“We go our own way.”

ATEEZ, a group rising as the next-generation ‘K-pop runners’, is determined to once again establish their ‘value’ on the global stage.

Having toured large-scale festivals this year, including Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the U.S., Mawazine in Morocco, and Summer Sonic 2024 in Japan, they have solidified their position overseas. They will release their 11th mini album ‘Golden Hour: Part. 2’ on the 15th at 2 PM and are set to target the U.S. Billboard chart.

ATEEZ‘s new album, released five months after their 10th mini-album ‘Golden Hour: Part 1’, continues with the title ‘Golden Hour’ and tells a story about ‘love’ connected to their previous work.

In particular, the title song ‘Ice On My Teeth’ focuses on “my true value”, and the lyrics reflect what the eight members realized through their various experiences this year.

“After our debut in 2018, we’ve only focused on running forward. So at some point, we began to question whether we were acknowledging our own value and whether we had ever shown our pride in the team to others. That‘s why we expressed ‘My own value that shines only when I smile’ through the title song title which means diamonds embedded in teeth.”

The confidence we gained from performing on global stages this year also became an opportunity to focus more on the team’s ‘values’. Based on their confidence in the team, the members renewed their determination to clearly show “ATEEZ‘s identity of constantly challenging new things”.

“Attending renowned festivals made me feel proud that the path we’ve walked was right. We also learned unique performance styles by watching the stages of stars from other countries. “We wanted to showcase our team’s strengths, which are defined by our unwavering live performances and powerful performances, while also showing our passion to make things different from before.”

Since the path they want to walk is clear like this, ‘results’ no longer seem important to them. ATEEZ, who have previously ranked in the top 3 of Billboard’s main album chart, ‘Billboard 200’, for four consecutive times, are drawing attention from both inside and outside K-pop as to whether they will be able to set a ‘new record”, but the members themselves emphasized, “We are not obsessed with rankings.”

“ATEEZ will pioneer its own path. It will be the same ahead of our 7th anniversary next year. We are currently discussing contract renewal with the members and our agency from various angles. One thing I can tell you for sure is that there is still a lot we want to show as ATEEZ. The story of the eight people is endless. We want to be a group that keeps releasing new things for a long time.”


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com