The members of SEVENTEEN have had quite the year, but they don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. Six months after the release of FML, their record-breaking six-track EP, the 13-member group is back in the scene and introducing their 11th mini-album, Seventeenth Heaven, with a significant vibe shift.
Rather than focusing on embracing the ups and downs of life like FML, Seventeenth Heaven takes a more Horatian approach, focusing on the final destination, the right now. It's an unabashed, joyous celebration of their journey so far, or SEVENTEEN’s carpe diem commemoration, and they rely on a myriad of sonic references to convey the message.
Following a month of teasers, concept photos, and track samplers, Seventeenth Heaven finally arrives today, October 23, with six brand-new songs and an instrumental-only rendition. Leading the album is title track, “God of Music,” an airy funk-inspired number that sets the tone for the group’s new bright and cheery era. Opener “SOS,” co-produced by Marshmello, unfurls the project in all English with a hint of rock. Self-referential “Diamond days” looks back to SEVENTEEN’s past, playfully sampling their first ever fully original song, “Shining Diamond.” Closer “Headliner” goes full circle to rock to epitomize the celebratory feeling.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a SEVENTEEN EP without some subunit tracks. The group’s performance merges EDM and R&B in “Back 2 Back.” Perfectly timed for an October release, the hip-hop unit brings us highly-animated “Monster,” which could be best described as “GAM3 BO1”’s spooky sister, while the vocal unit shows off their prowess in the dainty piano-led ballad “Yawn.”
To accompany the release and match the EP’s festive nature, the group also organized their second SEVENTEEN Street popup, this time in Seoul’s buzzing Seongsu-dong. During the five-day celebrations, fans could interact with each other, take pictures, buy merch, grab a bite, and gather clues for the comeback.
Ahead of the release of Seventeenth Heaven, Teen Vogue sat down with Joshua, Mingyu, Vernon, and Dino to talk about the process of working on the album, connecting with fans with offline installations, and their hopes for 2024.
Teen Vogue: Before we get into Seventeenth Heaven, I wanted to chat with you a little bit about your year because you have had quite an amazing year so far. You released FML earlier this year, and you literally made history with the amount of sales and pre-orders. Did you anticipate anything like that happening?
Joshua: Well, while preparing for FML, we were really confident. We really loved the outcome of the album. So I don't know if you could call it confidence, but we hoped that a lot of people would love [it too]. The numbers…. I don't think we could ever anticipate that much feedback and love, it was crazy when we heard about it.
Vernon: Yeah, we definitely didn't expect those numbers. We were really surprised. Everyone was surprised here.
TV: Obviously, the numbers are huge, and you said that you didn't quite anticipate it, but now that it's happened, how does it affect the way you approach other things? Did it put pressure to perfect Seventeenth Heaven to the max, or did you try to not let it interfere?
Mingyu: Because FML turned out to be a bigger success than we imagined, we did have a little bit of pressure on our shoulders. However, our mindset, the way we approach our music, hasn't really changed from any of the previous albums. We always prepare with our utmost effort, so we're just excited to bring [this project] to the fans.
Joshua: Yes. I think that's not bad pressure. I think it's good pressure, one that always helps us grow as artists...
Vernon: Yes, it's good pressure, just having a sense of responsibility.
TV: Would you feel a bit sad if Seventeeth Heaven doesn't do as well? Or are you hopeful that it will do just as well?
Dino: We'd be lying if we said we wouldn't be a bit dispirited at all if this album didn't turn out as well, but we have complete faith in this one as well. We are so excited. We're really confident it's going to be fun. It's that type of album.
TV: Nice. I think it will do well, if not better, so you're fine. You don't have to worry.
Mingyu (in English): Thank youuuu.
TV: As we already mentioned, you've been working on Seventeeth Heaven for a while. Leader S.Coups spoiled both the FML and Seventeeth Heaven comebacks during Caratland, so the overlap is pretty evident. Can you tell me a bit about some highlights of the process?
Mingyu: You're correct. We shot the jacket photos for Seventeenth Heaven when we were doing the FML promotions. The songs came out pretty quickly, too, quicker than we expected. That said, we had very tight schedules then, so we actually started all the choreo practice a little later, way after the songs came out. We also got the chance to shoot the music video for the title track in Budapest, and you'll be able to see this right away when you take a look at the music video, but it was a great experience. We were really happy.
TV: Well, speaking of happiness, the concept of the album is embracing happiness despite hardships. What made you want to tackle this theme right now?
Vernon: The first time I heard the title track, “God of Music,” Bumzu was like, "Check out this new song. I think this will be our next title." We heard it, and, yeah, it felt like everything clicked. I feel like it's been quite a while since we've done such a bright, energetic title comeback, [so we needed it.] And, yeah, I do think CARATs would love it as well. We can't wait to come back right now.
TV: Vernon and Mingyu, you both participated in the lyrics for the title track. Can you tell me a bit about the inspiration? How was the process, and what is the message you're trying to send with the song?
Mingyu: Since the title is “God of Music,” we didn't want to send the message to a particular person but have this song go out to everybody, everyone that listens to music. We wrote the lyrics imagining that we were talking to everybody across the world, thinking about togetherness, and trying to make the lyrics as friendly and easy to listen to as possible.
TV: Well, I'll get into the music video in a bit, but the title for the album is a play on the expression “seventh heaven," which means to be ecstatic.
Joshua: That's right.
TV: I want to know: what makes you the happiest in the world? What's your seventh heaven? Aside from being with CARATs...
Joshua: Wow, I didn't know that it was going to go there. Thank you. Good question.
Dino: For me, it would honestly have to be the time that I spend with the members just hanging out. Before practice, when we are just playing around, joking around amongst ourselves.
Joshua: Vernon?
Vernon: What makes me the happiest? I don't know.… Life? I'm just really happy right now with my life. I'm happy to have the members around me, and the people around me right now and to be doing what I'm doing right now.
TV: What about Mingyu and Joshua?
Mingyu (in English): I think concerts make me happy.
TV: That's kind of cheating, I said aside from being with CARATs.
Mingyu [jokingly]: I'm truly never happy when I'm not with our fans. Honestly.
Joshua: [Laughs.] For me, just like Dino said, just messing around with our members and always knowing that they'll be on our side is really important. I think that plays a really big part in my happiness. I'm really thankful for our members like Dino, Vernon, obviously Mingyu, and all the other members for being a part of my life, so really happy about that.
TV: Okay, now let's get into the music video. You filmed it in Budapest, which is exciting. I got a description for it, and it looks like it's going to be wild in the best sense, whimsical and chaotic in a very SEVENTEEN way. Can you tell me a bit about the process of filming? And do you have any funny anecdotes from when you were on set? I'm assuming it's going to have a lot of CGI, so how was it filming all of that?
Mingyu: We also haven't been given the final version yet with the CGI and all, so we are really excited to see it. It was our first time in Budapest, and we were lucky enough to have spent some downtime with the members around the city looking around, which was really nice. The most memorable moment was the fact that we shot on a bridge in Budapest. We rented the entire bridge for the shoot, which is pretty momentous. When you watch the music video, you'll be blown away.
Dino: Yes, and the fact that we rented a bridge in Budapest for this, I think that really goes to show the scale of this music video.
TV: Going back to the scale of things, for the last two projects, you've been doing the releases with SEVENTEEN Street popups. What made you want to do these installations for carats to enjoy? How did the idea come about, and what made you want to push for it?
Mingyu: You know how the teaser that drops before the movie is always the most exciting? It really builds up anticipation, right? As we are also counting down to our comeback, we know that all the fans are really excited about that moment in the lead-up to our comeback, so we wanted to share the excitement a little more offline with our fans.
Joshua: A lot of the members actually went to the popup. When I went to the popup, I felt like, in general, it was a basic embodiment of our whole Seventeenth Heaven album. The sets where the fans could take photos were very similar to our photo shoots for the album, so it was basically, they could delve into the process of us making the album and everything. I think that was a really good thing to do.
Vernon: Yeah, SEVENTEEN, we always want to give our CARATs the best experience possible, and we're really happy with what our company did with the popup. Hopefully, CARATs enjoyed it as well.
TV: Dreaming big, what else would you like to do in the future with these types of interactive spaces? I know for the April one, you had a massive Caratbong in the Han River. What else would you want to do in the future if scale is not a problem?
Mingyu: Mmmm. I'd want to decorate one of the bridges on Han River with our past album artworks so that people can drive across the bridge looking at one glance, all of the work that we have done in the past. Just like we do in the “God of Music” music video...
Joshua: For me, because I'm a big fan of Super Mario and there's a Super Mario World, I'd maybe want to collaborate with a popular amusement park. Having a SEVENTEEN amusement park for that album would be really cool, SEVENTEEN-themed.
Vernon: That sounds like fun.
TV: Yeah. What about you, Dino?
Dino: I'd want to think out of the box and do a flash mob in the center of Seoul along to our song, “God of Music,” with all the people around there.
TV: You can do it. Danceology feat. the city of Seoul.
Dino: Yeah! Thank you.
TV: Okay. This kind of overlaps. You might be the Gods of Music with this release, but you're also arguably the Gods of Variety with Going Seventeen and you have a lot of interesting things in the pipeline as well, variety-wise, or so I think…. Is there a new format that you would like to try out in the future when it comes to variety?
Mingyu: We'd love to do interactive content that we can enjoy with the fans. For example, going to meet them in person.
Dino: Actually, one of the ideas that popped out while we were ideating for Going Seventeen was bringing copies of our new album to the fans in person.
Vernon: I always imagine Dino starring in SNL.
Dino: Wow. Nice.
TV: The Korean one or the American one?
Joshua: Both.
Vernon: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Joshua: You know he can do both.
Vernon: Yeah. He's really talented.
TV: With Picheolin? I trust that.
Vernon: With Picheolin, of course. But it's not only Picheolin, like, whatever you give him, he just...
Joshua: He has a lot of characters in him. He has a...
Vernon: ...a huge spectrum!
TV: Well, that teaser for Going Seventeen came out today. And you're the protagonist, Dino, so that's a testament that you can do it.
Joshua: Right. That is a testament. Correct.
Vernon: Yes. Look forward to that. It's going to be good.
Joshua: I think that specifically, those type of contents was made because of Dino,
Mingyu (in English): Yes, it's because of him.
TV: We have to thank you for so much, Dino, because those are some of the best types so content.
Dino: Thank you.
TV: For “Super,” you had very large-scale choreography. Is it going to be similar for “God of Music”? I know the vibes are not as anthemic, but what can you tease about the choreography for this title track?
Mingyu: Through the choreo, we wanted to embody that feeling of togetherness, how music brings people together. The movement is going to be easy to follow, right?
Dino: Yes, it'll be easy, but t there's also going to be a lot of running around, a lot of jumping, a lot of crouching...
Joshua: It's going to be an exciting performance to watch.
TV: Is it harder physically than anything you've done in the past? Running around seems like a lot, but you have done pretty intense choreography in the past.
Joshua: I'm not sure if it's because of age or if it's more tiring than our previous songs, but during practice, my heart was beating really, really fast. So it is tiring.
Mingyu (in English): Yesssss.
TV: As a whole, what has been the most memorable moment, not only about working on Seventeenth Heaven but the past years on the road? Do you have any particular moment that stands out to you?
Joshua: Oh, for me personally, this year was really memorable because it was actually our first time going to Europe all together. It was such a crazy experience because of all the historical monuments and the atmosphere; the environment was amazing. We've always been talking about wanting to go to Europe for tour for such a long time, and we finally went to Europe all together, so it was really amazing.
TV: Yeah, not to tour, though.
Joshua: Not to tour...
Vernon: Not to tour yet.
Joshua: Yet.
Vernon: Hopefully soon.
TV: Whereabouts in Europe did you go to together, aside from Hungary?
Joshua & Vernon: Italy!
TV: That's part of the things that people need to be looking forward to, right?
Joshua: Yeah. It's kind of like a secret [still].
Vernon: Well, it's supposed to be a secret but...
TV: But fans know stuff. We'll leave it at that then but we'll look forward to it. Okay. My last question for you is, do you have any goals or any bucket list items that you want to for sure achieve in 2024?
Joshua: I really want to go on [another world] tour with our members. I think that'll be really, really fun.
Mingyu: For me, since this album has festive vibes and it is in itself a festival, in 2024, I'd like to be on more festival stages with our members.
TV: Any festival in particular?
Joshua: Coachella.
Vernon: Oh, yes! Me too.
Joshua: We've never been to Coachella, so definitely Coachella.
Mingyu: Yeah. I want to be on and off stage, so I want to watch the performances of other artists as well as a member of the audience.
TV: Dino, to wrap it up, what do you want for 2024?
Dino: Next year, if I were to be ambitious, I'd like to achieve a bigger success than this year because I think we can aim for higher and higher since we're receiving a lot of love and support from our fans. We're so grateful for that, and it makes me want to make that love last longer.
