BTS’ highly anticipated Map of the Soul: Persona album arrives Friday, and the group has dropped some last-minute news that along with the Halsey-featuring single “Boy With Luv,” the EP will also feature a long-awaited Ed Sheeran collab.
Announced through a press release, “Make It Right” is described as a “delicate” collaboration track with Sheeran. In December, BTS’ Suga tweeted a teaser image of a song he was working on, addressing Sheeran and saying, “This is for you.”
The release also shared further details about the album and its songs. Overall, Map of the Soul: Persona is described as “a nod to the band’s past while showcasing their maturity and newfound understanding of love and the ever-widening world around them. The tracks have a clear message: finding joy in love and reaching out to the world.”
Similarly, the single “Boy With Luv” will serve as a parallel track to the group’s 2014 single “Boy in Luv.” “While the band’s prior release talked about young love, ‘Boy With Luv feat. Halsey’ is about how true strength and love come from finding joy in the smallest things in life.”
The other album tracks similarly explore the group’s messaging. The already-released “Intro: Persona” from RM questions individual identity, while the song “Mikrokosmos” will “paint the world through human interest.” The song “HOME” addresses BTS’ relationships with their fans, known as ARMY, and describes how the groups finds refuge where their fans are, while “Jamais Vu” is a song featuring J-Hope, Jin and Jung Kook. Album closer “Dionysus” will lean into the group’s hip-hop nature.
“We find strength and happiness in every moment,” BTS said in a statement. “You’ve given us so much love, and now we want to get to know our fans more. We filled our album with our genuine feelings and the messages that we want to share with you.”
The South Korean septet will perform “Boy With Luv” for the first time on Saturday Night Live this weekend following the album’s release on Friday. Map of the Soul: Persona is BTS’ first release of 2019 and follows last year’s Billboard 200 chart-topping albums Love Yourself: Tear and Love Yourself: Answer.