Snowflake (EP)

Snowflake is the third extended play (EP) by South Korean girl group GFriend. It was released by Source Music on January 25, 2016 and distributed by LOEN Entertainment. The album contains five songs, including the single "Rough", and two instrumental tracks. The album debuted at number two on the Gaon Album Chart and has sold more than 33,000 units. GFriend promoted the album with a series of televised live performances on South Korea's music shows, winning a total of 15 music show awards. "Rough" was also commercially successful, topping the Gaon Digital Chart and selling more than one million digital downloads. Musically, the album is similar in style to K-pop from the late 1990s and 2000s.

Snowflake
EP by
GFriend
ReleasedJanuary 25, 2016 (2016-01-25)
Genre
Length21:42
Label
  • Source Music
  • LOEN Entertainment
GFriend chronology
Flower Bud
(2015)		 Snowflake
(2016)		 LOL
(2016)
Singles from Snowflake
  1. "Rough"
    Released: January 25, 2016

Release and promotion

GFriend's third EP was much-anticipated after the group won Rookie of the Year at the Golden Disk Awards and Best New Female Artist at the MelOn Music Awards for their hit singles "Glass Bead" and "Me Gustas Tu".[1] The album's title, Snowflake, and track list were revealed on January 14, 2016.[2] It was released on January 25, in both CD and digital formats. The lead single, "Rough", is the final song in the group's "school series" and represents the end of a school year.[3][4] They maintained their "powerful-innocent" concept, wearing school uniforms and showcasing "perfectly synchronized fierce and powerful" dance choreography.[1][5] The accompanying music video for "Rough" was inspired by the anime film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.[6] It was produced by Zanybros and directed by Hong Won-ki.[3]

Hours after the album's release, the group held a showcase at AX Korea in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, which was broadcast live via Naver's V app.[7] They performed songs from the album for the first time at the showcase.[1][8] The group then promoted the album with performances of "Rough" on various music shows, starting with SBS MTV's The Show on January 26. In their second week of promotion, the song won first place on every music show with a chart system. By February 28, "Rough" had won a total of 15 music show trophies, including "triple crowns" on M! Countdown, Music Bank, Show Champion, and Inkigayo.[9][10][11] With these wins, GFriend is in second place for number of wins by a girl group for a single song, behind Apink's 17 wins for "Luv".[9][12]

Composition

The album opens with a dramatic intro track, "Snowflake". The lead single, "Rough", is a dance song described as "lyrical, catchy, and melodic" with "powerful beats and emotional lyrics".[13] Its Korean title literally translates to "Running Through Time", and the lyrics are about a girl's desire to "run through time and grow up" so she can be with the one she loves.[1][14][15] "Say My Name" features drums, acoustic guitar, and synthesizer riffs. "Luv Star" is a medium-tempo dance song with string instrumentation and "Someday" was described as an "energetic cheer song". "Trust" is a medium-tempo pop ballad that portrays the love story of a "shy but serious girl".[16] "Rough" and "Say My Name" were written by Iggy and Seo Yong-bae, who also wrote both of GFriend's previous singles. Seo is an in-house producer at Rainbow Bridge World.[17]

Reception

The album entered the weekly Gaon Album Chart at number two, selling 11,165 physical copies in one week.[18][19] It was also number ten on the Billboard World Albums chart.[20] As of June 2016, it has sold more than 33,000 copies.[21] All five songs from the album charted on the Gaon Digital Chart, with "Rough" peaking at number one the third week of release.[22][23] "Rough" has sold more than 1.2 million digital downloads as of May 2016.[24] During the month of January, the music video for "Rough" was the third most watched K-pop music video globally.[25]

Won Ho-jung of The Korea Herald said the album's musical style is similar to K-pop from the late 1990s and 2000s, and can appeal to fans who still want the "old-style feel" of classic Korean pop idol groups.[26] Won described "Rough" and "Say My Name" as powerful and dramatic, and "Luv Star" and "Someday" as adorable and "sugary sweet". Won called GFriend's vocals "on point" and noted that the members were able to adeptly switch between "powerful, soaring voices" and "cutesy, nasal voices" for the two types of songs. Overall, Won said the album "demonstrates GFriend's potential to move beyond the cliché schoolgirl concept and do something interesting of their own, bringing classic girl groups to 21st-century K-pop."[26]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Snowflake" (Intro) 
  • Hong Beom-gyu
  • Kim Woong
  • Hong
  • Kim
1:16
2."Rough" (Korean: 시간을 달려서; RR: Siganeul Dallyeoseo)
  • Iggy
  • Seo Yong-bae
  • Iggy
  • Seo
  • Iggy
  • Seo
3:29
3."Say My Name" (내 이름을 불러줘; Nae Ireumeul Bulleojwo)
  • Iggy
  • Seo
  • Iggy
  • Seo
  • Iggy
  • Seo
3:08
4."Luv Star" (사랑별; Sarangbyeol)E.ONE[lower-alpha 1]E.ONE
  • E.ONE
  • Jo Jae-seok
3:08
5."Someday" (그런 날엔; Geureon Naren)Heuk Tae
  • Heuk Tae
  • Jun Ta
  • Park Chan
  • Heuk Tae
  • Park Chan
3:37
6."Trust"No Ju-hwan
  • No
  • Lee Won-jong
  • No
  • Lee
3:35
7."Rough" (Instrumental) 
  • Iggy
  • Seo
  • Iggy
  • Seo
3:29
Total length:21:42

Charts

Awards and nominations

Music program awards
Song Program Date
"Rough" The Show (SBS MTV)[29] February 2, 2016
February 16, 2016
Show Champion (MBC Music)[11] February 3, 2016
February 17, 2016
February 24, 2016
M Countdown (Mnet)[10] February 4, 2016
February 11, 2016
February 18, 2016
Music Bank (KBS)[10] February 5, 2016
February 12, 2016
February 19, 2016
February 26, 2016
Inkigayo (SBS)[9] February 7, 2016
February 21, 2016
February 28, 2016

Notes
  1. E.ONE (also written as e.one) is a music production team composed of Choi Hyun-joon (V.O.S) and Jung Ho-hyun.[27]
gollark: I've forgotten, honestly, it was ages ago and I don't have logs on it.
gollark: The reason you're banned?
gollark: So there are a few issuse.
gollark: Unfortunately I expose a lot of stuff to the sandbox, and some of that has security holes.
gollark: I do sandboxing, using the weird Lua quirk which is environments.

References
  1. Ahn Sung-mi (January 26, 2016). "GFriend drops new EP amid much fanfare". The Korea Herald. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  2. Kim Ji-young (January 14, 2016). "'Girlfriend' unveils teaser images for upcoming album". K-Pop Herald. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  3. Kim Byung-kwan (January 25, 2016). "[Photo] GFriend Steals Hearts at Comeback Showcase". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  4. "GFriend". After School Club. Episode 199. February 16, 2016. Event occurs at 15:58. Arirang. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  5. "여자친구 3rd Mini Album 'SNOWFLAKE'" [GFriend 3rd Mini Album "Snowflake"] (in Korean). Melon. LOEN Entertainment. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  6. Lee Jae-hoon (February 6, 2016). "[초점]'여자친구' 명실상부 신흥 대세 걸그룹, 어떻게?" (in Korean). Newsis. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  7. "GFriend to hold 1st showcase". K-Pop Herald. January 19, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  8. Shin Ji-hye (January 26, 2016). "[V Report] GFriend wants to 'collaborate with San E'". K-Pop Herald. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  9. Park Se-jin (March 2, 2016). "G-Friend dominates Korean music scene". Aju Business Daily. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  10. Hicap, Jonathan M. (February 20, 2016). "GFriend achieves 2 triple crowns". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  11. Kang Seo-jeong (February 24, 2016). "여자친구, '쇼챔' 1위 '트리플크라운'..13관왕 '대기록'[종합]" [GFriend wins number one on 'Show Champion' for the triple crown... 13th trophy so far] (in Korean). OSEN. Naver News. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  12. Kim Jae-heun (March 2, 2016). "It's GFriend Time". The Korea Times. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  13. Kim Dong-Joo (January 25, 2016). "GFRIEND makes a successful comeback with 'ROUGH'". StarN News. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  14. GFriend (January 24, 2016). "[MV] 여자친구(GFRIEND) _ 시간을 달려서(Rough)". LOEN Entertainment. YouTube. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  15. Jang Mi-ran (January 28, 2016). "GFriend Promises to Have a Meal with 100 Fans If They Win No.1 on Music Programs". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  16. Ko Su-jin (January 25, 2016). "GFriend′s SinB Hopes to Win No.1 on Music Programs This Year". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  17. "음표를 그리는 사람들⑬ 서용배 작곡가, 아이돌 성공의 철학 (인터뷰)". 10Asia (in Korean). Hankyung. April 1, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  18. "2016년 05주차 Album Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  19. "2016년 01월 Album Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  20. "World Music: Top World Albums Chart (February 13, 2016)". Billboard. February 13, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  21. 2016년 상반기 결산 Album Chart [First half of 2016 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 16, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  22. "2016년 05주차 Digital Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  23. "2016년 07주차 Digital Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  24. Cumulative sales for "Rough":
  25. Benjamin, Jeff (November 2, 2016). "January 2016 Most Viewed K-Pop Videos in America, Around the World". Billboard. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  26. Won Ho-jung (January 29, 2016). "[Album Review] Gfriend carries classic girl group torch". The Korea Herald. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  27. Ahn Sung-mi (May 15, 2015). "KARA to drop new album". K-Pop Herald. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  28. "2016년 01월 Album Chart". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  29. Son Ji-hyoung (February 22, 2016). "GFriend 'formidable' with 12th victory". K-Pop Herald. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
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