From left, singers Bang Yong-guk, Jung Dae-hyun, Moon Jong-up, and Yoo Young-jae pose during a showcase event for the group’s new album, "Curtain Call," at Ilchi Art Hall, Gangnam District, Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of MA Entertainment By Lee Gyu-lee Four members of the disbanded K-pop boy group B.A.
P—Bang Yong-guk, Jung Dae-hyun, Yoo Young-jae, and Moon Jong-up—have reunited to release a new EP titled “Curtain Call.” This marks their first collaborative project in over six years, following the group's eighth single album, “EGO,” which was released in December 2017. “We've been talking about reuniting regularly.
And at the end of last year, we thought it would be nice to get together when Yoo was discharged from military service (this year),” Moon said during the showcase event for the group’s new album at Ilchi Art Hall, Gangnam District, Seoul, Thursday. “All of us felt positive about the reunion, so we went on with it. We definitely thought we would do it someday.
The important question was when.” Debuting in 2012, B.A.
P instantly became one of the most promising rookie groups at the time, sweeping New Artist accolades at various music awards. The six-piece group released a string of hits, including "One Shot"(2013) and "Skydive" (2016), until the members parted ways after their contract with the agency, TS Entertainment, ended in 2019. Another member, Zelo, is currently in military service and Himchan is on probation due to charges of sexual assault.
The new album, which was released on Thursday, consists of five tracks: the title song “Gone,” “Love,” “Farewell” “Stand it all” and “Way Back.” Bang took part in producing and writing the songs throughout the album and Yoo co-wrote the lyrics for “Way Back.” The members said it was important to show how they’ve changed through the years since their last group act.
“I thought the most important thing was to show how we've grown in different ways through the 6-year hiatus. And, we wanted to show the four of us standing on stage together again,” Jung said. “So much has changed since our debut.
So we had to learn everything again. Now that we've made a comeback, although there are other (artists) in the scene, we have our original color, so I believe we need to present a performance that shows our color.” A concept photo for the group's album, "Curtain Call" / Courtesy of MA Entertainment Rather than coming up with a new group name for the four-piece act under the new agency, MA Entertainment, the members decided to put together their last names.
The members got emotional as they explained they didn’t want to discard their identity as B.A.P.
“It would’ve been nice to use our original team name, but realistically, it was difficult. We had to consider (the group’s) direction, deciding whether to create a new name. But we’ve been active under our team name for so long and to choose a new team name (wasn’t easy),” Yoo said with tears in his eyes.
Jung added: “Many still remember us (as B.A.P) so if we can’t use that name, we felt it’s only right to meet our fans with our own names.
” The group is slated to hold a two-day concert, “2024 THE LAST FAN-CON [CURTAIN CALL],” on Aug. 17 and 18, and go on an Asia tour, visiting Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. When asked if this will be the group's final act, as suggested by the concert's title, Bang clarified that the term only represents the theme of this particular album.
“The concept of this album is an extension of the project we wanted to create as our final album while we were still B.A.P.
After 6 or 7 years, that project has finally come to fruition,” he said. “Rather than seeing this as our last album, we'd like you to see it as part of our artistic universe or a concept. We feel we can come back again with a new act at any time.
So, we’re not trying to focus ourselves on the word 'last'.”.
