Dreamcatcher Continues Content Releases As They Quietly Enter April 2023 Preparations
K-Pop — Dreamcatcher Recall
With the group’s comeback confirmed for next month, Dreamcatcher begins their work towards a late April US appearance and their new music.
With a comeback only a month or so away, Dreamcatcher appeared to take a step back from the public eye this past week (with a couple exceptions), and appears to have entered comeback prep mode. Though their obligations will take them to Las Vegas, Nevada in the US for the inaugural We Bridge Expo in just a couple of short weeks, the road to a new album is paved, and Dreamcatcher is walking on it. That said, as many veteran fans know, none of the behind-the-scenes work has ever stopped Dreamcatcher from ensuring there’s a continuous content drip to tide people over until the next new thing, and this past week was no exception. Let’s take a look at what we saw from the group as they headed into April with future plans in mind!
One public appearance from Dreamcatcher this week came from Handong, who wrapped up her short radio stint at TBS eFM this past week for Akdong Seoul. Though she did seem a bit sad about the news (and even had to clarify that the post about it was real and not an April Fools’ joke due to timing), she nevertheless was thankful and happy for the opportunity, and the staff sent her off with flowers and well-wishes. There could be any number of reasons why Handong’s radio gig was so short, from funding to listenership to programming changes, but the important thing is that Dreamcatcher’s foreign-born member got to have a chance to talk to both the group’s Chinese and Korean fans, and be able to do so solo with confidence. I’ll be looking forward to any future chances for Handong, especially with some experience now under her belt.
[embed]https://twitter.com/DC_Mydream/status/1643612856058015744[/embed]
Always thinking about the fans, Handong rewarded those who waited outside to greet her with some gifts, which all surrounded a theme — pink, to celebrate the new shade of hair that she recently seemed to pick up to replace the bright, 2018-What-era orange that she had for the recent US tour. Light pink is a new look for Handong, and as always the stylists seemed to do a great job creating a nice two-tone gradient to blend the new pink color with the fading orange. The result was a new and cool hairstyle that will perhaps feature in the group’s upcoming comeback.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71-LcUaEtdc[/embed]
But Handong wasn’t the only one to feature a new look for May’s comeback plans. Dreamcatcher arrived to record for a KBS Open Concert, and the commute videos revealed a bleach-blonde Gahyeon, shorter-cut Siyeon, and a brand new caramel-colored short bob style on Yoohyeon that fans haven’t ever seen before. The looks at these new styles were brief, but they certainly showed that changes are coming. The broadcast date for this particular KBS Open Concert is still unknown, but we’ll hopefully get to see a bit more of Dreamcatcher in their performance element sooner rather than later.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbiqUBZruuQ[/embed]
Speaking of that performance element, a double helping of behind-the-scenes content from Dreamcatcher’s recent activities helped showcase that yet again. Dami wrapped up the most she’s ever vlogged in years with Part 6 of her EU tour vlog covering London and Paris, some of the best of the sights and scenes, and of course, Dami herself eating, chilling, and generally being her relaxed self around the camera as she took account of the last portion of the tour. I’ve come to really like the lowkey style of Dami’s vlogging content, and even though there isn’t as much chaos as you might see in some of the other members’ vlogs, sometimes it’s nice to have a bit of a change in pace just to keep things fresh.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6Aj_U9UOus[/embed]
The thing that will likely bridge content until the inevitable May comeback, however, will be 2023 tour content, and we got our first taste of that this past week with the first part of the 2023 US tour Dreamcatcher’s Note series. With a shorter-than-normal gap between tours to the region, the challenge is going to be to keep the content new and interesting and not more of the same, and Dreamcatcher is likely in good shape doing that if the first part of these Notes is any indication. Handong features prominently talking about food, hotels, and what she finds satisfying on tour, JiU was her half-trolling self with her jokes and her insistence on her Crocs’ decoration being bunny ears when they were clearly not, Yoohyeon forgot to bring enough warm clothes for the weather rather than losing her phone, and much more. SuA’s mention in this Note to try to do a little something different for each stop and how they decided to do so through fashion and through ment activities was nice, and was a welcome insight in a vlog full of mostly fun and loudly chaotic moments as is standard for the group. Whether or not we get vlogging content remains to be seen (especially with how busy the group appeared to be hitting nine stops in a month), but at least on one front, we’ll get to see a bit more about how Dreamcatcher’s recent tour went.
[embed]https://twitter.com/DC_FANSTAFF/status/1644626273371820032[/embed]
On the fan front, we have yet to see the contents of the 2nd generation fanclub fankit, and applications to upgrade fancafe memberships on Daum are ongoing. The huge number of pending applications meant that Dreamcatcher Company’s fancafe fan manager had to re-create another application upgrade form for April. While the process currently has some bumps to it (for example, the English language username standards appear to be quite vague with some odd rejections), fans appear to have at least one more opportunity to get themselves into the exclusive InSomnia 2nd generation board on the fancafe, so be sure to check on your application status if you’re looking to do that, and re-apply on the board if necessary. As for the fankit, given that it took about two months from the last recruitment period to see its contents, it seems we’ll have just a bit longer til we see what Dreamcatcher and Dreamcatcher Company have in store for 2nd generation fanclub purchasers.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nBHAKcMGjw[/embed]
Last but not least, the exclusive media that CeCi Korea has been releasing for their photobook featuring JiU and Yoohyeon took a dramatic turn this past week. While I’ve enjoyed some of the more variety-like content with JiU and Yoohyeon laughing and having a bit of fun, at its core CeCi Korea is a fashion publication, and their CeCi Friday Films series put out a JiU and Yoohyeon short feature that put that on display. Combining the warm and bright Thailand setting with an underlying K-Drama-like story that appeared to show both loss but also hope, the film showed a JiU that remembered an apparently lost friend in Yoohyeon. Seemingly past enjoyments and moments intersperse with a few forlorn, even grieving imagery from JiU. Her eventual realization that Yoohyeon is still there (or perhaps actually returning) for her through their shared memories and enduring friendship ends the film on a more upbeat note.
The above is just my interpretation of what was depicted, and absent some behind-the-scenes insight from JiU or Yoohyeon themselves, that interpretation is perhaps just one of many. That, I think, is part of its charm — its vague and open-ended meaning seems to add to the dramatics of its short action, and it also gave JiU and Yoohyeon a chance to flex some of their acting ability as well. Overall, it was a nice way to show off a bit of a different side to the duo — though I, like many other fans, couldn’t seem to shake off at least some of the vibe that was given off through other videos in the group’s music history, like in “What” era trailers A and B, or in the background plotline of 2019’s “Deja Vu”, that put the two of them in direct conflict with one another from a character standpoint. I don’t know what else is in store from CeCi Korea and from Dreamcatcher’s Leader and Lead Vocal, but I’ll be looking forward to it. Global customers can still pre-order the photobook for a couple more hours before general availability starts, so be sure to pick one up if you haven’t already!
[embed]https://youtube.com/shorts/ea0DVWwmzi4?feature=share[/embed]
While we still have a ways to go before we see new music from the group in May, it’s clear that Dreamcatcher has plenty in store to keep fans going until then. As always, I’ll be here to report on the latest from the group, so be sure to stop by here next week at this time for more Dreamcatcher news and updates!
