Fresh from their two-day “Follow Again” concert in Seoul, K-pop sensation Seventeen is back in the music scene as it dropped its latest album, “17 Is Right Here” on Tuesday, April 29.
Ahead of its release, the 13-member Korean boy group faced some members of the global press to talk about their anthology album.
The group’s leader, SCoups, described the album as the mark of their “new beginning.”
“Having a new album out there is always a very nervous experience and I think CARATs have been waiting for this album. I hope CARATs will be happy with this album. This is our new beginning and we’re going to start over again and strive forward,” he said.
“We have the best album. Instead of just compiling all the past hits we wanted to add our feelings these days, our determination, we wanted to add our vision for the future, what we wanted to share with our CARAT,” added Jeonghan.
The album, consisting of 33 songs, is a collection of some of Seventeen’s greatest hits alongside fresh four new songs including the title track “MAESTRO”, “Lalali”, “Spell”, and “Cheers to Youth”.
Going deeper with “MAESTRO”, Woozi, the great mind behind some of the beloved songs of Seventeen, delved into how the track showed “how 13 members came together to orchestrate music.”
He also mentioned how “MAESTRO” is uniquely familiar to some of their past hits as they weaved some of the elements from their previous albums like “Adore U”, “Fear”, and “Super”.
Joshua then shared the moment he first heard “Maestro”, saying that he already knew it was going to make a great stage performance.
Together with the album, the group also released the music video for “MAESTRO” which tackled the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) these days.
Seungkwan pointed out that now that we’re living in a world where anything can be created by AI and technology, Seventeen wanted to highlight the true meaning of creation. He also mentioned to keep looking for “easter eggs” in the music video.
Talking about their respective unit’s songs, Vernon shared that “Lalali” captures the hip-hop unit’s confidence while Hoshi described that “Spell” will show the performance unit’s “sexy side”. On the other hand, DK says that the music video for “Cheers to Youth” will be like a drama.
Mingyu also hinted that a new tour might be on its way after wrapping up their “Follow Again” tour. Joshua then mentioned that after two years, they will be going to have a US tour.
SCoups then went on to talk about their strength as a group emphasizing that it’s the trust they had built as a team. Though he said that being a thirteen-member group is a challenging thing, he pointed out that he’s glad that they are still together. He also recalled one of his memorable moments as a member of a global group.
“When we received the grand prize at MAMA that was the best moment for us. When we were talking among ourselves in 2018 and 2019, we thought about ‘Would we ever get the grand prize because we have so many amazing artists in Korea?’ That award gave me confidence,” he stated.
Seungkwan said that they have love for each other and CARATs, the group’s fanbase, that nothing can break their bond.
“We have our challenges and tough times. I really feel like we are a group that’s [worthy] of all our love that fans want to give us. I want to pour our heart and soul until what is allowed for us,” shared Seungkwan.
SCoups expressed his desire to perform in every stadium around the world, no matter how big the venue is as the group wants to do it for all CARATs who want to see them perform live.
On the other hand, Seventeen’s maknae, Dino, expressed how CARATs mean the world to them adding that, “they are something that we can’t live without when we are on stage and when we are in different places. They are the reason for our existence.”
“17 Is Right Here” is now available for streaming on all digital platforms.
