IVE, ILLIT and RIIZE all return on 26 October, and Lisa and NMIXX arrive first

K-pop's autumn calendar has a pile-up on 26 October 2026. IVE, ILLIT and RIIZE have all put new music on that date, from three different companies, and a busy week of releases leads into it.

The three on 26 October

IVE return with the mini album Looks Can Kill, their first full release in about eight months. The group, who are managed by Starship Entertainment, have already teased it with projection-mapping visuals on a New York skyscraper that read "IVE SPIN-OFF RELEASE 2026.10.19". A pre-release track is due on 19 October, a week before the album. A tracklist and title track had not been announced at the time of writing.

ILLIT, the HYBE group on BELIFT LAB, release their fifth mini album, BREAK EVEN, at 6 p.m. Korea time on 26 October. The label announced the date on 14 September and has been rolling out concept films and version teasers since the tracklist reveal on 28 September. The title plays on the "break-even point": the group has said the concept is about no longer investing in relationships that do not give anything back.

RIIZE, the SM Entertainment group, put out a digital single on the same day. It is a prologue to their second full-length album, which is planned for spring 2027. The single's title and release time have not been announced.

What lands before then

The week leading in is crowded too:

• NMIXX (JYP Entertainment) release their sixth EP, Strange Muse, on 19 October. It has six tracks and the lead track is "Birthday Wish".
• Lisa follows on 23 October with PRESS PLAY, a six-track EP. We have the details in our earlier story on the EP, and "SaWaDiKa" is already out.
• BABYMONSTER (YG Entertainment) have a new song set for 1 p.m. Korea time on 23 October. The title is not yet announced.

Earlier this month KickFlip, NCT WISH, PLAVE, Xdinary Heroes, MEOVV and ex-ZEROBASEONE member Sung Han-bin all released new music, and AND2BLE and XLOV close the month with mini albums on 27 and 28 October.

Why the date matters

Releasing on the same day splits first-day streams, album sales and music-show attention three ways. Fan communities tend to treat the opening 24 hours as a scoreboard, so expect a lot of noise about numbers by 27 October. For anyone just meeting these groups, that is also the easiest week of the year to sample them side by side.

We will update as titles, tracklists and release times are confirmed.