11/04/2026

LYFE SATURDAY | APR 11, 2026

FOLLOW

ON TWITTER Malaysian Paper

26

@thesundaily

Magic Shop opens its doors for Armys

S OUTH KOREAN K-pop megastar BTS kicks off its world tour this week, riding the momentum of a chart-top ping comeback album and a land mark performance in the heart of Seoul. The seven-member group – widely regarded as the world’s biggest boy band – took to the stage together for the first time last month following a years-long hiatus prompted by mandatory military service, and after releasing its latest studio album Arirang . The performance, on the doorstep of the historic Gyeongbokgung Palace, drew more than 100,000 fans o BTS marks landmark comeback by kicking off its tour

to central Seoul, the group’s label said, while its Netflix livestream attracted an estimated 18.4 million viewers worldwide, according to the streaming giant. Spanning 85 shows in 34 cities worldwide, the highly anticipated tour – starting in BTS leader RM’s hometown, Goyang – is set to be a major money-spinner for BTS, potentially outdoing Taylor Swift’s recent Eras Tour, according to analysts. The cities include Tokyo, Manila, Toronto and Buenos Aires – and marks the highest number of shows for a single tour by any South Korean artist, according to the group’s label. “We all agreed that the most important thing for a singer is a concert,” member Jin said in a statement released hours ahead of the concert. “We want to meet audiences all over the world as soon as possible, and since this is our first world tour in a long time, we want to experience

From left: V, Jimin, J-Hope, Jin, Suga, Jungkook and RM perform during the group’s concert at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul.

professor Sam Richards. “This is extremely significant for the future of K-culture and the nation of Korea because it means that unprecedented growth in soft power will continue,” he said. The group’s official community on Weverse has over 34 million members, while its Instagram following is over 80 million. “The guys built their following through social media and direct fan engagement before the industry fully understood how to do that,” Jeff Benjamin, Billboard’s K-pop columnist, said. “Army were never made to feel like consumers, but like they were friends and participants in BTS’s story, making the group’s rise feel personal to millions of people in a way that superstardom doesn’t typically resonate.”

known as Army. Despite the rain, fans, many dressed in purple – the colour symbolising Army – waited outside the venue, some sheltering beneath a straight run of steps. Future of K-culture BTS recently became the first K-pop act to top the US Billboard 200 for two consecutive weeks with the latest album, while its tracks also secured top spots across multiple Spotify charts. Many K-pop boy bands have faced career downturns after completing mandatory military service, in a fiercely competitive industry in which momentum is hard to regain. But BTS are proving that is not going to be the case for the group, said American sociologist and Pennsylvania State University

the culture and concert atmosphere of each region firsthand.” Its latest album Arirang – also name of the tour – is billed as reflecting the maturing boy band’s Korean identity. It is named after the traditional Korean folk song about longing and separation, often dubbed South Korea’s unofficial national anthem. Ahead of the tour, the group has moved beyond themes of adolescent pain and internal conflict, entering “a realm of looking more deeply” into themselves, Kim Jeong-seob, the author of The Universe of BTS , told AFP. Goyang – about 16km northwest of Seoul, has turned into a purple-lit celebration zone ahead of the concert – with landmarks such as Ilsan Lake Park lit up nightly in tribute to BTS and its global fanbase, At the album’s core, Ginger Lemonade stands as a heartfelt love letter to the band’s own creative partnership, a reminder that “chosen” family can weather even the most uncertain moments. “Sonically this record is us exploring some of the most visceral emotions...” shared guitarist David Wood. That sense of shared experience extends not only to the album’s themes, but to the way the band write and create together. “If we could each individually just write these songs, we probably would have. But part of why we’re in a band is the camaraderie and the brotherhood. We all need each other to take these ideas and explore them together,” explained guitarist Jacob Kereliuk. A string of releases leading up to the record release has built incredible momentum for the band. Recent single Cicada sits at over five million streams across platforms, helping push the band past 3.45 million monthly listeners and over 800 million catalogue streams to date. Late last year, the band performed

Pedestrians walk in front of a banner welcoming BTS fans near a stadium in Goyang. – PICS FROM AFP

Good Kid drops debut album Can We Hang Out Sometime ? TO R ONTO’ S Good Kid has released its debut album Can We Hang Out Sometime? , recorded with Grammy winning producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Wallows, Lana Del Rey). grudge, to the haunting pull of Rift and its all-consuming obsession. Cicada wrestles with inadequacy and desire, while Tea Leaves reflects on the cyclical pain of drifting apart.

Hang Out Sometime? – its importance, its fragility and the search for it in moments of uncertainty. From the bittersweet Wall to the tender Coffee , the album serves as an ode to and a meditation on how we relate to friends, lovers, the world around us and ourselves. Leaning into that emotional openness, the band pushed itself further than ever before in the studio. “This record is the most unfiltered and uninhibited we have ever been. There are so many things on this record that are irreproducible, sounds and methods that made each and every take totally unique. From writing a crazy solo that’s nearly impossible to play to having Nick screaming his lungs out in his vocals for the very first time,”shared the band. Across the record, those ideas take shape in stories of strained friendships, missed signals and the quiet effort it takes to show up for one another. “The record is about acknowledging the difficulties of life and hanging out with your friends anyway, to help make it better,” said singer Nick Frosst. That tension between closeness and distance carries across the album’s emotional range, from the grungy bite of Eastside , which picks at a long-held

The debut album captures the band pushing its sound into new territory, while retaining the high-energy hooks and inventive riffs that have become its hallmark. The theme of connection runs throughout the 10 tracks on Can We

Good Kid representing the raw edge of pop-punk and J-rock. – PIC BY STEPH MONTANI

cultivated a fiercely participatory fan community, while establishing itself as one of the most creator-friendly projects in modern guitar music. By making its entire discography Content ID–free and DMCA–free, the band has empowered creators across Twitch (X), YouTube and other platforms to use its songs without fear of takedowns, allowing the music to spread organically across gaming streams, animations and online communities.

at the Streamer Awards in Los Angeles, where the performance placed the band among the event’s impressive list of past performers and fellow digital-era music disruptors, including Ty Dolla $ign, Bella Poarch, Yung Gravy and BBNO$. Blending the punchy riffs of J rock, the immediacy of indie rock and the raw edge of pop-punk, Good Kid has spent the past several years quietly building something larger than a typical band trajectory. Entirely independent, it has

Album artwork.