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| K-pop boy group BTOB poses during an online press event, Monday. Courtesy of Cube Entertainment |
By Dong Sun-hwa
K-pop boy group BTOB is ruling major music streaming charts with its latest track, "The Song."
"The Song," the lead single off the group's third full-length album, "Be Together," is reigning atop the real-time charts of Bugs and Genie as of Tuesday. Written by member Hyunsik, "The Song" is a lyrical ballad highlighting BTOB's musical maturity, which revolves around everlasting love.
"'Song' was the very first word that came to my mind when I was thinking about BTOB," Hyunsik said during an online press event held a few hours ahead of the album's release, Monday. "BTOB is also well known for its vocal prowess, so I decided to title our lead track, 'The Song.'"
Front man Eunkwang elaborated, "Through the lyrics, we reveal how much we want to stay together with our fans for a long time to come."
Unlike many other K-pop acts that put emphasis on performance and choreography, BTOB often focuses more energy on singing. Thanks to the members' vocal bravura, most of its hits are ballads like, "Missing You" (2017) and "Only One for Me" (2018), which strike an emotional chord with people. For its new release, BTOB again offers a string of sentimental tunes such as, "My Way," "Lonely," "Whiskey" and "Higher."
"We tried to display our growth without ditching our original style," Hyunsik explained, adding that the members took part in the creative process of all 13 tracks included in the album.
According to BTOB, "Be Together" is an album that speaks for the group, in which the members reminisce about their 10-year career and ask their fans to stand next to them forever.
"We have countless memories and stories with our fans," Minhyuk said. "And we tried to put all of them together in 'Be Together.'"
As the five Korean members all had to serve their compulsory military service ― except Peniel who has U.S. citizenship ― it took more than three years for BTOB to release an album as a sextet.
"I felt different kinds of energy when I was preparing for this album, because BTOB members finally reunited as one team," Eunkwang said. "I was more than happy ... I hope I can share my pleasant feelings with our followers through 'Be Together.'"
The new album also signals the 10th anniversary of BTOB's debut. The six-piece act debuted with the EP, "Born to Beat," in 2012 under Cube Entertainment.
"All of us are very serious about music," Changsub noted. "I think this has led us to reach this point."
Hyunsik chimed in, saying, "I feel like we have transformed ourselves from amateur musicians to professional ones."
Sungjae wrapped up the session by revealing his goal.
"We are older than typical K-pop rookies, but we are still doing our best to follow new trends and come up with a range of content," he said. "I hope BTOB can take a further leap forward by gaining more global traction in the days ahead."
