The “King of Ballads” Shin Seung-hoon will be back on the pop scene for the first time in four years with the release of a new mini album, “Great Wave,” on Oct. 23.

Shin, who has 10 regular and two mini albums, on Friday said he has finished the mastering of the new album.

“Shin has been exploring different genres of music lately. The ‘Great Wave’ is the final part of his experimental trilogy: ‘Radio Wave’ (2008), covering modern and alternative rock; and ‘Love O’clock’ (2009) featuring R&B,” said Ahn So-min, a spokesperson of Dorothy Music, the album distributor.

“The latest album will go from British pop to hip-hop, disco and ballad, showing the depth and width of Shin’s musical world,” she said.

The pop star, who is nowadays perhaps better known as the charismatic judge on TV audition program “Voice of Korea,” will hold a series of concerts, “2013 The Shin Seung-hoon Show ― Great Wave,” to mark the release of the album.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)