hrtz.wav

hrtz.wav (하츠웨이브) is a five-member band managed by Kakao Entertainment and formed through Mnet's Steal Heart Club. The lineup brings together the survival program's winning players in each position: Youn Young-jun on keyboard, Riaan on vocals, Dane on bass, Keiten on guitar, and Hagiwa on drums. The group debuted on April 8, 2026 with the first mini album The First Wave.

Kakao has framed hrtz.wav as more than another rookie launch. The company is selling the act as a band-first growth project, one built around visible instrumental skill, youth-pop emotion, and a live-performance identity strong enough to hold space in a K-pop market that still treats bands as a narrower lane. That positioning is obvious in NINETEEN, the debut single that leans into memory, motion, and coming-of-age feeling instead of harder rock cosplay.

The rollout is already moving fast. hrtz.wav heads into early festival dates at Awesome Music Festival 2026 and KCON JAPAN 2026, and the band is also set to contribute an OST to the upcoming drama Perfect Crown. If those stages land, The First Wave will read less like a pilot episode and more like the first real signal of Kakao's K-band bet.