Jin of BTS talks new 'Echo' album, first solo tour and finding his voice

USA Today

16-05-2025

Jin of BTS talks new 'Echo' album, first solo tour and finding his voice
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BTS: Suga, RM say Billboard charts, Grammys are goals for 'Butter'
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Kim Seok-jin is not only part of BTS, the bestselling musical act in South Korean history with seven members, millions of records sold and a myriad awards won. Jin is also a solo artist.
When he released his first solo album, the man called "Worldwide Handsome" by fans wanted to hone in on happiness. He had just finished his mandatory military service in South Korea months prior, and the aptly named "Happy" released in November 2024, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart.
"Those were more about easy listening songs; the songs that I would love to listen to myself," Jin tells USA TODAY.
But with his new album "Echo", out now, the 32-year-old wanted to dive deeper into his craft, underscoring an emotional depth to his songwriting and stronger performance presence.
"The fans told me that they want to see me on stage, so this time around, I said, 'Let's focus more on performing,'" he says.
Jin thought about BTS' fans, known as ARMY, while working on "Echo," adding they were the reason he was able to release "another album so soon."
"I'm really happy that I'm back with another album after my release last year," he says. "It's an honor for me. I am very grateful."
Jin reveals how he curated the songs for 'Echo'
Performance played a vital role in shaping the tracklist for "Echo," Jin reveals.
"I received almost 1,000 songs for this album, and first I shortlisted about 30 of them. I picked out the 30 that I loved ... then I had a second listen to them, third listen to them," he explains. "I try to picture that image of myself in my head on stage with these songs. I thought, 'This song can bring out a new facet of myself that ARMY would love to see,' or 'This would be a blast on stage.'"
The next step was to consider what his fans would like. "It's the ARMY that listen to my music, and that's what really means the world to me," he adds.
From there, Jin narrowed down the final count to seven songs, each exploring themes of love and connection.
"The definition of love can be different for the different tracks in this album," Jin explains. "I think love comes in many forms. It could be love between lovers (or) between family members ... Friendship can be another form of love. So I wanted to touch on these multiple aspects of love."
When Jin wrote lyrics for the album, he honed in on specific scenarios.
"When writing 'Loser', I imagined if I dated someone back in my school days, I would have felt this way about this person, and for 'Don't Say You Love Me', it's really about how lovers know that their relationship is falling apart, but because there is that lingering love left, it's really hard to let go," he says.
The track "Nothing Without Your Love" is another special one for Jin since it is about the love that he feels about ARMY when he's performing.
"I think there are all these different types of love, and love is such a comprehensive term that really embodies all of these facets. So this is truly an album that is full of love," he says.
2024 Paris Olympic Games: BTS' Jin to join torch relay.
Finding Jin's voice through rock
Jin has always had an affinity for rock, and that shines through on "Echo." "This album really delves into the genre that I hold close to my heart," he says.
"I just stayed true to the voice tone that I have, and that's how I found myself in love with the band sound," Jin adds.
Jin is not the only member of BTS to venture into solo work. The other six have also released their own albums, each's discography highlights the distinct and individual talents in BTS.
"As BTS, because we're a team, we have to have a mixture of all the different voices that we have and all the different colors that we have," Jin explains. "But when we're doing our solo gigs and solo albums, then we can really find the one sweet spot that hits hard for (ourselves). As a team, we have our beautiful color, but as solo artists, I think we can also unleash our creativity and our own voices."
Jin talks about 2025 solo world tour
Jin is embarking on his first solo world tour to coincide with the album release. This includes eight US stops, including in Anaheim, California and Newark, New Jersey.
"I have limited time and places that I can go to," Jin says. "Since J-Hope is on tour right now, I decided to go to places where he couldn't go.
"I know that there are a lot of passionate ARMY in the US, and I love seeing that every single time they welcome us with so much love and support. So every time I go to the US, I'm so excited to see them."