Thirteen years down, 30 more to go: As veteran boy band B1A4 celebrates its 13th anniversary with its eighth EP “Connect,” the three members are already laying down plans for the band’s many future anniversaries to come.

“There are so many things we want to do as a team; We’ve been here for 13 years but we haven’t even shown a quarter of what we’ve got,” C.NU said during the band’s press showcase held Monday in eastern Seoul, more than two years after B1A4 dropped its last single “Adore You” in 2021.

“It’s a blessing in itself that we can celebrate the band’s 13th anniversary,” Sandeul, who completed his mandatory civil service in August, said.

“We hope to stay together in the future, celebrating our 15th, 20th, 30th and 40th anniversaries.”

“Connect,” released Monday, features five tracks that all three members worked on. Its lead track “Rewind,” “Back to You” and “Pause” were written by C.NU while Sandeul worked on “When You Call My Name” and “Still in My Heart.” C.NU and Gongchan took part in the lyricwriting of “Still in My Heart.”

“We thought it was necessary to produce all of our tracks to fully express the colors of B1A4. We took extra efforts producing the songs as it’s our first album release in a while,” Sandeul said.

The album’s lead track is both a gift to the fans of B1A4 and a throwback to the refreshing and upbeat energy for which the band is best known.

“I always have songs that I write with our fans in mind, and ‘Rewind’ is no exception,” C.NU said.

“It’s so precious and even dreamlike to meet our fans again, so I tried to convey our feelings that we want to always rewind back our time to that moment [of meeting fans],” he added.

“I like it when our fans say that ‘B1A4’s roots lie in the refreshing nature’ […] so we wanted to bring back that bright energy where we enjoy ourselves on stage,” Sandeul said.

“We’ve gone through the times of having a break due to our mandatory military service, so we wish to be active as much as we can, both as a team and as individuals,” C.NU said.

“I hope to continue to be active as B1A4, and that, I think, will be the extension of our dreamlike moments.”

To find out more about B1A4, visit Celeb Confirmed

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]