''XOXO'' is the second special single album by the South Korean band

Onewe Onewe (, stylized in all caps, ) is a South Korean alternative rock band composed of five members: Yonghoon, Harin, Kanghyun, Dongmyeong and CyA. The members originally formed under the name M.A.S 0094 (Make a Sound 0094). They released their f ...

. The album was released by RBW on August 29, 2023, and distributed by

Kakao Entertainment Kakao Entertainment Corp. (), stylized as kakao ENTERTAINMENT, is a South Korean entertainment, mass media, and publishing company founded in 2021. A subsidiary of the internet company Kakao, it was established subsequent to the merger of the la ...

. ''XOXO'' was released as a special unit album by three members of the band, Harin, Dongmyeong and

Giuk The GIUK gap (sometimes written G-I-UK) is an area in the northern Atlantic Ocean that forms a naval choke point. Its name is an acronym for ''Greenland, Iceland'', and the ''United Kingdom'', the gap being the two stretches of open ocean betwe ...

, during the

mandatory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

of members Yonghoon and Kanghyun. It consists of four tracks, including two singles, "Salty Boy" by Dongmyeong and Giuk and "Omnipresent" by Harin and Giuk, along with the instrumentals for each.

Background and release

The two singles in the album were both performed as unit stages at Onewe's concerts prior to their official release, with Dongmyeong and Giuk first performing "Salty Boy" at Onewe's ''O! NEW E!volution II Encore'' concert held in May, 2022, and Harin and Giuk performing "Omnipresent" as their unit song at the band's 2022 Christmas concert ''ONE day in the WEnter''. Giuk originally released a

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

version "Omnipresent" on his

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

under its

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

title dated May 28, 2019. In mid-2022, members Yonghoon and Kanghyun enlisted together to complete their mandatory military service. Onewe then released two albums, ''Studio We: Recording #3'' in October 2022 and ''Gravity'' in January 2023, which were prepared in advance as a complete group prior to their enlistments. The band were then to fill the remainder of the enlistment period with solo and unit activities until their return as a whole group in 2024, with Giuk then making his solo debut in April, 2023 with his first EP '' Psycho Xybernetics : Turn Over'', and Dongmyeong making his musical debut in May, 2023. On August 21, 2023, a teaser was posted announcing the release on Onewe's second special album ''XOXO'' on August 29, which was to be a unit album by the band's three active members Harin, Dongmyeong and Giuk. The full track list was announced on August 22, revealing the album's two singles: "Salty Boy" self-composed by Giuk and Dongmyeong, and "Omnipresent" self-composed by Giuk and Harin. The album was released along with a music video for the lead single "Salty Boy" on August 29 at 6pm KST, following which a performance music video for the second single "Omnipresent" was also subsequently released on August 31. While the studio release of "Salty Boy" only included the members Dongmyeong and Giuk, Harin also participated in a live performance of the song which was released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

on August 30. In addition, the studio recording of "Omnipresent" also featured a guitar solo which was recorded by Kanghyun prior to his enlistment.

Track listing

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control Onewe albums 2023 albums 2020s Korean-language albums Single albums Kakao Entertainment albums