4 Walls is the fourth studio album by South Korean girl group f(x), released on October 27, 2015 by S.M. Entertainment. It was produced by Lee Soo-man, the former president of the label. The album marked the group's first release as a four-member group since the departure of member Sulli in August 2015.[2][3] 4 Walls is described as a musical diversity, drawing from a wide range of genres including synthpop, house and UK garage.
Upon its release, 4 Walls received favorable reviews from music critics, who were impressed towards its musical styles and opined that the other members had the opportunity to showcase their ability more following the departure of Sulli. Commercially, the album was a success in the group's native country South Korea, peaking atop the Gaon Album Chart and has sold 76,185 physical copies as of January 2016. It also charted atop the Billboard World Albums Chart and at number thirty-nine on the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart.
Background and release
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f(x) performing at the 2015 London Korean Festival: Imagine Your Korea on August 9, 2015 in London
On August 7, 2015, it was announced that Sulli had officially withdrawn from the group to focus on her acting career, and the group would continue to promote as a four-member group.[2][3] On September 11, f(x) went to Jeju Island and filmed the music video for their fourth studio album.[4][5]
On October 27, the music video for "4 Walls" was released.[6] During that week, it was the number-one K-pop music video on Chinese online video sites iQiyi and YinYueTai.[7] For the month of October, it was No. 3 on YouTube's most-viewed K-pop videos in the United States, as well as No. 4 worldwide.[8]
Promotion
SM Entertainment purchased the rights to "Cash Me Out" sometime prior to the release of Pink Tape, though the song was ultimately not included on the album. It was speculated that the song was initially chosen as the album's title track prior to "Rum Pum Pum Pum" being chosen, as scenes of the girls rehearsing choreography to the demo can be seen on 2013's Go! f(x).[9] It was also speculated that "Cash Me Out" was intended to be the lead single from a rumored Red Light repackage that was scrapped due to Sulli's abrupt hiatus, in part because during the 2014 SMTown tour, Luna was seen performing with "Cash Me Out" armbands.[10] After the release of 4 Walls, more clips of the group's dance practice from 2013 was leaked on Twitter.[11]
The title track "4 Walls" was sent to Korean Broadcasting System's "K-Pop Connection" radio on October 29, 2015.[12]
Musical styles
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"When I'm Alone" was initially a song written and co-composed by Carly Rae Jepsen during sessions for her third studio album Emotion, but was ultimately left off the final track list. It was later was purchased by SM Entertainment.[15]
Critical reception
4 Walls was subject to favorable reviews from music critics. Jeff Benjamin from Billboard opined that despite the fact that the album was "arguably worse" than f(x)'s previous albums Pink Tape (2013) and Red Light (2014), it was still "a rarity in K-pop to do once." Regarding the album's highlight, he singled out the song "Rude Love" for incorporating "creative" dance sound.[16] Jakob Dorof on behalf of Pitchfork Media labelled the record a "superficial rebirth" and commented that the other members had the chance to express more abilities following the departure of Sulli, particularly with Amber's alto "harmonies" on "Rude Love".[17]
Writing for Spin, Jakob Dorof complimented 4 Walls on featuring "sophisticated and innovative" musical styles that could "signal a surprise second life for the world’s greatest living pop group" following the line-up change.[13] Chester Chin of The Star expressed his admiration for the album's "more cohesive" sound as well as "more polished and sharper" beats. However, he was not impressed towards the inclusion of "Glitter" and "Cash Me Out", which were regarded as "derivative" to the "solid and edgy" 4 Walls.[14]
Track listing
| 1. |
"4 Walls" | Lee Seu-ran |
- LDN Noise
- Tay Jasper
- Adrian McKinnon
|
3.27 |
| 2. |
"Glitter" | Lee Seu-ran | |
2.59 |
| 3. |
"Deja Vu" | Jo Yoon-kyung | |
3.40 |
| 4. |
"X" | |
- Ryan S. Jhun
- Nicolas Jack Scapa (10K Islands)
- Anjulie Persaud
- Brian Robertson
- Fransisca Hall
|
3.23 |
| 5. |
"Rude Love" | 100% Seo-jeong |
- LDN Noise
- Syron
- Andrew Jackson
|
4.18 |
| 6. |
"Diamond" | Young-hu Kim | |
3.59 |
| 7. |
"Traveler" (featuring Zico of Block B) | | The Stereotypes |
3.38 |
| 8. |
"Papi" | Kenzie |
- Kenzie
- LDN Noise
- Shaun
- Ylva Dimberg
|
3.05 |
| 9. |
"Cash Me Out" | Kenzie | |
3.21 |
| 10. |
"When I'm Alone" | Jo Yoon-kyung | |
3.23 |
Chart performance
Weekly charts
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Monthly chart
Year-end chart
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Awards and nominations
Music program awards
Release history
References
- 1 2 "‘4 Walls’ – The 4th Album by f(x)". iTunes. Apple Inc. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
- 1 2 설리, 에프엑스 활동 중단 1년만에 공식 탈퇴 '연기 집중' [Sulli Withdrawn From f(x) Following One-Year Hiatus]. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean) (Chosun Ilbo Company). August 7, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- 1 2 설리, 에프엑스 탈퇴…"연기 활동 집중' [Sulli Leave f(x) For Acting Career] (in Korean). Nate News. August 7, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- ↑ Lee Seung-rok (2015-09-11). [단독] f(x), 오늘(11일) 제주서 극비리 뮤비 촬영…컴백 프로젝트 시동. My Daily (in Korean). Retrieved 2016-03-01.
- ↑ Jo Hae-jin (2015-11-10). "f(x)′s Krystal Talks About Filming Underwater Scene in ′4 Walls′ MV". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
- ↑ Jeon Su-mi (27 October 2015). "f(x) Sweeps Music Charts with ′4 Walls′". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
- ↑ Lee Jin-ho (2015-11-02). "f(x) Dominates Charts in Korea and China". enewsWorld. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
- ↑ Benjamin, Jeff (2015-11-25). "Most Viewed K-Pop Videos in America & Around the World: October 2015". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
- ↑ https://vimeo.com/68783540#t=147
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=42&v=FH1udoG-c8Y
- ↑ https://twitter.com/rvgbeau/status/658506506946506752
- ↑ "Play List/Entertainment/Program/KBS World Radio". Korean Broadcasting System. October 29, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
- 1 2 3 Dorof, Jakob (November 4, 2015). "Review: f(x), '4 Walls'". Spin. Spin Media. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
- 1 2 3 Chin, Chester (January 3, 2016). "Review: 4 Walls by f(x)". The Star. Malaysia: Star Media Group Berhad. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
- ↑ Lee Eun-ho (2015-10-26). “오늘은 f(x) 데이!”…f(x), 27일 0시 4집 ‘포 월즈’ 전격 발매. TenAsia (in Korean). Retrieved 2016-03-01.
- 1 2 Benjamin, Jeff (November 2, 2015). "f(x) Doesn't Miss a Beat on '4 Walls'". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- 1 2 Pearce, Sheldon (November 18, 2015). "f(x): 4 Walls | Album Review". Pitchfork Media. Condé Nast. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
- ↑ 週間 CDアルバムランキング 2015年11月16日付 [CD album weekly ranking - November 16, 2015] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on November 11, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
- 1 2 Benjamin, Jeff (2015-11-05). "f(x) Snag Second No. 1 on World Albums Chart With '4 Walls'". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
- ↑ "Album Chart: October 2015" (in Korean). Gaon Album Chart. Gaon Music Chart. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
- ↑ "Album Chart: 2015 (Year-End)" (in Korean). Gaon Album Chart. Gaon Music Chart. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
External links
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