BTS have returned with their new album “BE”, out worldwide now. Fronted by the sentimental single Life Goes On , “BE” is the South Korean septet’s second Korean album of the year, following February’s “Map of the Soul: 7”. Whereas “ Map of the Soul: 7 ” commemorated the act’s seven years together, “BE” is a Covid-19-era album and described by the band as their most BTS album yet, with each member taking active roles in developing the project. Ahead of the album’s release, the members of BTS held a public news conference, streamed globally on YouTube. Rapper-producer Suga was absent because he is recovering from surgery to repair an old shoulder injury. Throughout the press conference, the members shared that he is recovering well and they expressed hope that everyone continues to stay healthy. Each member of the group took on a specific role in the album’s production, which they discussed throughout the conference. Jimin served as the music project manager, and coordinated the album’s direction. “I gathered all the opinions of the members, organised them, and delivered it to the staff,” said Jimin, after modestly saying that he didn’t do so much. BTS members RM, Suga and J-Hope’s solo projects guide Jimin mentioned that RM suggested the theme of how whatever happens, life still goes on, and the rest of the members agreed. Regarding the album title, Jimin added that the word, “‘be’ has an open meaning, so we thought it could be really good to contain our stories in the album”. V , meanwhile, was the visual director, and said he worked hard and received support from fellow BTS members and Army (the group’s fan base). He took pictures of the group and was inspired by the idea of showing the lives of BTS members in their 20s. Later, Jungkook spoke about how he took the lead on the music video for Life Goes On . “What I wanted to emphasise is reality, sincerity and authenticity,” he said. He took fellow BTS members’ opinions into account when creating the idea, he added. Group members mentioned how they experimented by taking different sorts of pictures of each other in various settings. J-Hope said their aim was to show themselves not as stars onstage but as individuals. The music video for Life Goes On features the members of BTS ruminating on the present state of the world. It shows them enjoying each others’ company as they reflect on what they miss about life being more or less on hold in 2020. “There‘s no end in sight/Is there a way out? My feet refuse to move oh/Close your eyes for a moment hold my hand,” they sing. “To that future, let’s run away/Like an echo in the forest/The day will come back around/As if nothing happened/Yeah life goes on.” In comparison to their summertime, upbeat August hit Dynamite , RM says Life Goes On is more weighty, with the rapper describing it as, “our way of providing healing and consolation, that life goes on. It is a simple message, but also a very profound truth that we wanted to express in our own warm way”. The second track, Fly To My Room, features Jimin, J-Hope, Suga, and V. Jimin said he thinks people will find it to be a unique song related to the current travelling restrictions, as it is about how “the idea of travelling will change in the future. This song is not a sad song or a melancholy song, but it’s about travelling to my room. It’s a fun song.” We feel frustrated, we feel sad, all of these emotions are what we wanted to contain in an honest way in this album BTS member Jin The third track, Blue & Grey , is an acoustic pop ballad that V said is “about expressing sadness and depression” that is meant to impart a “warm emotion”. Jin spoke about Telepathy , a disco pop song created by Suga that is meant to celebrate how they are always with their fans, even when apart. “When we meet our fans, the moments we share with our fans are the happiest.” Dis-ease is a tune J-Hope took a big role in creating. “During the pandemic, when we had a chance to take a break, this was not a complete break but one tinged with uncertainty and discomfort,” he said. “So I wanted to compare this with a disease of our own profession. BTS is good at overcoming difficulties, I think, so we wanted to share this message of hope about the future, a bright future.” Jungkook discussed Stay , his song with RM and Jin . He described the future house song as having a “unique colour”, as the trio haven’t performed together before, and said it was about being apart but together. RM shared how they included a skit on their album for the first time in several years, which features them turning on the mic when they hear the news that they hit No 1 on the Hot 100 Billboard chart with Dynamite , their reaction “live, unedited”, even including Suga’s excitedly bleeped cursing. “I think for everybody this year, everything has stopped for everyone in the world because of Covid-19,” Jin said of the album’s overall theme. “It is confusing for everyone, people feel a lot of emptiness, I think everyone spent the same year. We feel frustrated, we feel sad, all of these emotions are what we wanted to contain in an honest way in this album.” What were the BTS boys like before they found fame? He said the album isn’t just sad and reflective, but also fun and happy, and expresses how life goes on, and shares the hope that we can all get through it together. Towards the end of the news conference, Jimin expressed BTSs overall hopes for “BE”. “We would feel so grateful if we could comfort people with this album,” he said.