It’s a new era, new look for BTS.
The K-pop superstars return next Friday, March 20 with Arirang, for what will mark the group’s fifth album and first full-band release in six years.
Ahead of the big day, BigHit Entertainment shares the LP’s artwork, which sees RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook looking dapper, and rather serious, in suits.
All grown up. Ready for business. Each member of the septet gets a closeup, too.
The septet has previously posted the 14-song tracklist for Arirang, the followup to 2020’s Be, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2020 and housed the Billboard Hot 100-topping hits “Life Goes On” and “Dynamite.”
The mature new look for BTS is appropriate for this K-pop juggernaut, which assembles after its members last year completed their service in the South Korean military, opening the door for another album cycle.
The lads are without question one of the giants of K-pop, with six No. 1s on the Billboard 200 chart, including the 2022 anthology Proof, and six No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100. BTS was awarded the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year twice, in 2020 and 2021, becoming the first act to win consecutively.
The long-awaited comeback will be accompanied with a live experience, BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE | ARIRANG, which will stream live from Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, South Korea, the following day, on March 21.
Arirang takes its name from a traditional Korean folk song. “Transcending time and generations, the song has long been associated with emotions of connection, distance, and reunion,” reads a press release on the collection, issued by BigHit in January. The recording is said to be “a deeply reflective body of work” that explores the pop superstars’ “identity and roots,” the statement continues.
Check out the Arirang artwork below.
