NEWS
ITZY‘s latest mini album, Kill My Doubt, arrived in July and marked the K-pop stars’ fifth entry on the Billboard 200 chart, peaking on the all-genre tally at No. 23. After promoting the album in the United States in recent months, the quintet sat down with Billboard News to discuss what separates their most recent release from their other previous mini albums throughout the years.
“We talk about the confidence a lot, but this time, we talked about the darkness inside so we could love ourself because we defeated the darkness inside. I think it’s a big difference from [our] previous albums,” Ryujin told host Tetris Kelly.”
“Cake” was released as the lead single from the project and features each of the group members — Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong and Yuna — enacting various larger-than-life scenarios like those featured in Netflix’s Squid Game and other shows with main character energy. (The track later peaked on Billboard’s Global Excl. U.S. chart at No. 194.)
“I love the story of the music video because it’s a little bit cute and it’s talking about the main character who never dies,” Ryujin explained.
Lia chimed in, adding, “the costumes made it very fun, it really went with our songs. And not only Squid Game … Korean dramas and Korean movies also appear, but I think for our global fans, Squid Game would be the most [recognizable].”
Elsewhere in the interview, the girls talk about attending KCON in Los Angeles, their current favorite television shows and what fun activities they got up to during their recent trip to the States.
10cc drummer Paul Burgess has announced that he is leaving the band because the demands of touring have become too much for him.
The 75-year-old musician, who also spent time performing with Jethro Tull, Camel, Magna Carta, and The Icicle Works, has chosen to walk away from the legendary rock group after more than five decades.
He shared: “After so many wonderful years with 10cc, I must admit that the rigours of touring are no longer manageable for me as I get older, and I feel it’s time to let go of the long hours in airports and endless travel on buses.
“I’m not planning to stop playing altogether. I will still perform but at a pace that feels right, working alongside old friends and a new group of fellow musicians called The Guilty Men.”
Frontman Graham Gouldman confessed that it will feel unusual to perform without his “longest-running musical associate.”
He explained: “When Paul and I first joined forces in 10cc, we never could have imagined that we’d still be at it after 30 years, let alone 52.
“Paul has been my longest musical partner and it will feel different to turn around and see another drummer, but I completely understand why he no longer wants to sit on a plane for 14 hours or wake up in a new hotel every day for weeks at a time.”
Ben Stone, who has previously played with Mike and The Mechanics and Bonnie Tyler, will be taking over on drums.
Paul, who had several runs with 10cc after joining in 1973, performed his final show with the I’m Not In Love band in Alexandria, Virginia this past September.
The group is set to continue their And Another Bloody Greatest Hits Tour in the UK next year.
