SEOUL — OCTOBER 2026
PLAVE's fifth mini album HYPERDRIVE dropped digitally on October 12, 2026 (physical on the 13th), five tracks deep — led by the EDM-leaning title track "Star Trace," which splits the group into two rival racing crews, YATAZ and MADBAEZ, for a high-speed music video. It follows September's Japan-only digital single "Flame (feat. milet)" and arrives mid-stride through the group's first-ever world tour, KEEP IT MANIC, which opened with a two-night Incheon stadium debut before heading through Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, and Macao. This page is a working build of how PLAVE Wire tracks all of it for English-speaking PLLI — translated, sourced, and converted to whatever timezone you're reading from.
A note on the lineup: PLAVE is a five-member virtual idol group — Yejun (leader, main vocalist), Noah (lead vocalist), Bamby (vocalist, rapper), Eunho (main rapper, dancer, vocalist), and Hamin (main dancer, rapper) — performing as motion-captured 2D avatars with VLAST's technology behind the visuals. This page treats PLAVE as the five of them, full stop.
The desks
Korean and English coverage, translated and summarized — always credited back to the original outlet.
DESK 02Track-by-track reads on every era, from ASTERUM to whatever's coming next.
DESK 03Official videos only, curated and embedded — never reuploaded.
DESK 04A running clock on the KEEP IT MANIC tour's key dates, converted to your local time.
DESK 05Quick, shareable quizzes built for the group chat, not the algorithm.
DESK 06Where to buy official merch abroad, without the guesswork.
Desk 01 · News
Every dispatch below links back to its original source — this desk summarizes, it doesn't replace.
SEOUL — OCT 28
PLAVE's fifth mini album entered the US Billboard 200 at No. 31 on the chart dated Oct. 31, 114 places above their previous best of No. 145 with 'Caligo Pt. 2'. Title track 'Star Trace' also reached No. 68 on the Billboard Global 200, beating the group's earlier high of No. 138.
Summarized from Starnews Korea by PLAVE Wire staff.
Read the original source ↗TAIPEI — OCT 23
With Typhoon Champi forcing closures across 20 Taiwanese local governments including Taipei City, PLAVE's Oct. 23 KEEP IT MANIC show at Linkou Arena was postponed to Oct. 25 at 6 PM local time. The Oct. 24 show was still listed as going ahead, though the report warned it could change if closures were extended. Singer Jessica's Taipei date was also moved, and Hualien's Hallyu sound festival slid back a day.
Summarized from Korea Daily by PLAVE Wire staff.
Read the original source ↗SEOUL — OCT 13
PLAVE's fifth mini album HYPERDRIVE went on sale at 6 PM on October 12, and by midnight the sweep was complete. The title track Star Trace and the EP's four other songs filled the top five spots on Melon's TOP100, and all five also landed inside the top five on Genie and Bugs. The Kyunghyang report adds the world tour's next stops: Taipei on October 23-24, Macau from October 31 to November 1, and Los Angeles on November 14.
Summarized from Kyunghyang English by PLAVE Wire staff.
Read the original source ↗K-WIRE NETWORK — OCT 14
K-Wire Network's sister project, K-Trail Seoul, is officially live and free to use — no account, no paywall. It's an offline-ready map of real K-pop pilgrimage spots: agency HQs, concert and broadcast venues, cafes and culture stops, plus curated hotels and restaurants near the busiest clusters (Seongsu, Hongdae, Myeongdong, K-Star Road, Jamsil), now covering five cities — Seoul, Busan, Goyang, Incheon and Jeju. It installs straight to your home screen as an app (Share → Add to Home Screen on iOS, the install banner on Android/desktop), saves map areas for offline use before you lose signal, and lets you save and share individual spots. With Fanomenon set to bring a wave of international fans to Korea in December 2027, this is the time to start building your own trail.
Posted by PLAVE Wire staff.
Open K-Trail map ↗SEOUL — OCT 12–13
PLAVE's fifth mini album HYPERDRIVE released digitally at 6 PM KST on October 12, with the physical edition following on the 13th. Title track "Star Trace" is an EDM-based dance-pop lead single whose music video splits the five members into two racing teams, YATAZ and MADBAEZ, kitted out in racing suits, jackets, and goggles for a string of high-speed set pieces. The five-track EP rounds out with bossa nova cut "Kkun," guitar-driven rock song "Timely Rain in the Blue Sky," upbeat pop track "The Answer Is Yes," and R&B-pop closer "Rewind," co-written by Kenzie and KZLAB.
Summarized from Sports Kyunghyang and Bandwagon Asia by PLAVE Wire staff.
Read the original source ↗SEOUL — OCT 8
Ahead of the mini album's October 12 release, PLAVE's agency rolled out a run of concept teasers framed around a wide, high-contrast visual spectrum — the first public look at the racing imagery that would later anchor the "Star Trace" music video.
Summarized from Sports Kyunghyang by PLAVE Wire staff.
Read the original source ↗SEOUL — SEP 11
With the Incheon opening shows approaching, PLAVE's agency released individual member posters for KEEP IT MANIC — the group's first-ever world tour — building out the visual identity for a run that would go on to add Kanagawa, Kaohsiung, Bangkok, Singapore, Taipei, and Macao to the schedule, with more stops still to be announced.
Summarized from Sports Kyunghyang by PLAVE Wire staff.
Read the original source ↗INCHEON — SEP
PLAVE opened KEEP IT MANIC, its first world tour, with two nights at an Incheon stadium — the group's largest headlining shows to date, and the formal kickoff for a route that continues through Asia into November.
Summarized from allkpop by PLAVE Wire staff.
Read the original source ↗TOKYO — SEP 3
PLAVE released "Flame (feat. milet)" digitally in Japan at 6 PM JST on September 3 — a collaboration single described as carrying "blazing youth energy," and the group's most recent release before the HYPERDRIVE rollout began.
Summarized from Sports Kyunghyang by PLAVE Wire staff.
Read the original source ↗Roster check-in · Oct 2026
Leader and main vocalist, credited with a hand in the group's songwriting and lyric work across multiple eras.
Lead vocalist, carrying much of the group's melodic through-line on HYPERDRIVE's softer B-sides.
Vocalist and rapper, with a hand in choreography work for past title tracks.
Main rapper, dancer, and vocalist, rounding out the group's rap line alongside Hamin.
Main dancer and rapper, and the group's maknae-adjacent high-energy performer on the KEEP IT MANIC stage.
Desk 02 · Review
Text only, always — no reposted photos or video frames on this desk. Ratings and pull quotes are sourced from named outside critics, not written in-house.
"It's relentlessly upbeat and repaints them with a more dance-forward sound."
HYPERDRIVE (2026): PLAVE's fifth mini album, led by the racing-concept title track "Star Trace." The Bias List graded the single a B overall (8.25/10) — Hooks scored a 9, Production and Longevity both an 8, and Bias an 8 — calling out the EDM-leaning production as a confident gear-shift from the group's more atmospheric Caligo-era material, even as the review frames it as part of a steady evolution rather than a total reinvention.
The five-track EP pairs that higher-energy lead with a noticeably softer back half — a bossa nova cut, a guitar-driven rock song, and an R&B-pop closer co-written with Kenzie — giving the record a wider spread than a single-mood mini album.
Desk 03 · Screening Room
Every clip here is an official YouTube embed, verified against the group's own channel. If it isn't published there, it doesn't play on this desk.
Title track from fifth EP HYPERDRIVE, released October 12, 2026. YATAZ vs. MADBAEZ, in full racing gear.
Japan-only digital single collaboration, released September 3, 2026.
The first high-speed race footage, released ahead of the EP's October 12 drop.
Desk 04 · Signal
A running timer on the KEEP IT MANIC tour's key dates — auto-converted to your local timezone. Past dates automatically flip to a "time since" count; future dates count down to "time left."
KEEP IT MANIC Taipei, night 1 (rescheduled from Oct 23 by Typhoon Champi) Confirmed
KEEP IT MANIC opens a two-night stand at The Londoner Arena, Macao
Detected timezone: — · Tour dates: Schedule ↗
Desk 05 · Quiz
Three questions, no email required — built to demonstrate the interaction, not to collect data.
QUESTION 1 / 3
Pick a late-night activity.
QUESTION 2 / 3
Pick a concept.
QUESTION 3 / 3
Pick a feeling you want from a comeback.
RESULT
Desk 06 · Market
Links go to official storefronts. On the live site, tagged links here are where affiliate revenue would come from.
HYPERDRIVE album versions, photocards, and official merch, shipped worldwide.
Visit store ↗ Affiliate link (example)Member updates, live broadcasts, and tour recaps, straight from the group.
See official updates ↗Official tour and ticketing information for the remaining 2026 KEEP IT MANIC dates.
See tour dates ↗ Affiliate link (example)