NEW YORK — This is a musical preview essay by PIX11 News reporter James Ford.

Despite the release of BTS' “Map of the Soul: 7” being highly anticipated, the South Korean powerhouse group has so far provided enough glimpses into this album, as well as to glimpses of who they are themselves, to show that they are true artists, almost beyond comparison.

Note the use of the word "almost." To be sure, I have made comparisons about them in the past. When the Group of Seven (that right there is a favorable comparison) was on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" last May, I praised the broadcast for correctly depicting BTS as a phenomenon not unlike The Beatles.

Kudos to @colbertlateshow for being the first to put @bts_bighit into their appropriate context! They really do have the worldwide status of @thebeatles, & what a great tribute by BTS in the same theater where the Fab Four made history. #GreatTV @BTS_twt https://t.co/uZhNNDW0j1 — James Ford (@jamesfordtv) May 16, 2019

Also, in my TED talk, I said that the band's unbelievable ability to be larger than life, but to still be able to connect with each of their hundreds of millions of fans on a deeply personal level is the gold standard for media interactivity.



Now, though, in the creation of, and the lead-up to, the release of “Map of the Soul: 7” — better known as MOTS:7 — the band has shown their true selves as creators of art.

They have also shown that they support other art creators. By doing so, BTS adds richness, complexity, and beauty to wherever their art reaches.

A few cases in point. The band, made up of Kim Nam Joon (whose nickname is RM), Kim Seok Jin (Jin), Min Yoon Gi (Suga), Jung Ho Seok (J-Hope), Park Ji Min (Jimin), Kim Tae Hyung (V), and Jeon Jeong-guk (Jungkook), pre-released the song "Black Swan” from their new LP last month.

That LP, MOTS:7, is their first collective creative effort since the band went on a well-publicized five-week hiatus last August and September.

They released one song from MOTS:7, "Black Swan," in mid-January. Rather than feature themselves in its unveiling, BTS had the Slovenian dance company MN Dance choreograph and perform a remarkably compelling, and intriguingly staged art film to the music of "Black Swan."

Then, earlier this month, I reported on the debut of the sculpture "New York Clearing" in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Created by British artist Antony Gormley, and taking up nearly a tenth of an acre, this massive, aluminum interactive work of art was one of 22 works of art in five major cities worldwide funded by BTS.

Also, preceding MOTS:7's release, BTS' record label, Big Hit Entertainment, released the single "Interlude: Shadow" featuring Suga, solo, last month. Earlier this month, Big Hit released another single with a BTS member performing solo: J-Hope's "Outro: Ego."

Both were high-quality pop performances, with very different moods and time signatures.

However, it was the next great performance of "Black Swan" that offers the strongest view from MOTS:7 of what the band is as a cultural force, and who the band's members are as artists, at this point in their careers.

On the "Late, Late Show" on Jan. 28, the seven members combined visual, musical, and choreographic arts to create an unforgettable television moment.

The incredible set, with its novel fusion of digitally created images, effective lighting, and unorthodox props showcased the ballad in surprisingly intense ways. It also highlighted anew the precise, complex, in-tandem dance moves for which the band is renowned.

It also favorably altered my already positive view of them. In full disclosure, the commercial success and global mania surrounding BTS' last LP, “Map of the Soul: Persona,” prompted me at times to compare them less to The Beatles, and more to another musically strong, and very popular historic British band of lesser esteem: Duran Duran.

That is not fair in any case, not to knock The Beatles or Duran Duran, the latter of whom I had the honor of interviewing and spending time with four years ago.

That experience serves as a reminder that the sum total of BTS today — with their demonstrated support of other artists, their healthy self-embrace as purveyors of creativity, their evident poise and self-knowing as a group, and as individuals — shows that they are truly a band like none other. They are well on course to be legendary in the history of popular music, but at this milestone along the way, they are on a rock solid promontory, and the view is breathtaking.

There are 20 tracks on MOTS:7. We have been fortunate to have three new ones already, in pre-release, as well as five songs that were on the band's previous LP.

With BTS being at a remarkable point in their development, the worldwide anticipation for the other 12 tracks seems very well deserved.

MOTS:7 drops on Friday, Feb. 21.

