K-pop idol group Seventeen returned with the release of their new album and they are very clear about their goal: to reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
Seventeen released “Face the Sun,” their fourth studio album, on May 27 after seven months since their last album “Attacca” last October and two years and eight months since their last studio album “An Ode” in 2019.
During their global press conference for the new album on May 27 at Conrad Seoul, Seventeen talked about their goals, the album and their world tour.
“We think this is very meaningful to come back like this. Vernon wrote a post on Weverse. He said we have a fourth studio album. He said it is very meaningful. And I think it is only possible, thanks to Carat. They made us who we are: singers, idols,” said S.Coups.
“Face the Sun” garnered more than two million copies in pre-orders. Joshua and Seungkwan were honest that they wanted Seventeen to top the Billboard charts this time through the new album.
“We ranked 13th place on the Billboard 200 for ‘Attacca.’ That was a new record for us. To be completely honest, I hope we can go even higher than the last album with our fourth studio album 'Face the Sun,'" said Joshua.
Seungkwan pleaded and said he really is aiming for Seventeen to be No. 1 on Billboard.
“I’ve been saying that we want to enter the Billboard charts since ‘Your Choice.’ I just want to say that I want to top the Billboard chart this time. We’ve been also shown the celebration that we are going to do when we top the chart. Just really want to top the chart just once please!” he said.
Seventeen were asked the meaning of the phrase “I’m not Seventeen anymore,” which came out as teasers for the comeback and were dubbed as “Seventeen disbandment teaser.”
Hoshi clarified that “the meaning about the statement is shedding our former image and becoming more mature.”
About their album’s lead single “Hot,” Woozi said, “We felt that ‘Hot’ really expressed who really Seventeen is right now. We are now at a new starting point. We want to convey our passion, identity, determination, to achieve our ultimate goals of becoming like the sun. We want to exude that hot energy.”
“When Woozi first let us listen to the focus track, we thought this song best resembled Seventeen's energy as it is right now. We just knew right away that this was gonna be the focus track. We are really happy with the song,” said Joshua.
About the challenges that came along with writing songs in English while keeping the K-pop vibe, Joshua explained that “It wasn't really difficult at all as K-pop artists ourselves.”
“No matter what kind of language, what kind of music we sing, it's not that difficult to keep that K-pop essence in our music so that wasn't difficult at all. It's really important for us to make these English songs because of all the Carats worldwide. It's for you guys,” he said.
How is the group different now compared to what they envisioned when they debuted seven years ago?
“One thing different from Seventeen, we envisioned seven years ago is that I really envisioned getting love from a lot of people all over the world. We were really hard for the goal. But I did not imagine I would get this much love. I did not expect that at all seven years ago,” said DK.
When they were asked what kind of artists do they wish to be seven years from now, Jun said, “I think it's really nice that all 13 of us can celebrate our seventh anniversary. And even seven years from now, I hope all 13 of us can celebrate our 14th anniversary as well. I think that will go down in history.”
Seventeen said they are excited for their upcoming world tour “Be the Sun,” which will kick off in June in Seoul and then go to North America. This will be their first world tour since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world in 2020.
“We have to bring our 2020 world tour to halt due to the pandemic. For the past two years and four months, we realized how precious the tour, the shows are for us and the best place we can be and release our energy is on the stage,” said Dino.
Vernon added, “It’s been over two years since our last world tour so we are super excited to again be with all the Carats around the world in person.”
Seventeen will showcase live performances of selected tracks from the album during their comeback show on HYBE Labels’ official YouTube channel at 7 p.m. KST on May 28.