Flower Bud

Flower Bud is the second extended play (EP) by South Korean girl group GFriend. It was released by Source Music on July 23, 2015 and distributed by KT Music. The album contains four songs, including the single "Me Gustas Tu", and one instrumental track. The album debuted at number six on the Gaon Album Chart and has sold more than 18,000 units. Musically, the album is in the bubblegum pop genre and is similar in style to Korean girl groups of the 1990s. Most of the tracks on the album were written by Iggy and Seo Yong-bae, who worked with the group on their debut album, Season of Glass.

Flower Bud
EP by
GFriend
ReleasedJuly 23, 2015 (2015-07-23)
Genre
Length19:36
Label
  • Source Music
  • KT Music
GFriend chronology
Season of Glass
(2015)		 Flower Bud
(2015)		 Snowflake
(2016)
Singles from Flower Bud
  1. "Me Gustas Tu"
    Released: July 23, 2015

GFriend promoted the album with a series of televised live performances on South Korea's music shows. "Me Gustas Tu" was noted for its powerful choreography, unusual for a girl group with an "innocent" image. A fan-taken video of the group performing the song on a slippery stage went viral in September 2015, boosting the group's popularity. The song peaked at number 8 on the Gaon Digital Chart and has sold over two million digital copies.

Release and promotion

On July 13, 2015, Source Music announced the upcoming release of GFriend's second EP, Flower Bud.[1] The album was released as a digital download on July 23, and was released in CD format on July 27.[2] The music video for lead single "Me Gustas Tu" was produced by Zanybros and directed by Hong Won-ki. One of the settings is a "dream-like" forest with the members wearing white lace dresses and rompers.[3] "Me Gustas Tu" is the second song in the group's "school series" and represents a trip during summer vacation.[4][5] The group's "pure" image was complemented by powerful dance choreography, rare for a girl group with an "innocent" concept.[6] The choreography was created by Park Jun-hee, and the most notable part involves Yerin vaulting over Umji, while Yuju slides underneath in a split.[7][8] It took the group three months to perfect the difficult moves.[9]

GFriend promoted the album with performances of "Me Gustas Tu" on various music shows, starting with M Countdown on July 23.[10] On September 5, they performed the song at an SBS Radio event in Inje, Gangwon Province. The stage floor was wet due to the rain, and Yuju slipped and fell five times during the performance, while SinB fell once.[11][12] A fan posted a video of the performance to YouTube, which subsequently went viral, boosting the group's popularity.[11][13][14] Promotion for the album ended the next day, with a performance of "Glass Bead" and "Me Gustas Tu" on Inkigayo.[15]

In January 2016, "Me Gustas Tu" was one of the songs broadcast via loudspeaker across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, as part of South Korea's anti-Pyongyang propaganda program Voice of Freedom.[16] The broadcast was a response to a North Korean nuclear bomb test.[17][18]

Composition

"Me Gustas Tu" and "One" were written by Iggy and Rainbow Bridge World producer Seo Yong-bae, the team who also composed songs from GFriend's first album, including "Glass Bead". "Me Gustas Tu" means "I Like You" in Spanish, and the lyrics are about a girl's shy confession of love. The song was written to emphasize the members' "bright and youthful" qualities, and features "funky" synths, guitar, and Moog bass sounds.[19] "Under the Sky" is a song about a girl's hopes for the future, and "My Buddy" is a song about friendship and love. "One" is a song about love, featuring acoustic guitar, strings, and electric piano.[20] All four songs are medium-tempo dance songs similar in style to Korean girl groups of the 1990s.[21]

Reception

The album entered the weekly Gaon Album Chart at number six.[22] It was the eighteenth best selling album during the month of July, selling 4,011 physical copies.[23] By March 2016, it had sold more than 18,000 units.[24] "Me Gustas Tu" entered the Gaon Digital Chart at number 27, and rose to number 15 the following week.[25][26] It peaked at number eight after the "falling" performance video went viral.[27] After the release of GFriend's third EP, Snowflake, "Me Gustas Tu" rose in the chart, ranking at number 12 the second week of February 2016.[28] As of May 2016, it has sold 1.6 million digital downloads.[29]

Won Ho-jung of The Korea Herald said GFriend "played it safe" with the album, going with the niche genre of bubblegum pop instead of the more popular EDM and hip hop, and maintaining the "sweet, innocent vibe" from their first album. Overall, Won said the songs were neither bad nor outstanding, and the group was posed to "solidify their position in the K-pop world" with their next release.[21]

Multiple music critics said GFriend's songs are "characterized as being well-made with familiar, catchy melodies, resembling Japanese animated films' theme songs". Seo Jeong Min-gap said "Me Gustas Tu" was particularly polished and had "a strong sense of completion".[30]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Intro (Flower Bud)" 
  • Iggy
  • Seo Yong-bae
  • Iggy
  • Seo
1:19
2."Me Gustas Tu" (Korean: 오늘부터 우리는; RR: Oneulbuteo Urineun)
  • Iggy
  • Seo
  • Iggy
  • Seo
  • Iggy
  • Seo
3:40
3."Under the Sky" (하늘 아래서; Haneul Araeseo)Iggy
  • Iggy
  • Hong Beom-gyu
  • Kim Woong
  • Hong
  • Kim
4:10
4."One"
  • Iggy
  • Seo
  • Iggy
  • Seo
  • Iggy
  • Seo
3:14
5."My Buddy" (기억해; Gioekhae)Heuk Tae
  • Heuk Tae
  • Kwon Hyeok-ho
Heuk Tae3:33
6."Me Gustas Tu" (Instrumental) 
  • Iggy
  • Seo
  • Iggy
  • Seo
3:40
Total length:19:36

Charts
Chart Peak
position
South Korean Albums (Gaon)[22] 6

Sales and certifications
Provider (2015–16) Amount
Gaon physical sales 18,355+[24]
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References
  1. "G-Friend to make comeback with 'Flower Bud' in mid July". KBS Global. July 14, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  2. "여자 친구 – Flower Bud: 미니앨범 2집" (in Korean). Hanteo. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  3. Ghim, Sora (July 13, 2015). "GFRIEND Confirms Its Comeback For July 23". BNT News. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  4. Kim Byung-kwan (January 25, 2016). "[Photo] GFriend Steals Hearts at Comeback Showcase". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  5. "GFriend". After School Club. Episode 199. February 16, 2016. Event occurs at 15:58. Arirang. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  6. Kim Ji-young (January 8, 2016). "'Girlfriend' returns with third album". K-Pop Herald. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  7. Park Su-jeong (August 25, 2015). "노래를 그리는 사람들③ 박준희 안무가, 여자친구 칼군무의 비결 (인터뷰)". 10Asia (in Korean). Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  8. Choi Na-young (July 29, 2015). "여자친구 "파워청순? 우린 '엽사' 많은 그룹"[인터뷰]" (in Korean). OSEN. Naver News. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  9. "The six sweet, lively girls of GFriend!". KBS World Radio. September 25, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  10. Lee Jin-ho (July 23, 2015). "SNSD, Apink and More Girl Groups to Battle it Out on ′M COUNTDOWN′". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  11. Regan, Helen (September 7, 2015). "Watch a K-Pop Singer Fall Down 8 Times in 1 Song". Time. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  12. "Girl band keeps on dancing after tumbling down". The Korea Times. September 6, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  13. Yi, Hajin Lily (May 19, 2016). "[Kpop Spotlight] G-Friend Wins No.1 Thanks to "Falling Performance Fancam"". The Korea Daily. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  14. Kim Jae-heun (December 31, 2015). "K-pop stars to continue to dominate online charts in 2016". The Korea Times. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  15. Yoon So-hee (September 6, 2015). "'인기가요' 여자친구, 굿바이 스테이지에도 빵긋 '오늘부터 우리는+유리구슬'". 10Asia (in Korean). Hankyung. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  16. Shin Hyon-hee (January 8, 2016). "Troops on high alert as Seoul starts anti-N.K. propaganda". The Korea Herald. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  17. "(News Focus) S. Korea resumes anti-North broadcasts laced with K-pop". Yonhap News Agency. January 8, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  18. "Bang bang bang! The K-pop songs being blasted into North Korea". The Guardian. January 8, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  19. "UP10TION, 2BiC, GFRIEND, Ryeowook". Pops in Seoul. Episode 3149. April 26, 2016. Arirang. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  20. "여자친구 2nd Mini Album 'Flower Bud'" (in Korean). Melon. LOEN Entertainment. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  21. Won Ho-jung (July 24, 2015). "[Album Review] No surprises from Gfriend's 2nd EP". The Korea Herald. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  22. "Gaon Album Chart – July 26–31 2015". Gaon Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  23. "2015년 07월 Album Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  24. Cumulative sales for "Flower Bud":
  25. "2015년 31주차 Digital Chart". Gaon Music Chart. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  26. "2015년 32주차 Digital Chart". Gaon Music Chart. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  27. "2015년 38주차 Digital Chart". Gaon Music Chart. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  28. "2016년 07주차 Digital Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  29. Cumulative Sales for "Me Gustas Tu":
  30. Chung Joo-won (March 8, 2016). "(Yonhap Feature) Season changing for K-pop girl groups". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
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