Six first-time stages on M Countdown, and Music Bank is off for a second week — October 1 news briefing

Today in one line: This is the week Music Bank and Show! Music Core take a break for Asian Games coverage. M Countdown returns after two weeks tonight at 6 PM KST with 16 acts, CRAVITY and CLOSE YOUR EYES, who released new songs yesterday, among them.

New songs out last night

1. CRAVITY, ninth mini album 'sonorous' with title track 'LOUDER' (September 30, 6 PM KST)

Their agency describes 'LOUDER' as an electronic dance track with a dreamy, dark atmosphere. Five members co-wrote the lyrics: Wonjin, Allen, Serim, Hyeongjun and Taeyoung. The seven tracks also include songs made by members: Serim's 'LOVE ME', Woobin's 'Fantasy' and Taeyoung's 'Odd One Out'. An hour after the release, they held a 'Release Night' with their fan club, LUVITY.
Sources: TenAsia · MHN

2. CLOSE YOUR EYES, fourth mini album '256th Note' with title track 'Drop That!' (September 30, 6 PM KST)

'Drop That!' samples Yoon Si-nae's 1979 song '이 밤을 즐겁게' ('Enjoy This Night') and rebuilds it in the style of '90s street hip-hop. It's their first comeback in about five months, and the album holds seven songs in all, including 'Open Your Eyes', released ahead of it on September 18. We'll post a separate rundown of the details hidden in this song today at 1 PM KST.
Sources: Herald Muse · Star News

Today

3. M Countdown at 6 PM KST (live on Mnet)

The stages Mnet's official preview bills as first performances ('최초 공개') are BOYNEXTDOOR ('ANIMAL'), NiziU ('Sour Grapes'), ALLDAY PROJECT ('CRASH' and 'TALK'), CLOSE YOUR EYES ('Drop That!'), CRAVITY ('LOUDER') and EVAN ('Twilight'). INI returns with a Korean version of 'You Know What To Do', and TAEYONG and BAILEY each put on a special stage with directors from Mnet's 'Street World Fighter: Directors War'. Counting TIOT, who release a new album at 6 PM KST today, the official Mnet Plus lineup has 16 acts, including a special stage for the 'Chiikawa' movie. Our guide at 5 PM KST will sort out what to watch for, act by act.
Sources: Mnet Plus episode 947 lineup · Mnet K-POP preview · Singlelist

4. TIOT, fifth mini album 'Time for Us' (today, 6 PM KST)

The album has four songs: the title track '다섯시간의 조각들' ('Pieces of Five Hours'), '말해줘' ('Tell Me'), '지내볼게' ('I'll Get By') and 'Fool'. It comes about a year after their fourth mini album, 'MY PRIDE', released last September. According to their agency, the title track tells the story of realizing that the comfort you offered someone else was, in truth, something you needed yourself.
Sources: Joy News 24 · Special Times

Music shows this week

5. Music Bank off two weeks running, Show! Music Core off on Saturday

The reason is broadcast coverage of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. KBS2's 'Music Bank' skipped September 25 and is off again on October 2, and MBC's 'Show! Music Core' was off on September 26 and is off again on October 3. SBS's 'Inkigayo' was off on September 27, but we haven't yet found an announcement on whether it airs on October 4. M Countdown itself skipped September 24 for the Chuseok holiday and Asian Games coverage, so tonight is its first episode in two weeks.
Sources: Nate (Sports Today) · Topstar News · Topstar News · Topstar News

Today in numbers

6. BOYNEXTDOOR's 'HOME: DELUXE', 560,000 copies on day one

According to Hanteo Chart, which counts album sales, it sold 560,189 copies in a single day, its release day of September 28, and took No. 1 on the daily album chart. The tracking period for first-week sales (chodong) runs through Sunday, October 4.
Sources: Singlelist · eToday

Tomorrow

7. Busan International Rock Festival opens, with a free shuttle from Sasang Station

It runs from Friday, October 2, to Sunday, October 4, at Samnak Ecological Park. According to the official notice posted on September 29, a free shuttle runs between stops near Sasang Station (Line 2) Exit 3 and near the underpass at the park. The first bus leaves Sasang Station at 9:30 AM and the last one leaves the park at 11 PM, with buses every 5 to 10 minutes, first come, first served. Each day's stages and what to bring are in our guide, and songs worth hearing beforehand are in our eight-song list.
Source: Busan International Rock Festival notice