Siyeon's ChRocktikal Band Leads Off Dreamcatcher Member Activities In 2026

Re-debuts are already rare in the world of K-Pop - mostly because they are usually a gamble, an unguaranteed second try at success, and in the sometimes-volatile world of the industry, often difficult to make sustainable. Beyond that, RE-re-debuts are just about unheard of, and very much reduce the chances of hitting it even more.

Yet if there was any one group that could pull it off and do so fearlessly, it's Dreamcatcher. Beyond the end of exclusive contracts early last year, we've already seen a couple of third debuts, from UAU to Main Rapper Dami becoming a solo artist, but one of the most highly-anticipated of these third debuts had yet to come to pass with Siyeon's new band activities.

Delayed slightly due to circumstances beyond her control, Siyeon, who I think really lives and breathes making music, was likely eager to show the world what she could do returning to her roots in a rock band. On the 15th of January in 2026, Siyeon finally got her chance to do just that. Here's what her and the rest of Dreamcatcher have been up to lately!

UAU continues to quietly prepare for their turn back in the spotlight with new music, but fans got a small bit of content on two fronts - first, in the Season's Greetings Behind video for the latest episode of their "Play" behind-the-scenes series.

I've probably said this a lot over the past year or so when writing about UAU, but in all of these behind vids, I see a much more comfortable-in-their-skin Dreamcatcher subunit, truly doing things that they might have wanted to do for a while with concepts (such as this "Holiday Party and Night Out With Drinks" mood) that while more "traditional K-Pop", seem enjoyable to them to try. That's not to say JiU, SuA, and Yoohyeon hadn't loved what they did with Dreamcatcher (and they've been quick to say that) but doing the more mature, down-to-earth stuff has seemed fresh and fun to them.

Yet some things stay the same for the group no matter what, and surprise Special Clips continue to be one of those. Filming at home, JiU dropped in a cover of Han Ye Seul's "You're Different", giving fans a pleasing rendition with her signature soft -toned vocals in a more casual setting. The informal stuff is great, allows for a bit more flexibility, and feels (much like UAU has seemed) like a good friend with singing talent putting on a small performance. I hope we see more of it.

I just talked about how Dreamcatcher members seem to feel good doing things that are distinctly different from the group's content, and you can't get more different than what Handong has done this past year - signing with a decently-resourced indie agency, heading back to her home country, and working to establish herself as a soloist.

This kind of thing is decently common, especially for Chinese-born artists who've spent part of their formative careers in the K-Pop sphere, but we rarely hear some of the insight and thought behind the transition. That's what we got from Handong being invited to speak at the 2025-2026 Music Business China Conference. If you haven't checked out the translations of her talk yet, I'd highly recommend doing it, as there's a lot of rare and honest insight about the Korean music style and mentality vs. that of China. While Handong very much enjoyed and was thankful for her time in Dreamcatcher, she's also realized the value of being a soloist and having more agency about what she wants to do back home, and there was a lot to unpack about her account of her experiences.

Oftentimes when we hear about this stuff it's couched in stereotypical "dark side of K-Pop" narrative, and even though there were a couple of recollections of hard practice and struggles Handong conveyed, none of that seemed to point to that being a negative for her - only that it was part of being an artist, overcoming challenges (especially as a foreigner with more of them), and learning and growing. We've been seeing a lot of that with Handong's hard-charging work with her album, music, and appearances this year, but there's also a seeming fondness and appreciation for her time (and continued acknowledgment as a member) with Dreamcatcher.

It's probably doubly challenging if you're striking out on your own independently after being in a group, as Dami has. Yet I think besides her own musical endeavors, she's found a small niche at supplementing the official Dreamcatcher member/subunit content with some of her own. Following up her vlog of dinner out with Dreamcatcher, among other activities, Dami dropped in a nice bonus gem of her and Yoohyeon surprising Siyeon on-set as she filmed for her debut MV with ChRocktikal.

Dami fans probably knew this already, but part of what's been nice about her solo content is that she hasn't been afraid to shed a bit of the strait-laced portrayal she had for the most part in Dreamcatcher behind-the-scenes content and truly just be, well, mischevious. Between making plans with Yoohyeon to not tell Siyeon about their visit, to sneaking around the ChRocktikal set like Snake from Metal Gear Solid and finally to surprising and kidding around with Siyeon on set, it's been great to see relaxed Dami with gremlin-like tendencies, and the result is a lot of charming, laid-back content that fans like seeing when it comes to behind-the-scenes stuff. Beyond that, the care and consideration for supporting her fellow members has been on display all this past year, and is another point in the column of Dreamcatcher members staying well and truly in touch despite individual and subunit projects.

Despite a third debut filled with 11 (soon to be 12!) tracks, I'm sure Siyeon, along with Junyoung, Wonseok, and Gwanwoo, appreciated all the support they could get as they finally released their music. I've talked with fellow Dreamcatcher fans and some have said that it was a pretty bold move to release so much music at once, but I can't really complain. Part of a re-debut - and especially one that involves a departure from not just musical style but also music presentation - is the curiosity of what the new act will have to offer. Fans already knew Siyeon has pretty much leaned towards loving and appreciating a more rock style in her music, but I think they got a great taste of what that actually meant by getting this shotgun approach to track releases.

My plan is still to write a separate article about the entirety of this album, but as someone who outside of K-Pop has a bunch of hard rock in their playlists this entire EP was a treat. We got straight up rock, metal, a bit of screamo, hybrid rock, rock pop, rock ballads, and more. One listen to KALish (which ended up getting banned from at least one network's broadcast performance due to its rather aggressive lyrics) and you knew this was both experimental but also a love letter to the music Siyeon loves to make and to share with fans. It was awesome, and the whole album has been a looping buffet of rock-ish music on my playlist this past week or so.

We've also gotten some bits and bobs of the usual behind-the-scenes content too, but the whole presentation, from the single set MV to the rather low-key, smaller-scale promotions and gigs is very different than what some fans perhaps were expecting. As an example, Club FF in Hongdae will have housed two ChRocktikal live shows of less than 200 people each by the time some people read this article, a far cry from the 1k-2k venues Dreamcatcher has booked.

I know there's some concern about lack of normally seen promotional support, compared to Dreamcatcher and even for subunit UAU. But I also think that ChRocktikal's approach seems to be different - aiming to build from the ground up, starting conservatively and small, and knowing that this kind of rock (especially for as hard as it goes) isn't something that fits into the normal bucket of K-Pop style promotion that people are used to. Time will tell how it goes, but not overextending oneself and looking to get some fans to add to the core of Dreamcatcher listeners isn't the worst strategy in the world - especially when that strategy allows co-producers Siyeon and Wonseok to make more of what they like music-wise.

Either way, I'll be here to cover all of what ChRocktikal and the rest of Dreamcatcher does as we head into the end of January and beyond, so for all that and more, I'll see you here next time!