Stray Kids released their third Japanese mini-album 'Hollow' on June 18, returning with their first Japanese EP in nearly three years since 'Circus' in 2022. Notably, all five tracks on the album are original Japanese songs, marking a first for the group since their debut in Japan.
Produced entirely by the group’s in-house production team 3RACHA — Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han — the new album includes 'Hollow', 'Parade', 'Never Alone', 'just a little', and '宿命'. The title track 'Hollow' combines the English word meaning "empty" and the Korean word "홀로" (alone), portraying deep feelings of isolation and emptiness through emotive piano melodies, electric guitar, and synth-heavy pop production.
Stray Kids gave fans a first look at 'Hollow' during their sold-out stadium concerts in Shizuoka, Japan in May, where they performed across four days for a total of 220,000 attendees — their first stadium shows in the country.
One week ahead of the official release, on June 11, the group pre-released the 'Hollow' single and music video. The track quickly climbed to No. 1 on several Japanese platforms, including Recochoku’s Daily Singles Ranking and AWA’s Real-Time Top 100. It also topped iTunes song charts in Japan and eight other countries, including Mexico, Sweden, and Poland. The music video, featuring dramatic choreography and wire-action scenes from Hyunjin and Seungmin, topped YouTube’s Worldwide Trending chart and entered trending lists in multiple countries, including the United States, Brazil, and the United Kingdom.
Adding to the excitement, the album’s second track 'Parade' has been selected as the theme song for the upcoming Japanese horror film 'Body Search: The Last Night', which premieres on September 5. With its intense beats and hip-hop soundscape, the track is expected to heighten tension in the movie’s looping, psychological horror narrative. This marks Stray Kids’ first time contributing a theme song for a Japanese film.
Bang Chan shared, "The mood of 'Parade' matches the film’s trailer perfectly. I think it really strengthens the movie’s atmosphere. Please give it lots of love."
To promote the album, Stray Kids are scheduled to perform 'Hollow' on Fuji TV’s "Shuukan Ninety-Nine Music" and appear on TBS’s "Yoru no Brunch" to talk about the making of the new release.
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