"SWIM" kicks off BTS's return after hiatus

The music video comes as HTS gears up for the first live concert of its new era with the album Arirangon Saturday. The members are also preparing for their sold-out world tour beginning next month. And Tetris Kelly joins us now. He's the host of Billboard News. Tetris, thank you so much for coming on and talking to us. I love your name, first and foremost. What's the early reaction here that we're seeing with this album? Well, look, fans-- Army, as we're called-- are so excited about this project, man. I've been having so much fun scrolling through social media and looking at everybody's reactions. And as every fandom does, people tend to debate about their favorites. But what's great this time is that BTS themselves did a live stream last night in which they were talking about the album, and we got to see them even debate about their favorites versus their not favorites and what songs they wanted to be the single. So we're all kind of participating in this big moment, just talking about how much we love the project. I think so many fans out there and people who just are familiar with BTS probably remember when they all had to go into military service and they took a hiatus from basically a tear around the world, kind of captivating audiences all across the globe. Compared to the first album here, Tetris, how have the new songs evolved from their previous music? Well, I think they're so much more tapped in now. They've always been incredibly creative, but because of their success, they're getting to bring in all these amazing producers, from Ryan Tedder to Mike WiLL Made-It to work on this project, and you get to see them kind of evolve. And then, of course, during that military break, I mean, they weren't sitting around. They all released solo projects, and they got to explore themselves as solo artists. So I think with this project, we're kind of seeing the seven of them come back together with a new sound and a new vibe with their confidence from all the things they did while they were on break.

So tell us about this mega tour BTS is about to start. What do you think the album can tell us when it comes to that? Because I know a lot of fans out there are really wondering. They told you exactly what they needed you to know. They said, I want the whole stadium to jump. That's on "Body to Body," which is the first track on the album, and the whole album is kind of that vibe, from "Hooligans" and multiple tracks on the album. "Via," oh my God, it's going to have everybody dancing. So I think they want people to jump, get on their feet, celebrate them. I mean, this tour is crazy. They're going all over the world-- Brazil, America, Germany. I mean, there's not a place they're not touching, really. So it's going to be a good time. And then just really quickly, Tetris, I want to bring up the fact that group leader RM will be performing in a limited capacity on Saturday due to an ankle injury. So what can fans expect there? Well, I talked about the stream that they were on last night, and he was there in his brace on the stream and talking about how he's going to come out there and do the best he can. It wouldn't be the first time that the Army has experienced something like this. Jin was injured during their Grammy performance, and he still was on stage. He still vibed with the guys. He just didn't go full out with the choreography like everyone. So I think they're comfortable with that. He'll jump in where he can. And I'm sure he's going to be excited to see everybody out there in Seoul because that crowd is going to be wild. Yeah, listen, showbiz is showbiz, and the show must go on. Tetris Kelly, we appreciate your insight and time. Thank you so much. Thank you.