Seventeen aims to be as ‘hot’ as sun with 4th studio album

Boy group Seventeen returned with its fourth full-length album titled “Face the Sun” on Friday, unveiling an ambition to become as “hot” as the sun in the K-pop scene.

The album released at 1 p.m. marks the band’s first since its last EP, “Attacca,” in October and first studio album in two years and eight months.

“I think it will be a meaningful album,” leader S.coups said during a press conference at a Seoul hotel to mark the release. “It feels great that we are a group with four full albums. I think we were able to release the fourth LP thanks to you, CARATs,” he said, referring to the name of the band’s international fandom.

Mingyu said “Face the Sun” candidly depicts the band’s ambition to be an important presence like the sun and strong will to squarely face all hardships on the journey with courage and move straight forward.

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“The album carried all the sensibility and emotions that Seventeen wanted to deliver,” said Woozi, leader of the band’s vocal unit and music producer. “It depicted a hopeful message that we will overcome the ‘shadow,’ a symbol of our inner worries, be born anew as a stronger being and move forward without avoiding everything we face.”

The album consists of nine tracks, all of them sung by the members as a group, without any solo or unit numbers.

The main song “Hot,” which combines hip-hop with western guitar sounds, is about the band’s desire to become a presence as hot as the sun.

“I think ‘Hot’ is a song that can best represent today’s Seventeen,” Woozi said. “It’s passionate identity and the goal it is trying to achieve as a new starting point matches perfectly with (the image of) the sun.”

Debuting in 2015, Seventeen is known for its perfectly synchronized dance moves and capabilities to write, compose and arrange its own music. It is now one of the leading K-pop groups whose recent albums sold more than 1 million copies upon their release.

The fourth LP has sold more than 2 million copies in preorders, a new record for the group. It became the most-preordered album from Seventeen, surpassing 1.41 million copies for the band’s previous release and ninth EP, “Attacca.”

“Since we didn’t start with the goal of selling 2 million copies, I think CARAT made the result. I’m always grateful about that,” S.coups said. “I want to tell fans that this result will be a great help when the next album comes out.”

Last year, the band proved its global popularity by reaching the Billboard 200 main albums chart with its ninth EP, “Attacca.”

“We’ve been knocking on Billboard since last year. We’d like to say that we want to reach the top of the chart this time,” Seungkwan said.

Seventeen celebrated its seventh anniversary Thursday. Well before the expiry of their contracts with their agency, Pledis Entertainment, all 13 members renewed their contracts.

Looking back on the past seven years, DK said although he was determined to work hard, he did not expect the band to receive so much love from its fans.

“Now I want to reward fans with good music and stage performances,” he said.

Jun, a Chinese member, said: “It’s great that all 13 members have been able to work together up until now. I think we will be a historic K-pop idol group if we all remain active on our 14th anniversary.”