Seventeen sells 482,000 copies of ‘Attacca’ on first day; talks about Billboard goals, Carats


K-pop boy band Seventeen’s ninth mini-album “Attacca” sold nearly 482,000 copies on the first day of release.

According to Korea’s Hanteo Chart, “Attacca” garnered sales of 481,909 copies on Oct. 22, its first day of release, and placed No. 1 on the daily album chart.

“Attacca” is Seventeen’s next story in the 2021 “Power of Love” project after their Billboard-charting “Your Choice” album released last June.

Seventeen at their online global press conference for the album "Attacca" on Oct. 22 (Pledis Entertainment)

The new album is headlined by “Rock with You” together with “To You”, “Crush”, “PANG!” (performance unit), “Imperfect love” (vocal unit), “I Can’t Run Away” (hip-hop unit), and Joshua and Vernon’s “2 Minus 1,” which is Seventeen first English song.

“Attacca” was released with pre-orders of 1.41 million achieved on the first day of pre-sale. When “Your Choice” was released, Seventeen became a quadruple million-seller as the album sold 1.36 million copies in the first week of release and peaked at 15th on the Billboard 200 chart.

During the online global press conference on Oct. 22 before the album was released, Seventeen talked about “Attacca,” their goal to reach No. 1 on Billboard and promoting without Jun and The8, who are now in China for their individual activities.

The members are excited to have another album in four months.

“So we are back with our ninth EP ‘Attacca’ in four months and to be able to come back in such a short time and bring you this great music makes us really happy and excited,” said S.Coups. “Our previous album received so much more love than we thought it would and we were very happy and that made us happy as we continue to prepare for this album.

“And for Carats who are listening to our songs, our album and I hope they can hear the message that we want to give you through our album. I hope that you can continue to love all the different Seventeen content and our performances and we have a lot of things prepared and ready for Carats all over the world so please enjoy it and please enjoy our music,” he added.

Mingyu said the 2021 love project is “how we want to talk about the different emotions that are in love. Our ninth EP ‘Attacca’ highlights the word ‘passion’ and how the passion meets Seventeen and how it spreads and it expresses a more dynamic and passionate love. I think passionate love is something that's really Seventeen.”

Seventeen (Pledis Entertainment)

Seventeen (Pledis Entertainment)

According to Woozi, the word “Attacca” is “the musical term from one movement to the next without a pause. It's how we express this love, unstoppable love and this passionate love illustrated using the word attacca.”

About “Rock with You,” Jeonghan said it “is a song that's based on rock. It expresses Seventeen’s deep love as well as the deepening emotions and a very energetic melody. So it's about love. We always wanted to be with someone you love and then my story about you and I can do anything for you so, that's what the lyrics express.”

Through the seven tracks in the album, Wonwoo said, “We want to talk about emotions that are everyday for us. Love, friendship and trying to highlight those emotions.”

Hoshi said “Rock with You” is a “song about this very dynamic and very eager love and very active love. We wanted to express our message that we really love Carats. Seventeen really loves Carats. And then we are all worthy and we all receive love from someone so that's the message that we want to put into the song.”

Unit Songs

As to the Seventeen unit songs, Seungkwan said, “We showed our unit songs and we tried to always try to show you our unique unit colors. This time we also wanted to add something fresh and something more unique, something different to make it a little bit more varied and a little bit more diverse. i think when you listen to it you'll feel you know is this the hip-hop theme song is this the vocal theme song it might make you feel or feel like it's something new but then when you listen to it and you keep listening to it i think you'll be able to see that unique charm the signature charm of each unit and understand, think that they're capable of this something new and handling this something new so i think uh we feel sort of this a sense of pride in our music.”

“2 Minus 1” is Seventeen’s first English song and according to Vernon, “So me, Joshua, we worked on this song together. It's not on the album so it's a digital track. It was our first English song and a way for us to pay back the love we received from Carats all over the world.”

“And also, we tried to express in a very bright way the sadness of, you know, parting, so sort of using emotions that are drier and this is our first English song, of course, so we hope that Carats all over the world will really love this song,” said Joshua. Mingyu said he hopes all 13 members of Seventeen can release an English song together.

Jun and The8

When asked if they feel empty since Jun and The8 are not with them to promote the album, Seungkwan said, “I think, of course, you know since our debut we've always been 13 members and promoting as 13 members. The fact that we don't have two members for this promo cycle of course we feel their emptiness. Not just in their promos but just in our day-to-day lives, we've always been together so we really miss them today but today you know we did some shoots in the morning and the members saw the the footage and they they told us that we did such a good job, you know, filling in for that. So we always talk to them, we're always communicating with them and the two of them are really working hard in China so we are all working hard in doing what we do and I think that's great.”

“We, of course, want to see them and we are keeping touch with them, of course. We are working hard and doing what we are doing. We are cheering each other on,” said Mingyu.

Goals and in-person concert

About the goals for “Attacca,” S.Coups said, “We can't not look forward to, you know. records, results. If our fans listen to our album, listen to our songs and I think that naturally we'll have some great numbers that will follow and then Seventeen will be happier and more excited as we prepare for our next album.”

“We really miss Carats and so that’s why we`re back and back so quickly. For the past four months we`ve been thinking about Carats and as we worked on this album and really put our emotions and our heart into this album, we really packed it in so I’m sure, I’m confident our Carats will really love this album,” he added.

On the 1.41 million pre-orders for “Attacca,” S.Coups said “you’re well aware that this record is not something we can achieve by ourselves alone. That’s why we are really grateful to everyone who worked hard with us and, of course, more than anything, we are really thankful for our fans Carats who sent us so much love and support. We feel more responsibility to return all the love with even better music and better albums and with this responsibility, we’ll try harder to be able to work harder for our activities.”

Regarding plans for any in-person concert, Dino said, “As for the in-person concert, the discussions are still underway endlessly and I’m sure many people are tired and exhausted by this prolonged situation and difficult times and we’re trying to pull ourselves together through these difficult times and wish to meet everyone as soon as possible so fighting.”

About goals they want to achieve through “Attacca,” Seungkwan said, “And goals and records, it was an amazing honor that we were able to reach the 15th place on the Billboard 200. That is something that we really wanted and I remember saying that our goal is first on the Billboard main chart. But the fact that we entered the chart itself was thrilling. All of us really loved it, so the higher we set the bar, it’s better it is, so we really want to be No. 1, No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.”

As the end of the year nears, they were asked how they would remember 2021 for Seventeen.

“2021 is a year we really worked hard. Again, the fact that all 13 of us can be together is something that we`re really thankful for and being able to do the best we can in our own individual places, in our roles,” said DK.

He added, “And we`re really thankful that we are able to have that chance and the fact that so many people can listen to our album and receive and we were able to impact and have this positive impact, that really makes us happy. I’m sure there will be many many more precious movements through this newest album ‘Attacca’ and with our continuing effort, we would like to become Seventeen that can impart this influence, this positive impact.”