The queens of K-pop have come to collect their things. Fifteen years after the release of their debut single, “Into the New World†— a hopeful track that lives on as a protest anthem — a reunited Girls’ Generation (SNSD) receive a much-deserved prize in the music video to “Forever 1,†arriving after the band’s five-year hiatus to pursue solo activities. The joyful single is off their seventh Korean-language studio album of the same name, out August 5. Written and produced by longtime collaborator Kenzie, a veteran hitmaker who worked closely with Girls’ Generation’s label SM for over two decades and composed “Into the New World,†the song recalls the optimistic energy of that very first release.
In the intervening years between releases, members Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun have spent time recording albums, acting, modeling, and just being famous — as captured in the glamorous music video which sees the eight-piece galavanting in private jets and performing together atop gilded parade floats and cruise ships. In between jet-setting and DJ sets at exclusive parties, the girls march down a long red carpet toward a trophy waiting on a pedestal for them. Leader Taeyeon collects the statue — it’s suspiciously shaped like the official Girls’ Generation fan club, SONE’s, heart logo — and the members burst into dance. It’s their generation; we’re just living in it.