Rain to release sixth full-length album today

By Kim Ji-soo The much-awaited return of top K-pop star Rain will occur in the first week of the new year. The singer’s agency Cube DC, which is an affiliate of Cube Entertainment, said Tuesday that he will release his sixth studio album “Rain Effect” Thursday. The release date has been brought forward because the schedule for filming of his Hollywood film “The Prince” has been reset.  “The Prince” — starring Bruce Willis and John Cusack —is the singer’s third Hollywood film following on the heels of “Speed Racer” and “Ninja Assassin.” “New additional dates for the film have been added, so we’ve decided that it would be better for fans that waited for Rain to meet him earlier than planned,” Cube said. The 31-year-old singer whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon on Tuesday disclosed teasers of the songs “30 Sexy” and “La Song” which are on the new album. Rain wrote the music and the lyrics of the six songs for his sixth album. The “30 Sexy” is dance music that entails a trendy synthesizer sound played repeatedly over hip-hop drum beat, and is expected to demonstrate his stage performance to the full. Rain appears in a retro-suit wearing a 10-centimeter heel, exuberant accessories and a dark kiss mark on his chin in the teaser images shown for “30 Sexy.” In “La Song,” Rain unveils Latin hip-hop sound with dance moves that portend to become instantly addictive. Since his discharge in July from military service, Rain has been under scathing public scrutiny that stemmed from him taking excessive leave while in the army to meet his top actress girlfriend Kim Tae-hee. He maintained a low profile, appearing on overseas stages including a concert through Japanese cities in November. But the singer who made the “100 Most Influential People Who Shape Our World” in a Time Magazine website article in 2006 is a dance and performance phenomenon recruited in 2007 by producer/singer Park Jin-young of JYP Entertainment and still heavily waited by fans. At his first official meeting with fans in October after his discharge, about 3,000 fans including those from abroad, gathered to show support for the singer.  The solo act with hit songs such as “Ways to Avoid the Sun,” “I Do,” and “Rainism” still stands out amid the plethora of K-pop girl and boy groups. His return to the stage is also the first among the planned returns of the “titans” of K-pop, thus further heightening anticipation from fans.