*clears throat*
ATEEZ ANNOUNCED THEIR NEW ALBUM TODAY!!!!!
You’ll have to pardon me for the screaming (and yes, it was absolutely screaming) because I am SUPER excited for this comeback! ATEEZ is one of my ult groups and I have been excitedly waiting on this album announcement since they teased it in late April.
So if you’re not familiar with ATEEZ, don’t fret – I’ll be doing some additional posts on them soon. Expect a lot more screaming coming up. But one thing that I’ve experienced with the last couple of releases is that they lean HARD into the ARG (Alternate Reality Game) teasers leading up to their announcement, and this album release is no different.
I only became a fan of the group right before “The World EP.1: Movement” was released in July of 2022. However, when I started reading more about how they teased the release – that sucked me in big time. I was also reading more about their concept and lore (yes, this group has LORE) around this time, and seeing how the teasers and promos connected to it just looked so fascinating:
On April 23, fans noticed several posters both in Hongdae, Seoul and outside the venue of Ateez’s concert in Madrid, Spain. The posters featured a QR code leading to an unlisted video teasing something unknown in July 2022.
On June 28, fans who attended the recording of Ateez’s special performance on The Show were sent an audio file named “Propaganda” from “Ateez” through AirDrop and Bluetooth. The group also posted a QR code leading to the same audio on their social media accounts before immediately deleting it on the same day. On July 1, the group released a second teaser, along with a video titled “Wake Up, The World”, confirming a new album named The World EP.1: Movement would be released on July 29. A third teaser was released on July 2 alongside the phrase “Lies Control Rules”, followed by a fourth on July 3 titled “Are you seeing this? Eyes in the sky”. On July 4, Ateez released the album’s promotion map.
– from the Wikipedia page on “The World EP.1: Movement”
And of course, before their single album “Spin Off: From The Witness” came out, we were teased with a 30-minute live video of nothing but clues, bell sounds, appearing and disappearing messages, morse code, and feathers – that was almost instantly deleted as soon as it finished. Yes, I watched that WHOLE DANG VIDEO when it dropped at 11PM my time.
Combine that with mysterious Instagram accounts, posters with QR codes, and finally, a prologue trailer.
Now, let’s hit up what we’ve seen so far before today’s name announcement:
- Banners outside of their Anchor in Seoul shows that supposedly advertised chili peppers – but contained a QR code that led people to a mysterious image that said “See You At The End” on the first day
- Blue envelopes handed out to the concert attendees that said “Here’s your order” and had a blue bird symbol stamped on it, with a QR code that led to the same image
- People who left the arena were greeted with a huge “Wanted” poster, with silhouettes of the group, and their names spray painted on each person – this installation was DESTROYED later, with ATEEZ flags planted all over the rubble
- A teaser video was shown after the concert, with individual Wanted posters for each member, with the basic date of “2023.06”
And just as I was writing this post, the release schedule was posted on ATEEZ’s Twitter account:
I am SUPER excited for this comeback, and I cannot wait to talk more about ATEEZ, their lore, and other things leading up to the main drop!