RM says BTS are “working diligently” on their new album

BTS’s RM has said the band are “working diligently” on new music.

• READ MORE: BTS at 10: how the world-conquering boyband evolved from hip-hop rookies to eclectic icons

The K-pop juggernauts reunited in early July for the first time since 2022, with all seven members having completed their mandatory military service in South Korea. During a special livestream, the band confirmed rumours that they were preparing to release new music.

Now, RM has given an update on the album and his experience adjusting to life after completing his military service, in a statement shared with fans on Weverse.

“It’s already been a little over two months since I was discharged from the military,” he wrote, (taken from an English translation provided on Weverse). “I’m from faraway Los Angeles. I live, work, and play with the members. It’s a really strange experience. It feels like ‘Bon Voyage Pyeongchang.’ It’s weird already, right… Anyway, I feel like I’m working diligently somewhere.”

The musician went on to give fans insight into his daily routine, saying he wakes up at 10am, works out, eats breakfast, and then works with BTS from about one or two in the afternoon to eight or nine at night. Afterwards, he said that he “sits alone on the terrace of the rented house, the past, present, and future, I think about these dizzy tenses.”

Further alluding to a new album from BTS, he wrote: “Making something ‘together’ with these friends, I’m going to commit myself to this moment. I’m going to thank you. It’s our next album. I’m looking for what I’ll become. Something I’ve forgotten for too long, the moments that are far away together. I hope that it will be a kind of beauty.”

And in a final word to fans, he said, “I miss you. It’s a long time… I guarantee you, I’ll be there soon. I’ll do my best until then. I love you.”

Jimin and Jungkook were discharged from the South Korean military in June, shortly after RM and V also completed their mandatory service.

Jin was discharged last summer, with J-Hope following suit in October. Suga also completed his time serving as a social service agent in late June, an alternative to active duty, due to a past shoulder injury

Speaking in July, the group said in a statement: “We’ll be releasing a new BTS album in the spring of next year. Starting in July, all seven of us will begin working closely together on new music. Since it will be a group album, it will reflect each member’s thoughts and ideas. We’re approaching the album with the same mindset we had when we first started.

“We’re also planning a world tour alongside the new album,” they added. “We’ll be visiting fans all around the world, so we hope you’re as excited as we are.”

BTS went on hiatus in 2022, so that its members could also “explore some solo projects”, one of the most recent of which was Jin releasing his second solo project, titled ‘Echo’.

Following his discharge, V hinted at a BTS, saying in an interview with Apple Music 1: “I look forward to June when our members will have completed their service. We will quickly get together and talk about what BTS can do in the future. I think it’s going to be a massive energy.”

Before then, he told Weverse Magazine: “When we’re all back together as a group, it’s going to have a huge impact, and everybody’s going to be watching. I’m excited to see what it’ll feel like when we perform together again. I want to come back in style and say, ‘This is us. This is BTS.’ I can’t speak for everyone, but I can tell you the other members feel the same way.”