'Seventeenth Heaven' logs record-high 5.2m preorder sales

Seventeen pushes envelope, rewrites K-pop history with 11th EP "Seventeenth Heaven"

Seventeen poses in front of a background advertising its 11th EP "Seventeenth Heaven." (Pledis Entertainment)

Seventeen continues its record-setting streak with its 11th EP "Seventeenth Heaven," racking up 5.2 million copies in preorder sales.

"Seventeenth Heaven" tallied pre-order sales of 5,206,718 units, the group's agency Pledis Entertainment said on Monday citing the data from the album's distributor YG Plus. The album will come out later at 6 p.m.

This marks a milestone for both K-pop and Seventeen, as it had been the group's own album -- the 10th EP "FML" -- that had logged the previous all-time high preorder sales of 4.67 million copies in April.

The K-pop dynamo is back in six months with "Seventeenth Heaven" to continue writing new history.

The EP is a self-made one by the bandmates, with Woozi, the main producing member, spearheading the overall production. Meanwhile, S. Coups, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Mingyu and Vernon contributed in the composition of lyrics or music for the album's eight tracks.

Leading the album is "God of Music," an upbeat soul funk song defined by the pleasant mixture of brisk synth and brass sounds. Woozi mainly composed the melody with singer-songwriter Bumzu, while teaming up with members S. Coups, Mingyu and Vernon to spell out Seventeen's definition of sheer happiness through the lyrics.

According to the members, the song is like an incarnation of the word "festival."

"You will revel in 'happy energy' with the song," Seventeen was quoted collectively saying in a statement released on Monday, adding that "the chorus part is where the magic happens" as all the sounds form a harmony amid the funky rhythm.

The EP includes seven other songs, including "SOS," produced by American electronic musician Marshmello. There are also three sub-unit tracks -- the performance team's "Back 2 Back," the hip-hop quartet's "Monster" and the vocalists' "Yawn"; "Diamond Days"; "Headliner"; and an instrumental version of the title track.

With "Seventeenth Heaven," a combination of the group's name into the term "seventh heaven," referring to a state of complete happiness, the band hopes to share a feeling of elation with listeners.

"We've always aspired to 'be the best.' Striving and racing restlessly for higher and broader, we finally revel in this moment of complete happiness -- 'Seventeenth Heaven,'" Seventeen said in Monday's statement, adding it "hopes to one day bring the nation together" under the "God of Music."

The 13-member multinational boy group debuted under Pledis Entertainment in 2015. With "FML," Seventeen not only set a new record for preorder sales, but also for first-day and first-week sales. Album sales eventually surpassed 6 million units, making Seventeen and "FML" the first artist and album to mark the feat in K-pop's history.

By Choi Ji-won(jwc@heraldcorp.com)