CLOSE YOUR EYES channels jazz-fueled swagger on '256th Note'
Multinational K-pop boy band CLOSE YOUR EYES has released its fourth EP, "256th Note," a jazz-inflected record that comes just five months after the group's last release. The seven-member act — Jeon Min-wook, Ma Jingxiang, Jang Yeo-jun, Kim Sung-min, Song Seung-ho, Kenshin and Seo Kyoung-bae — debuted in April 2025 through JTBC's audition show "Project 7." In the year and a half since, the group has steadily raised its international profile, collecting awards at home and abroad and taking its "BEYOND YOUR EYES" world tour on the road since January. Hours before the album dropped on Wednesday, the members sat down with reporters at a hotel in Seocho District, southern Seoul, to walk through how the record came together. "We wanted to make good memories with our fans, so we went into this with a lot of excitement," Jeon said. "Because the album draws on jazz, we set out to show a side of us people haven't seen before." The album takes its spirit from jazz improvisation, the members explained, where each instrument's spontaneous turns produce split-second moments that pull both players