The Korea Herald

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Psy’s new release due September

By Korea Herald

Published : July 30, 2013 - 20:28

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Psy has announced plans to release a new album in September. The release date has yet to be specified.

Psy is currently in Los Angeles working on new tracks with songwriter Yoo Kun-hyung, who worked with the singer on megahits “Gangnam Style” and “Gentleman.”

“Psy really likes some of the new songs,” his agency YG Entertainment stated, adding, “This time he will not be releasing a single but an album with multiple tracks on it.” 
Psy attends the premiere of “RED 2” at the Westwood Village Theater in Los Angeles on July 11. (UPI-Yonhap News) Psy attends the premiere of “RED 2” at the Westwood Village Theater in Los Angeles on July 11. (UPI-Yonhap News)

Psy and his team are also deliberating on whether the title track should be a Korean or English song.

Psy gained worldwide popularity through his song “Gangnam Style,” the singer’s 18th K-pop single, released in July 2012. The music video was uploaded to YouTube, breaking a Guinness World Record for being the first video to hit 1 billion views on the site in December 2012.

“Gangnam Style” maintains its top spot in the “most viewed” section of YouTube with an estimated 1.7 billion views, followed by Justin Bieber’s “Baby” in second place with half the number of views.

“Gentleman” was a follow-up to “Gangnam Style” released in April 2013. Although there was skepticism as to whether Psy could become more than a one-hit wonder, “Gentleman” also broke a record the moment it hit YouTube, becoming the first video to gain 18.9 million views in the first 24 hours of being posted.

Currently the music video is the 10th-most viewed video on YouTube with 490 million views. The debut performance for the song took place on April 13 at the World Cup Stadium in northwest Seoul, with live streaming on YouTube.

Although “Gentleman” did not come close to the phenomenal success of “Gangnam Style,” the song earned Psy appearances on numerous primetime shows such as NBC’s “The Today Show,” “American Idol” and “Britain’s Got Talent.” The last televised performance of “Gentleman” was at the “MuchMusic Video Awards” on June 16. The single is still charting internationally, placing in the top 100 on England’s Singles Charts for 15 weeks and also in the U.S. Billboard’s Hot 100 for 14 consecutive weeks.

By Cha Yo-rim  (yorimcha@heraldcorp.com)