It’s been a week since global K-pop sensation BTS announced its seventh studio album, Map of the Soul: 7, and now, ahead of its release, the group has dropped the first single, Black Swan.
As previously promised on the band’s detailed “comeback map,” Black Swan was released on Friday along with a contemporary music video directed by YongSeok Cho, which the band called an “art film.”
The five-minute, 30-second video does not feature any of the seven members of BTS, but rather seven dancers from the acclaimed MN Dance Company.
As described in a press release by BTS’ management Big Hit Entertainment, Black Swan is “a confession of an artist who has truly learned what music means to himself.”
Though it serves as the record’s first single, Black Swan is actually the second taste of music from Map of the Soul: 7. Upon its announcement, the band released the short Interlude: Shadow, which features Suga, as the first “comeback trailer.”
BTS announced an “extended period of rest and relaxation” nearly six months ago, but made their unexpected return only a month later, before announcing their plans for new music at the beginning of this year.
The next things fans can expect from the Boy with Luv singers are a couple of “connect” global art exhibitions in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Tuesday and then a hometown showcase in Seoul, South Korea on Jan. 28.
That will kick off Phase 2 of the Map of the Soul: 7 cycle before the group releases its second and lead single in late February.
The members of BTS are Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook.
Map Of The Soul: 7 will be released through Big Hit Entertainment on Friday, Feb. 21.
Physical copies of the album can now be pre-ordered online.