ARMYs, brace yourselves: Four years after mono. brought us comfort and hope, BTS’ leader is back with a new offering. That’s right: RM’s new album, Indigo, is coming to a streaming service near you very, very soon. The official BigHit Music Twitter account posted an announcement on Nov. 10, and so far, this album promises everything from collabs to a candid look at RM’s 20s.
If you’re wondering about the release date, track list, who these mysterious collaborators are, and more, I got you.
The announcement comes after BigHit also confirmed BTS’ military enlistment is on the horizon — the members had previously said during their 2022 FESTA this summer that they were going to shift their focus to solo work for the time being, though fans didn’t yet know that was because the boys were gearing up for their military service. So far, J-Hope has released a solo album Jack In The Box (which gained further recognition when he headlined Lollapalooza), and Jin has put out a solo single album with his song “The Astronaut” that he worked on with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. Jin will also be the first member to enlist, by the end of this year.
Indigo is not RM’s first solo work — he’s previously shared 2015’s RM and 2018’s mono. with ARMY, though both were considered “mixtapes” rather than traditional albums. No confusion about Indigo, though: His Instagram post announcing the release refers to it as “RM’s 1st Solo Album.”
When will RM’s album Indigo be released?
Thankfully, you won’t have to wait too long for new RM music — the release date for Indigo is Dec. 2. If you want to set a reminder for the exact time, it’s dropping at 2 p.m. KST, which is midnight EST, or 9 p.m. PST on Dec. 1 for people on the West Coast.
Pre-orders began on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 11 a.m. KST, so I hope you have your money saved up, ARMY. (See more info below on where to pre-order.)
What is Indigo’s track list?
Before the track list reveal, RM was pretty candid in his Instagram story: On. Oct 23, he posted in celebration of mono.’s four-year anniversary, following it up with a screenshot of a zip file (presumably the new album) and the caption, “and next..?” He then followed that up with a bit more info. “Gon be the total record of my 2019 – 2022,” he wrote. “The twenties.”
The Weverse announcement also provides a hint as to the album’s content. “Through Indigo,” it reads, “RM delivers his candid thoughts and feelings and showcases a wide-ranging music through collaborations with various artists.” As one of BTS’ lead songwriters, RM is known for always being candid and putting his thoughts into words super eloquently, so I can only imagine how much these new songs will mean to ARMY.
RM has also been back on his IG story since the announcement dropped to give fans a bit more insight. According to a fan translation, he said that he’s been working on Indigo since 2019(!) and he hopes that fans can give it a lot of love. Uh, yeah, I think that’ll be doable.
And at long last, the album track list was revealed on Nov. 24, boasting 10 different songs and a ton of awesome collabs. Some fans are side-eyeing the announcement tweet, however, because the caption reads, “#RM #Inidgo Tracklist #10 Blues.” With the album’s name being Indigo, aka a mix of blue and purple, some ARMYs are theorizing that the “Blues” caption implies the existence of another “Purples” track list that has yet to be released.
Plus, as one fan pointed out, the “10” could be a reference to there potentially being 10 more songs that add up to 20 — after all, didn’t RM call this album an archive of his… 20s? I see what you did there, ARMYs. There’s no confirmation about this second tracklist theory as of yet, but if this ends up being right, I’ll be very impressed.
In the meantime, however, can we appreciate this amazing track list? Check out the full list of songs on Indigo below:
- Yun (with Erykah Badu)
- Still Life (with Anderson .Paak)
- All Day (with Tablo)
- 건망증 (with Kim Sawol)
- Closer (with Paul Blanco, Mahalia)
- Change pt.2
- Lonely
- Hectic (with Colde)
- 들꽃놀이 (with Jo Yujin)
- No.2 (with Park Ji-yun)
According to a fan translation, the English meaning of Track 4 is “Forgetfulness” and Track 9, aka the lead single, is “Wildflower.” RM once again took to Instagram Stories after the tracklist reveal on Nov. 25, writing (in Korean), “From blazing flames to wildflower / From boy to eternity / I will remain in this deserted field / Ah I will return sometime.”
Who is RM collaborating with on Indigo?
Erykah Badu, Anderson .Paak, Tablo, Kim Sawol, Paul Blanco, Mahalia, Colde, Jo Yujin, and Park Ji-yun make up the full list of Indigo’s artist features.
BTS is no stranger to collabs — aside from Jin’s work with Coldplay (and the whole group’s on “My Universe”), the members have worked with various Korean and Western artists. RM himself has worked with Fall Out Boy, Lil Nas X, HONNE, and more. In fact, a BTS-Pharrell collab was announced at the beginning of November, and RM’s other most recent release was “SEXY NUKIM” with Korean artist Balming Tiger. (Personally, I’m still waiting for that RM-Rina Sawayama song that seems to have been lost to time.)
If you want to get the low-down on all the Indigo collaborators, Weverse Magazine has done the work for you: They released a two-part feature introducing fans to every collaborator. There, you can find out about their work, which songs to check out before the album drops, and more. American fans will probably recognize Erykah Badu and Anderson .Paak first — the latter of whom has already worked with BTS, playing drums on a performance of “Yet To Come.”
Tablo, a member of Epik High, also took to Twitter to share his excitement for the collab. Quote-tweeting a screenshot of himself where he said that he agreed to work on the song “All Day” with RM before even hearing it, Tablo wrote on Twitter, “This is only possible when someone has worked tirelessly to reach the level where quality is a given. Likewise, he didn’t worry at all about what I would deliver.” Kings only!
What’s included in the album?
BigHit posted an official Weverse notice on Nov. 14 that includes information on the album’s two versions, the “Book Edition” and “Postcard Edition (Weverse Albums).” Among U.S. retailers, you can get the Book Edition (aka standard version) through BTS’ official website, Amazon, Walmart, or Weverse Shop. If you want the special postcard edition, you can buy that through Weverse Shop directly. Weverse Shop is also selling both versions of the album as a set, and if that’s not enough for you, Target has their own exclusive edition of the album as well that contains an additional postcard. Catch me buying all of them.
Want to know what’s different about the two main versions of the album? The Book Edition has a larger outer box and 100-page booklet, along with two postcards, a photocard, fabric card, CD envelope, CD, instant photo, and poster. Meanwhile, the Postcard Edition has a smaller outer box and lyric book, photocard, postcard, instant photo, QR card, and user guide. You can scan the QR code through the Weverse Albums app to check out exclusive photos and listen to the album digitally.
If you’re wondering when your album will arrive in the mail, you might be waiting a while: U.S. and European retailers don’t start shipping Indigo until Dec. 16, according to the Weverse notice.
What does Indigo’s album cover look like?
Initially, only two images for Indigo were shared: the denim close-up RM posted on Instagram (see it above), and a blue background with “Indigo” written in white, as posted to BigHit’s official account.
However, RM posted on Weverse to clear up the confusion. According to a fan translation, he explained that “the image is a mood cut and not the jacket.” In other words, it’s not the official album cover — it’s more about getting the vibes across. And with Weverse’s Nov. 14 notice, we finally got a look at the outside of the album.
The outer box of both album versions is very understated, with black text on a white background that reads, “Record of RM : Indigo / From the colors of nature, human, etc. / Use it / while taking a walk, / a shower, / drive, / coffee-break, / work, / dance, / read a book, / when flowers bloom or fall. / the last archive of my twenties.” That matches RM’s Instagram story explaining the album’s content pretty well. Similarly, the spine of the album reads, “Documentation of my youth / In the moment of independent phase.”
But while Indigo’s album cover itself seems to be pretty minimal, the book, lyric book, and postcards included in the album’s versions have a bit more flair, with artistic blue and white images that match BigHit’s original album announcement image. It’s safe to say RM had a vision wit this one, and I’m here for it.
When there’s more information, this piece will be updated to include it, so keep an eye out, ARMY — with Indigo dropping so soon, there’s sure to be more reveals in the coming days.