka on July 8 and wrap up at the Budokan.

FTIsland, composed of other members Song Seung-hyun, Choi Min-han and Choi Jong-hoon released their first album "Cheerful Sensibility" in 2007 and followed it up with several singles and studio albums including "Colorful Sensibility," "Cross and Change" and most recently, "beautiful journey."

They expanded their career into Japan in 2008 with single albums “Flower Rock” and “Brand-new days" and has seen three of their singles rank within the top 10 slots of the Oricon albums chart.

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Reporter : Heidi Kim heidikim@
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