7: Comeback Diaries - Michelle Tremayne


Falling Down the Bangtan Hole

by

Michelle Tremayne

Hi, my name is Michelle. I’m an ARMY in my fifties and you can find me @sunshineandsmi4 on Twitter. ARMY basics - OT7 own my heart, but Yoongi owns my soul.

I fell into the Bangtan rabbit hole one sunny Sunday morning on June 3rd 2018 – yes I really can be that precise, the photos on my phone will bear witness. A friend had been sending me BTS snippets for a while and this time I thought why not? I downloaded Love Yourself Tear and the rest is history – I won’t go through the details, you all know the drill.

My first comeback was LY Answer. I should say at this point I had never listened to any Korean music before BTS, and although my deep diving into the subject had given me some idea of schedules etc, nothing quite prepares you for a full Korean idol style comeback.


Looking back it’s a kaleidoscope of joyous moments. The way I cried over ‘Jintro’ – I still do. Oh that video, the golden vocals of beautiful blonde Seokjin in the rain. Poring over the concept photos looking for clues and wondering for the umpteenth time how they look so good. The track list release and the first time we realised we would be getting solos from all seven members. The MV teaser for IDOL, 41 seconds of Korean sounds and styling finished perfectly by Jungkook’s cheeky cough.


Sitting in bed on the morning of Aug 24th and waiting for IDOL to drop. The twitter countdown. Goodness knows how many ARMY around the world hitting play at the same time, I remember mine wouldn’t load, I feel like we broke YouTube. Four minutes of silence while we watched with jaws dropped and then, BAM! Twitter exploding with “WHAT THE HECK?”, “WE LOVE IT!”, I don’t think anyone was expecting that blockbuster of a song. IDOL will always have a special place in my heart, there is nothing like yelling “You can’t stop me loving myself” at the top of your voice.

These few highlights really are just the tip of the iceberg because the wave carried right on. Streaming for charts and records, it was the first time I realised how organised we are as a fandom, how much talent and skill we have access to. The in-depth look at the lyrics, the theories, the analysis, and then actually getting your hands on a physical copy of the CD and unwrapping it with all due reverence. Watching the VLive where BTS tell us their thoughts on the album, Namjoon’s VLive where he explains the care and work that goes into crafting each track.  Above everything else, it’s that special feeling of being part of something so filled with love and excitement as ARMY.  I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

The comeback for Map of the Soul: 7 has not followed the usual pathway and that intrigues me. The scale is larger, more complex and appears to focus much more on BTS as the complex artists we know them to be.

So far we have been given tantalising snippets and seen the guys commission and connect with artists and art forms around the world. We have already been blown away by Interlude Shadow and Black Swan, both of which take us to darker places than MOTS: Persona.

I’m hoping this dark exploration will be a theme for the whole album. Give me lyrics of raw honesty - a truth that hurts. Show me how to look at myself and realise that it’s OK to have all these facets and thoughts.  Give me way to come to terms with it and leave me with hope.  Yep, give me all this… and make it harder edged and rocky!!!  I think 7 will do this and more. This is not a BTS looking to gain a foothold. This is a successful BTS showing the world exactly how good they are and I'm pretty certain we will not be ready.

Advice for new ARMY? My only advice is to enjoy it, just let the joy and excitement take you. Don’t get stressed, don’t feel like you have to do everything and buy everything. That doesn’t define ARMY, to be ARMY is to love BTS and share that love with others.








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