ITZY is back with all new music. The K-pop quintet delighted fans with the release of their fifth mini album, Checkmate, on Friday (July 15).
ITZY teased Checkmate earlier in the week with an “album spoiler” video that previewed each of the project’s seven tracks. In addition to lead single “Sneakers,” the set also features “Rac3r,” “What I Want,” “Free Fall,” “365” and “Domino.” It also includes an English-language version of “Sneakers.”
“Sneakers” was co-written by GALACTIKA’s friday. and OGI, who have previously worked with ITZY on such tracks as “Dalla Dalla,” “Wannabe” and “Loco.” “You better put your sneakers on!” the five-piece shouts in a glamor-filled teaser of the single.
Members Chaeryeong, Lia, Ryujin, Yeji and Yuna will embark on their first world tour in support of Checkmate, beginning with a two-night stand at Seoul’s Olympic Handball Gymnasium on Aug. 6-7. From there, the group will visit U.S. theaters between late October and mid-November.
Checkmate is the follow-up to ITZY’s debut full-length, Crazy in Love: The 1st Album, which dropped in September 2021 and peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200. The set also debuted atop Billboard‘s Top Album Sales chart. Crazy followed one other entry for the group, the Guess Who EP, which peaked at No. 23 in May 2021.
Listen to ITZY’s Checkmate below.
