PLAVE, a record-breaking K-pop virtual idol group that made history on multiple music charts — including Billboard’s Global 200 and Global Excluding U.S. charts — with their third mini-album, “Caligo Pt. 1,” released their second single album, “PLBBUU.”
This album already garnered attention with the announcement that their comeback included a collaboration with Sanrio characters such as My Melody and Cinnamoroll through the release of the album teasers. “PLBBUU” captures the group’s loving energy, as this release is meant to be a gift for their fans, PLLI.
“Thank you always for waiting for us, and we worked very hard to complete this album with the best quality possible, as much as you have waited for it. Please enjoy and give much love to our new album, ‘PLBBUU,’ and we hope it makes you happy. Love you, BBUU!” — PLAVE
This album includes the title track, “BBUU!,” as well as “숨바꼭질 (Hide and Seek),” which was previously released as a digital single, and the final track, “봉숭아 (Bongsoong-a).” All five members of PLAVE participated in the composition and lyric writing for all three tracks in this album, proving themselves once again as self-producing idols.
The title track, “BBUU!,” is an easy-listening song that blends R&B rhythm and playful lyrics. The chorus, which repeats counting numbers in a childlike and rhythmic manner, creates an addictive hook similar to the one from PLAVE’s previous track, “Why?” Its title, “BBUU!,” is an onomatopoeia in Korean (뿌우) that mimics the sound of light kissing or the shape of puckered lips. The word also serves as a key element in both the song’s progression and choreography, representing both visual and auditory expressions.
The second track, “숨바꼭질 (Hide and Seek),” is the Korean version of PLAVE’s Japanese debut title track of the same name, originally released on September 15. While highlighting the group’s distinctive musical identity through a rich band sound, this track retains the emotional depth of the original song while introducing new Korean lyrics that reflect nuances and sentiments unique to the language.
The album closes with “봉숭아 (Bongsoong-a),” which means “balsam” in English. It is a pop track with an R&B tempo. In South Korea, there is a tradition of coloring fingernails with balsam when it blooms in summer, and it is believed that one’s love will come true if the fingernails stay balsam-colored until the first day of snow. The delicate lyrics and vocals depict the color of balsam on fingertips blending into a snowy landscape. Rekindling sentimental elements of everyday life at the threshold of early winter, “봉숭아 (Bongsoong-a)” offers a glimpse into PLAVE’s deepened perspective as musicians.
Besides the release of “PLBBUU,” 2025 has been filled with activities for PLAVE. After debuting in Japan with “Kakurenbo (Hide and Seek)” in June, PLAVE topped Japan’s four major music charts (Oricon Daily Single Chart, Oricon Weekly Single Ranking, Oricon Weekly Accumulative Single Ranking, Billboard Japan’s Top Singles Sales and Hot 100). According to Billboard Japan’s data collected between July 7 and July 13, more than 388,200 copies of “Kakurenbo (Hide and Seek)” were sold within the first week of its release. This is the highest number of first-week sales of a Japanese album by international artists in 2025.
In August, PLAVE embarked on their first Asia Tour, “2025 PLAVE Asia Tour [DASH: Quantum Leap],” in Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Bangkok, and Tokyo. On August 17, originally their last performance date in Seoul, PLAVE surprised fans with an announcement of encore concerts on November 21 and 22 at Gocheok Sky Dome. As soon as the pre-sale ticket link opened for fan club members, both dates instantly sold out, just as their original Seoul concert dates sold out shortly after pre-sale began. With this encore concert, PLAVE will become the first virtual idol group to perform in, and sell out, two of South Korea’s top five stadiums — KSPO Dome and Gocheok Sky Dome.
