San Francisco Frontiers - New BTS album drops ahead of comeback mega-gig

The Saturday night gig, which is expected to draw around 260,000 people, will be BTS's first after a hiatus of almost four years while all seven members served compulsory military service. It comes ahead of an 82-date world tour.

"We gave deep thought to our identity -- and how best to express ourselves authentically -- across the entirety of our music and performances," BTS member Jimin, 30, said ahead of the release of the group's album, their fifth studio release.

"As an extension of that process, we also revisited the significance of our background as a group comprised entirely of Korean members," he said in a statement.

Beginning with "Body to Body" and ending with "Into the Sun", the 14-track "ARIRANG" album takes its name from a folk song about longing and separation that is often dubbed South Korea's unofficial national anthem.

An animated trailer appears to draw on the story of Korean students whose singing of the song US anthropologist Alice Fletcher recorded on a cylinder phonograph in Washington in 1896.

As the melody plays, the trailer shows the students sailing to the United States before cutting to BTS at Seoul's Gyeongbokgung Palace -- the backdrop for Saturday's concert.

- 'Coming back stronger' -

Excitement meanwhile grew in Seoul, with hotels long since booked out and thousands flying in from overseas, ramming home the immense popularity of a multi-award-winning act singing mostly in Korean.

BTS are the music vanguard of a Korean cultural wave, which includes Oscar-winning films like "Parasite" and "KPop Demon Hunters", hit dramas like "Squid Game", Nobel-winning author Han Kang, food and cosmetics endorsed by the likes of Kylie Jenner.

Streets were festooned with purple-and-blue "Welcome BTS & ARMY" signs, referring to the group's fandom. BTS hoodies, wallets and figurines were on sale at new pop-up stores and convenience shops.

Mara Cristia Yao and Rodessa Ericka Bonon, fans from the Philippines, came to Seoul although they could not secure their tickets for the Saturday concert.

"We are just going to come to this area anyway. We are figuring out where to position ourselves tomorrow," Yao told AFP, after taking pictures with each other near the Gwanghwamun Square, where the huge stage was being set up.

At the concert, BTS is expected to perform the new album, which the group reportedly spent time in Los Angeles recording.

Grace Kao, a sociology professor at Yale University, said that while it features collaborations with Western songwriters and producers, the title works to "remind international fans that BTS is, first and foremost, a Korean group".

"They are looking towards the future but reminding the fans and themselves of their history," she said.

It also follows some new experiences for the bandmates, now aged between 28 and 33.

Four spent their military service stationed near the heavily fortified inter-Korean border, known for barbed wire, harsh winters and intense training.

BTS are "coming back stronger and ready to continue their journey," Greek fan Loukia Kyratzoglou gushed to AFP.

- 'Love letter' -

After visiting the White House, releasing hugely successful English-language albums and performing at famous venues around the world, the group has chosen a historic stage at home for the landmark comeback concert.

This will be Seoul's sweeping Gwanghwamun Square, near the landmark Gyeongbokgung Palace, an area that has witnessed centuries of history, including major political protests in 2025.

As well as those present in Seoul -- amidst a gigantic security operation -- millions more will likely watch a Netflix livestream to around 190 countries.

This new album "feels like a love letter to their home country," said Jeff Benjamin, Billboard's K-pop columnist, told AFP.

"I do think they'll be remembered the way we remember the Beatles or Michael Jackson — not just as chart-topping acts but as artists whom the industry calculates time in terms of 'before' and 'after'".

Y.Harris--SFF