South Korean boy band Astro was trending on Twitter on Monday as the six-member group released its much-awaited third full album, Drive to the Starry Road.
K-pop stars MJ, Jinjin, Cha Eun-woo, Moon Bin, Rocky and Yoon San-ha also released the new album's single Candy Sugar Pop.
A live stream of the full album and new single took place at 7pm Korea Standard Time (2pm UAE time) on Monday, the title track's music video achieved more than 130,000 views within one hour.
It's an upbeat dance-pop track that plays on the theme of love in a whimsical fashion, enhanced by an impressive dance performance. The video features plenty of candy-themed details and bright colours.
Astro fans, which are collectively called Arohas, were going wild for the song on social media.
"So glad #ASTRO came back with a fun-funky catchy title track," wrote one fan on Twitter.
"MV [music video] surpassed 130k views in 1 hour. Keep streaming Arohas," urged a fan account.
"The Kings of the refreshing concept are back! This song is definitely a bop! Astro made me speechless once again, they never disappoint us with their music," wrote another social media user.
The band, which was formed by South Korean entertainment company Fantagio, debuted with single Hide & Seek on EP Spring Up back in 2016, when they were named by Billboard as one of the best new K-pop groups.
They've had two other full albums — 2019's All Light and 2021's All Yours.
The band also has two sub-units — Moonbin & Sanha from 2020 and more recently Jinjin & Rocky, which was announced in December — each formed by two of its members.
Astro is also preparing for coming concert Stargazer, being held at Seoul's Jamsil Indoor Stadium on May 28 and 29.
