Just as everyone was beginning to settle into the New Year, coming out of the holiday season haze, BTS dropped an announcement that had long been teased and speculated on but still landed with a bang – it’s official, the biggest boy group in the world will be back with new album on March 20. “I was honestly very overwhelmed and really emotional, because it feels very surreal. The moment the news dropped, our group went crazy – there were so many excited messages,” says Devitt Ngaihte, a Korean translator in his 20s as Srishti Sudhi, a software
developer adds with a laugh, “I couldn’t see the official notification because the Weverse app crashed when they announced it. But later, my friends had a video call and half of us were crying, thinking ‘is this for real?’”
Since the initial announcement, the band has wiped its Instagram clean to prepare for the fresh start, and teased a logo for the album. While the official statement revealed that the album holds ‘special significance’ to the group and expresses the ‘emotions and struggles they have experienced on their journey’, speculations of what the album will sound like, it’s concept, and more are plenty among BTS armys (the fanbase’s name). Bhargavi R, the admin of BTS Bangalore ARMY, a city-based fan community, is excited to see the evolution in the band’s songwriting after four years that saw them complete compulsory military service and release solo albums. “Their music has been with me through every stage of life. Now, as an adult myself, knowing that they are older, dealing with adulthood and how tough life can be, I’m curious to see the themes they’re going to address. It’s also very exciting that this will be a 14-track album because Yet to Come was a compilation of older songs and BE was a small album,” she says.
Fans are also excited to see the boys’ camaraderie and friendship on stage and during promotions, something they now wait for livestreams to witness. “BTS is not only famous because they are good looking and make amazing music, it’s also because you can relate to them. They are clumsy, sometimes weird and normal people – I want to see their interactions when all seven come together, because we love them all,” adds Sudhi.
Concert Dreams to Come True?
In the lead up to the band announcing tour stops on January 14, social media is abuzz with Indian fans hopeful that the country will be on the map this time around. This has been fuelled by Kim Taehyung (V) saying ‘Namaste Indian Army, see you next year,” on a livestream in December, the band’s company HYBE opening a branch in Mumbai, and an exhibition based on member Jungkook’s album Golden being hosted in the same city. “They will definitely come to India, probably Mumbai. It would be a dream come true if they come to Bengaluru, I’m really hoping they do, but I don’t know if the city has the stadia to host a BTS-style concert,” says Bhargavi, mentioning that the band has sold out Wembley Stadium (with a 90,000 capacity), multiple times.
Regardless of whether the boys drop by ooru or not, fans are prepared to fly anywhere in India or the world to see them return to the stage. Akansha Ram, a social media executive, paints a picture of the community among fans which she hopes to experience, something she’s only felt through concert videos and fan events held in the city. “I really want to be part of an ‘army wave’ where fans make a wave with their army bombs (light sticks) from the top flower to the lowest floor, with the colours changing as they (BTS) instruct. I really want to scream my heart out doing fan chants, which we always do at fan events, but it doesn’t feel complete without them here to listen to us,” she says, adding, “I may be expecting too much but I hope they have fan meets or a pop up if they visit – at least at HYBE Mumbai.”
Fans are charging their army bombs, replaying their playlists and buzzing with anticipation as they collectively wait for the ball to drop next Wednesday, either answering their prayers or dashing their hopes.