Singer, fashion icon and animal rights activist Lee Hyori will be releasing her fifth studio album after a three-year hiatus from the music scene. The yet-to-be-titled album is scheduled to be unveiled sometime in mid-May and the lead track of the upcoming release has been reported to be a dance track.

Lee’s fifth album will be her first since “H-Logic,” which was riddled with controversy due to plagiarism accusations that prevented her from fully promoting the release. The album was released in April 2010 and shortly thereafter, local producer Bahnus, who wrote seven songs for the 14-track album, was indicted for plagiarism, forcing Lee to suspend her activities as a singer. 

Representatives from Lee’s agency B2M Entertainment stated in news reports that there had been talk of the solo artist holding a concert after the release of her new album but no plans had been confirmed as of yet. Should the artist hold a concert, it would be her first solo concert performance since 2008.

The 33-year-old artist is well known not only as an entertainer, but as a passionate animal rights activist as well. Lee’s volunteer work at animal shelters has been in the public spotlight on numerous occasions. Last year, she created the “Lee Hyori Calendar,” a charity calendar featuring photos of herself and her adopted pet dog Soonshim. Lee released the calendar to encourage people to adopt abandoned animals and 100 percent of the proceeds were reported to have been donated to animal rights groups.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)