It’s that time of year again when we all reflect on the past 12 months in our own way. For our part, Weverse Magazine will be taking a look back at how different artists and their tireless staff spent 2022 with fans. We’ll be publishing articles for three weeks as the members of the staffs behind BTS, SEVENTEEN, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, ENHYPEN, fromis_9 and LE SSERAFIM select their favorite music, videos, performances and other MOMENTs from working with the artists they support. This week we take a look at the music these six groups have released. For this second part, we talk to the head of A&R for SEVENTEEN, Lee Hyo Jin, who tells us all about the group’s song “Circles.”

Why “Circles” is SEVENTEEN’s song of the year

Yi Hyo Jin (head of PLEDIS A&R): I think “Circles” really says what SEVENTEEN wanted to say to all the fans who are always such a big support for them as well as what the members wanted to say to one another. And it was worked on right from the beginning with the clear intention of being a song about wanting to bring comfort to everyone who’s having a hard time. I chose “Circles” as SEVENTEEN’s song of the year because I felt like everyone can relate to the message it has.

A TEAM SVT song

Yi Hyo Jin: “Circles” started with TEAM SVT. It started with the idea that it should be a kind of team song that everyone in TEAM SVT could sing together. While “Ash,” the final track on Face the Sun, is about setting fire to everything there is and setting off for a new world, we wanted “Circles,” the first track on the repackaged album SECTOR 17, to show that the struggle finally led to a new place. So we thought there should be a part where they can all sing together, and the last part of the song where they all sing together with a choir shows how it’s their team song. A choir performance isn’t good if just one person is good. Just as everyone in a choir needs to hit their own notes properly to make the whole thing work, I felt SEVENTEEN would have to work together the same way to move in the direction we were taking it. This song was meant to convey that you can’t have one person walk away or tire out and that it’s important for everyone to walk the same path together.

It’ll spin again and come back to its place

Yi Hyo Jin: You know how when you listen to songs from when you were in school, you’re transported back to those times? Sometimes when I hear a song, the memories and emotions I felt at that time all come back to me. My hope is that “Circles” brings comfort to people when they’re feeling down or hurt and that it also makes them feel that much happier once they start to feel happy again. So I hope it’ll be a song people can listen to at any time in their lives, whether happy or sad, and know they can get by if they stick together.

The engine that keeps SEVENTEEN going

Yi Hyo Jin: I can think of exactly two things: CARAT, and the synergy between the SEVENTEEN members. You could say the members of SEVENTEEN are kept together by a working relationship, but you can tell there’s more between them just by looking at them. They look so happy and like they’re having such a good time even when they’re just practicing together (laughs) and all of them are very determined to spread their energy to more and more people. The group members always say, “SEVENTEEN loves SEVENTEEN songs more than anyone.” “Circles” gave them all a boost of energy just by listening to it while stretching together for practice. They all love the song without exception. In other words, they really love everything they do together as SEVENTEEN. I think all of that together is the engine that drives SEVENTEEN—CARAT giving endless support to SEVENTEEN, and SEVENTEEN always looking to repay their love.

SEVENTEEN in 2022

Yi Hyo Jin: SEVENTEEN was so busy every minute and every second of 2022 that none of it went to waste. They saw their fans in person for the first time in a long while, went on a world tour and released three albums during that time full of things the group wanted to say. SEVENTEEN’s image is all based on their personal growth and their albums have always been autobiographical, but this year their songs were more open about their ambitions than in the past. The members of our staff like to say SEVENTEEN is limitless. Everyone in SEVENTEEN is working toward their goals as one, and once they do accomplish those goals, they work even harder to figure out what to do next and the meaning they’re searching for as well as the steps they need to take to get there. They said that they spent a lot of time thinking about what they should do now and that they were able to show a different side of themselves in the end. Looking back on this past year, SEVENTEEN accomplished what they set out to do and once again pushed boundaries, so I think people will be curious to see what they’ll get up to going forward. The members and staff are working hard to surprise people that they can show even more new and improved aspects of SEVENTEEN in 2023, even going into their ninth year. So I hope everyone sticks with SEVENTEEN for the upcoming year and keeps sending them all their support.