Arirang (album)

Arirang is the sixth Korean-language and tenth overall studio album by South Korean boy band BTS.^[a] It was released on March 20, 2026 by Big Hit Music.^[3] The album is the group's first release in over three years, after the group went on hiatus for each member to complete their military service.^[4]

To promote the album, BTS is set to embark on the Arirang World Tour, scheduled from April 2026 to March 2027.^[5]

On October 12, 2023, music executive Bang Si-hyuk told Bloomberg that BTS's next album would be a tenth anniversary project of their The Most Beautiful Moment in Life three-part series of albums.^[6] BTS shared that they had begun to work together in July 2025, and on August 22, RM shared through Weverse that the band was "working diligently" on their new album.^[7][8] On November 1, 2025, Jimin told fans that the album was finished and ready for release.^[9]

On New Year's Eve 2025, fans in South Korea with Gold Member status received a postcard teasing the date of the group's comeback.^[10] On January 4, 2026, Big Hit Music announced the group's comeback with an album, accompanied by a world tour.^[11] The title was later revealed on January 15, referencing the Korean folk song of the same name.^[12][13] Big Hit Music stated Arirang "captures BTS' identity as a group that began in Korea".^[14] On March 3, BTS revealed the album's track listing and production credits, with the seventh track "Swim" highlighted in black.^[15][16]

On February 14, thousands of roses were distributed throughout major cities like Seoul, London, and Los Angeles. The installations included QR codes, and signs that asked, "What is your love song?".^[17] They partnered with Google Search to launch a scavenger hunt feature on March 4, with additional sealed quests being unlocked on March 9 and 16.^[18][19] Searching for "BTS" gave rise to a graphic of a blue ship in a bottle, which, upon being clicked, launched a series of trivia questions themed around the group to earn parchment cards with handwritten song titles by the members.^[20][21] On March 10, BTS and Spotify announced their "Swimside" partnership campaign, which includes pop-up events worldwide, in-app experiences and exclusive material from the group.^[22] BTS: The Return, a documentary on the making of the album will be premiered on March 27, 2026.^[23]

The group will hold a concert, entitled BTS The Comeback Live | Arirang, at Gwanghwamun Square on March 21, 2026. The concert will be exclusively streamed on Netflix.^[23]

Michael Cragg from The Guardian wrote in his four-star review: "At 14 songs, things tail off slightly as themes start to duplicate... On Arirang, they've made an album that makes good on their status as the planet’s biggest pop phenomenon, and that’s more than enough."^[28] In an 8 out of 10 review^[26], Clash's Maria Leticia L. Gomes writes: "The fourteen tracks make for a more mature body of work – one that trades the glossy, slightly on-the-nose singles of 'Butter' or 'Dynamite' for something more layered." Wren Graves from Consequence gave the album a B+ score, writing that "the album feels more often like seven individuals with real chemistry than one polished unit. The solo years gave each member a sharper creative identity... Arirang is the first attempt by those identities to share a room again."^[27] In a positive review, Pyo Kyung-min writes in The Korea Times that "Arirang unfolds less like a collection of stand-alone singles and more like a carefully sequenced story. Its dramatic progression suggests a collective intent to connect the past with the future through sincerity rather than abstraction."^[30]

• "Swim", "Fya" and "Normal" are stylized in all caps.
• "They Don't Know 'Bout Us" is stylized in lowercase