K-pop star IU surprised fans earlier this evening by dropping teasers for a new release, ‘Pieces’, due at the end of December. 

While we’re just starting to enjoy summer in Australia, IU is providing some much-welcome warmth to our friends in the Northern Hemisphere – the K-pop star just dropped a mysterious teaser for a new release, ‘Pieces’. 

News of the release surprised fans, since there wasn’t any prior announcement of IU working on new music in recent days. The singer also comes off of a successful run for her latest album Lilac, which has made its way to numerous year-end lists. 

While she hasn’t clarified what ‘Pieces’ entails, the artwork released hints at an album – the illustration shows all of IU’s past albums stacked on top of each other, with an alarm clock sitting on the top. We’re not making any presumptions though. 

‘Pieces’ also seems to fall in line with IU’s musical themes this year, which have all been a bittersweet goodbye or tribute to her 20s. Lilac, in her own words, was her farewell to the past decade of her life, right as she stepped into 30 (in Korean age). 

“Since I debuted at the age of 18 (in Korean age), people have seen me from the middle of my teens, but they’ve seen me throughout my whole twenties. I’m making this album because I want to say goodbye to those who have been watching over my twenties, and thank you to those who watched until the very end. I want to have a glamorous goodbye.” she told GQ Korea.

Describing Lilac to W Korea, she said: “In the language of flowers, ‘lilac’ means ‘memories of youth.’ I wanted to include a farewell with the message ‘I’m now going onward to my next chapter’ while also greeting my upcoming 30s at the same time.” 

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You can read more about this topic over at the Asia Pop Observer.

Check out ‘Lilac’ by IU:

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