On November 6 at midnight, SQU4D opened official social media channels and released two images. A portrait with a QR code placed over the face and a crossword puzzle featuring the English words "BLIND" and "BLUE" raise viewers' curiosity.
The QR code connects to a website. Familiar yet unfamiliar scenes greet visitors, including skies with airplanes flying overhead, afternoons bathed in sunset, green fields, coastlines where the tide ebbs and flows, and various urban landscapes featuring camcorders, MP3 players, and earphones. Below, along with the somewhat romantic phrase "EVERYTHING GOOD COMES OUT OF THE BLUE," film photos taken by the members of oftheblue while walking across Seoul and ambient everyday sounds they recorded hold viewers' eyes and ears.
The website also captured attention with a digital sound mixer feature that allows users to create music by combining 18 sounds—such as the sound of sand, coins clinking in a vending machine, and an engine starting—along with a photo showing the backs of the four members.
SQU4D is a division newly established under the leadership of Director Lee Ji-young, who was appointed as JYP's first female internal director. It proved its outstanding producing capabilities by debuting the group NMIXX in February 2022 and elevating them to a leading act.
The new boy group name "oftheblue" originated from the idiom "out of the blue," meaning unexpected moments or surprising discoveries. By offering a variation as "of the blue" and imbuing "blue" with the meanings of infinite possibilities, freedom, and youth, it holds the romantic ambition to portray youth that is filled with unpredictable moments and is perfectly fine on its own even if it flows in an unexpected direction.
New boy group oftheblue, which brings together SQU4D's producing capabilities, plans to continue full-scale teasing promotions toward an official debut in 2027, starting with the promotional website and sequentially releasing the group logo, flyers, and more.
[Photo = JYP Entertainment]
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)