“We wanted to shake things up,” SUGA tells Apple Music. “We discussed at length about doing something very new, especially for this album.” Like most of their record-breaking career, BTS’s group hiatus didn’t have much precedent. RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook—seven of the biggest stars on the planet—took the break in June 2022 in order to complete mandatory military service, as all able-bodied Korean men must do. “Enlistment era” is an inevitable phase for any successful K-pop boy group, but BTS’s departure as one of the biggest musical acts on the planet was more akin to Elvis Presley’s drafting into the US Army at the height of his fame than any other contemporary K-pop happenings. ARIRANG, a 14-track album grounded in Korean cultural identity, is the idol group’s return to the spotlight after almost four years. Written and recorded over months of LA-based songwriting sessions in 2025, the album includes a bevy of Western producers and songwriters, including Mike WiLL Made-It, Flume, El Guincho, Diplo, and Ryan Tedder, but finds its center—and title inspiration—in a 600-year-old folk song about the longing, sorrow, and resilience of the Korean people. “It was all about showcasing who we are, our identity and our roots,” j-hope tells Apple Music. “Arirang” is used as a framing for BTS’s deeper cultural roots in the midst of global collaboration, but it is also literally present. “We are all Koreans and we are proud of where we came from, and I think the song has lyrics and melodies [that] are very universal,” says RM. On the album opener “Body to Body,” a percussive statement about the power of “skin to skin” stadium concert togetherness, the beat gradually shifts from electric to acoustic as a pansori-style performance of “Arirang” comes in and then fades out again. The interplay links BTS’s modern work to a much older Korean tradition—a sentiment that carries over into the album’s other tracks, even when they are not so explicitly Korean in their sounds. Low-key lead single “SWIM” grooves along on waves of lo-fi synths in its attempt to provide comfort to listeners comparing their pace to others. “Hooligan” layers the clash of blades, humorless hahas, and the rappers’ precise delivery as it revels in the group’s love for musical experimentation. “Merry Go Round” indulges in melancholic melodies as the singers search for an escape from a painful routine. But for all the experimentation and collaboration, the album’s heart remains the members of BTS themselves. “We’ve been together for half of our lives, like 15 years,” says RM. “That’s a long time. That’s like a family.”