Just as K-pop boy band Seventeen’s new single “Darl+ing” was unveiled online Friday afternoon, the song rang out gently through the Apple Store in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, where the first of the band’s collaborative session with the tech company was taking place.

Dropping their first ever English-lyric single, “Darl+ing,” the band joined hands with Apple as the first K-pop artist to be selected for the “Today at Apple” remix session. The creative initiative, offered both online and in the Apple Store, allows fans to deconstruct the song and create a remix of their own style. Reservations for the experience, running until April 15 at the Apple Myeong-dong store, can be made online.

“Putting together the different sources in GarageBand, you’ll be able to create your own sound. We hope you also get the feeling of content that we had in making the song through this remix project,” Min-gyu, one of the band’s members, said in a video played during Friday’s session. GarageBand is the music creation software used on Apple devices.

According to the members, “Darl+ing” was created with a simpler structure and less embellishments than usual so fans could add their own color through the creative experience.

“We made the melody and rhythm more simple so that the song could reach a wider range of listeners,” Hoshi said in the pre-recorded video. S. Coups added, “Compared to our other music, the rhythm is less heavy, and you could enrich the sound by adding various elements onto it.”

The members also went into detail as to how they produced the song.

“Working on a new single, our focus was on relaying a sense of warmth and comfort to all of our listeners,” Joshua said, speaking in English.

“The start was a guitar sound,” Seung-kwan said. “To that guitar sound, we started telling a story that spreads good energy, and the melody and lyrics followed naturally.”

Woozi, who took part in the song’s composition, said, “We wanted to talk about ‘us’ through the song,” adding, ”Delivering the message that ‘we become complete only when we’re us,’ we wanted to share the value of being together.“

”Us“ not only referred to the 13 members, but their fans -- who go by the name Carat -- as well.

”It also carries our hearts for the fans. The 13 of us and the fans, we become complete together,” Jun said.

Separately, this was the first time Seventeen dropped its new music at 1 p.m. -- instead of the usual 6 p.m. at which most of the new releases are put out in South Korea -- to target the US audience.


“Darl+ing” is a digital single released in advance ahead of the band’s fourth full-length album set to come out in May. It will mark the start of a brand new story told with “more sincerity” to their global fans, according to the band’s label Pledis Entertainment.

The group’s leader and producer, Woozi, teamed up with label-mate artist Bumzu in the song’s composition and lyrics-writing.

Pledis Entertainment had also hinted the band will further expand its presence in the global music scene through the “Team SVT” project aimed at bringing members and global Carat together.

One of the most popular bands in the K-pop scene, Seventeen debuted in 2015 under Pledis Entertainment as a 13-piece group comprising S. Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK (Dokyum), Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino.

All five of the band’s latest releases have become million-sellers, and its ninth EP “Attacca” came in at No. 13 on Billboard 200. It was two rungs above the previous album “Your Choice”’s ranking, which had marked the band’s debut into the Billboard main album chart.

To fans taking part in the “Today at Apple” remix session with “Darl+ing,” Joshua said, “Even if your first attempt is not perfect, we hope the process itself will give the sense of accomplishment. If it becomes the starting point to the chain of inspirations and the ideas to follow, that will also mean so much to us.”