Girl group ITZY to drop new EP next month

K-pop girl group ITZY will roll out a new EP next month, to be followed by the its first-ever U.S. tour, the group’s agency said Thursday.

The five-member group will release the EP titled “Checkmate” at 1 p.m. on July 15, JYP Entertainment said.

It marks the band’s first album in about 10 months since its first full-length album “Crazy in Love” last September.

This image provided by JYP Entertainment shows detailed plans for K-pop girl group ITZY’s new EP titled “Checkmate” set to be out on July 15, 2022. (Yonhap)

ITZY will later hold its first-ever U.S. tour with the new EP, according to the agency.

After kicking off the tour in Seoul on Aug. 6-7, the band will fly to the United States for concerts in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Boston and New York until Nov. 13.

Debuting in 2019, the girl group has worked actively traveling between South Korea and Japan. It is known for hit songs such as “Dalla Dalla,” “ICY,” “Wannabe,” “Not Shy” and “In the Morning.”

It has also enjoyed popularity in the U.S., with its first LP reaching No. 11 on the Billboard 200 main albums chart after its fourth EP “Guess Who” debuted at No. 148 in April last year.