BTS' New Single Announcement Hints At When Their Next Album Will Drop

Being in quarantine has inspired a lot of artists to work on some new material for their fans. BTS dropped their last album Map of the Soul: 7 in February, and now they're already working on their next record. This time, they're taking a different approach to their album process, however. Instead of keeping the details hush-hush until release day, BTS is updating fans on their progress along the way through YouTube livestreams. At one point during their May 11 live, Jin may have revealed BTS' second 2020 album release date. But now that BTS has announced their first single, ARMYs think the date Jin suggested makes so much sense.

On July 26, BTS confirmed through their "Honey FM" radio show on VLIVE their new single, which will be entirely in English, will release on Friday, August 21. During that same clip, they confirmed they will drop another album soon, and this single will serve as a pre-release for it.

"We are preparing an album for the second half of this year, but decided to first release a single because we wanted to reach our fans as soon as possible. Due to COVID-19, people around the world have been going through tough times and we wanted to share some positive energy with our fans," they said.

Hear Jimin talk about the new song below.

Although they're not sure whether this single will be included in their new album, fans think their record will come shortly after due to a hint Jin dropped in a May 11 YouTube log.

Unlike BTS' previous YouTube logs they shared the past few months that involved one to three members, their May 11 live had all seven members present for one big group meeting. It was also pre-recorded at some point in April.

To kick off the discussion, RM began talking about the affect of the coronavirus pandemic on them and their fans. "The most important thing for BTS to do in this covid period is to show that life goes on, even amidst difficulty," RM said, according to a fan translation by @doyou_bangtan. He went on to explain that much like their previous title track ON, this isn't the end, and every day continues.

RM suggested centering their album around the theme "Carry On" and the other members liked the idea. He also offered the theme "telepathy," due to BTS and ARMY sharing similar feelings at this time. While BTS is feeling down due to not being able to perform live for their fans, ARMY is just as sad because they can't see BTS live in concert. After RM was finished, the rest of BTS began pitching their own ideas.

The most concrete info fans received was Jin may have spoiled when the album will drop. At one point, Jin asked, "Our album release is in October, right?" and Suga seemingly nodded in confirmation.

Watch BTS' full YouTube log below.

Now that BTS has confirmed their new single is coming at the end of August, ARMYs think October is the perfect time for the group's next album to drop, especially since Suga and MAX's second collaboration will release right in between them in September. If Jin's teaser turns out to be true, fans have so much to look forward to these next couple of months.

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