SM Entertainment has a dynamic third quarter ready with its heavyweight artists Taeyeon, NCT 127, Chanyeol of EXO, Jaehyun of NCT and Irene of Red Velvet all preparing new albums before the colder weather arrives.

On Thursday, the K-pop agency announced its plans through the third quarter of this year spanning rookie groups, NCT subgroups, senior groups and the long-awaited debut of its virtual artist naevis.

naevis is an AI-generated virtual singer that appears in aespa's fictional universe.

The company is also preparing for releases in different languages. aespa and Riize are set to release a Japanese single, and WayV is preparing for a Japanese EP. NCT Dream is preparing both a Japanese single and an English single.

The remaining releases mentioned by SM are an assortment of rookie and senior groups, and tentatively slotted for either the second quarter or the third quarter.

Taeyeon will return with her fourth full-length solo album, following up on her last album, “Invu,” released in 2022. Chanyeol, Irene and Jaehyun will all drop their debut solo albums this year as well.

Taeyeon's Girls’ Generation groupmate, Hyoyeon, is releasing a single this year. Super Junior is also set to release a single.

The company's third generation groups are gearing up for releases as well. Red Velvet will be dropping an EP, following its previous release, "Chill Kill" (2023), and NCT 127 will release its sixth full-length album, following its last album, “Fact Check” (2023).

SM's rookie boy groups are also set to have releases. Riize will release their first EP, “Riizing,” in June, while NCT Wish is set to release a single as well as an EP.

SM has two releases lined up for May. aespa will release "Supernova," the lead song for its first full-length album, "Armageddon," on May 13. The group's full 10-song album will be released on May 27. Suho will release his third EP, "1 to 3," on May 31.

To find out more, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]