Russian Roulette (Red Velvet EP)

Russian Roulette is the third extended play by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. It was released on September 7, 2016 by SM Entertainment.

Russian Roulette
Digital version cover
EP by
Red Velvet
ReleasedSeptember 7, 2016
Recorded2016
Genre
Length24:45
LanguageKorean
LabelSM
ProducerLee Soo-man (executive)
Red Velvet chronology
The Velvet
(2016)		 Russian Roulette
(2016)		 Rookie
(2017)
Singles from Russian Roulette
  1. "Russian Roulette"
    Released: September 7, 2016

The album is the group's second 'Red' and 'Velvet' album, after releasing Ice Cream Cake in 2015. The EP consists of seven tracks, including the lead single "Russian Roulette".

Background and release

Despite earlier reports of Red Velvet having a summer comeback,[1] S.M. Entertainment announced that the group will release a new album in September.[2] Member and leader Irene talked about the difficulties the group faced while preparing for the album on the September 9 broadcast of the radio show Super Junior's Kiss the Radio and stated that it was "physically and mentally tiring as the comeback date kept getting postponed".[3]

After revealing the first teaser on September 1, they announced that the group will release their third extended play on September 7, with 7 tracks in the album. They revealed the album was to be called Russian Roulette, the same name as its title track.[4]

Composition

The title track "Russian Roulette" is a synth-pop song that has an arcade sound feel with a retro 8-bit sound source.[5] The song was produced by Albi Albertsson, Belle Humble and Markus Lindell who also had a part in producing their previous album's title track "One of These Nights". Its lyrics compare the process of winning someone's heart with a game of Russian roulette. On the September 13 broadcast of SBS Power FM radio show "Choi Hwa-jung's Power Time", the members revealed that the song was written before they debuted. They heard the song then, when they were still trainees, not realizing they would release it.[6]

"Lucky Girl" is a retro-style dance-pop song produced by Hayley Aitken and Ollipop with lyrics written by Kenzie. "Bad Dracula" was produced by Tomas Smågesjø, Choi Suk-jin & Nermin Harambasic from Dsign Music and American singer-songwriter Courtney Woolsey with lyrics by Jo Yun-gyeong, who also wrote the lyrics of the title track. "Sunny Afternoon" is a 90s throwback, slick song and is produced by Swedish producers Simon Petrén & Andreas Öberg, Maja Keuc and Kim One with Korean lyrics written by Jeong Ju Hee. "Fool" is an acoustic pop song written by 1월8일 of Jam Factory and composed by Malin Johansson and Josef Melin. "Some Love" is a tropical house song written and produced by Kenzie, while "My Dear" was written and produced by Hwang Hyun of MonoTree.[7]

Promotion

Red Velvet held a special countdown to the release of their album through the Naver V app on September 6, just an hour before the release of "Russian Roulette"'s music video and the album. The group started their music show promotions on September 8, on M! Countdown, performing "Russian Roulette" and "Lucky Girl".[8][9] This was followed by performances on Music Bank and Inkigayo where they also performed both songs.[10]

Critical reception

Billboard's Tamar Herman wrote that the song was "more saccharine than their typical sound" and described the music video as a "bubbly, athletic-themed music video that offered fun times for all as a murderous ode to The Simpsons' impish duo Itchy and Scratchy."[11] It ranked 6th on Dazed Digital's 20 Best K-pop Tracks of the Year. Taylor Glasby commented that the video "has a sinister combination of sweetness and threat" and called the song "devilishly satisfying".[12][13]

Bradley Stern of PopCrush called the title track a "perky, retro-sounding electro-pop tune" that was expected from most k-pop idols, and praised the black comedy in the song's music video. He compared it to the film Jawbreaker and said it's "pretty genius".[14]

Commercial performance

The album peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's World Albums Chart and peaked at No. 18 on Heatseekers Albums chart, their highest to date. The title track "Russian Roulette" also charted at No. 2 on World Digital Songs, making it their highest ranking on the chart.[15] The album debuted at no. 1 on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart, with "Russian Roulette" charting at no. 3 on its Weekly Digital Chart, before rising to no. 2 a week later. All of the album's other tracks also charted.[16][17] "Russian Roulette" became the most viewed k-pop music video for the month of September in America and worldwide.[18] The album peaked at number 63 on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums for the week of September 19, 2016.[19]

The group won their first music show trophy for "Russian Roulette" on the September 13 broadcast of The Show.[20]

Track listing

Credits adapted from Naver

Russian Roulette
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Russian Roulette" (Korean: 러시안 룰렛; RR: Reosian Rullet)
  • Albi Albertsson (Mussashi)
  • Belle Humble
  • Markus Lindell (TG Publishing)
  • Albi Albertsson (Mussashi)
  • Belle Humble
  • Markus Lindell (TG Publishing)
3:31
2."Lucky Girl"
3:23
3."Bad Dracula"
3:08
4."Sunny Afternoon"
4:00
5."Fool"
  • Songs of Sweden
3:53
6."Some Love"
3:16
7."My Dear"
  • Hyun Hwang (MonoTree)
  • Hyun Hwang (MonoTree)
  • Hyun Hwang (MonoTree)
3:34
Total length:24:51

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Russian Roulette.[21]

  • Lee Soo-man – producer
  • Jeong Eun-kyeong – recording engineer
  • Kim Hyun-gon – recording engineer
  • Jang Woo-young – recording engineer
  • Lee Ji-hong – recording engineer
  • Hwang Hyun – recording engineer
  • Lee Ju-young – recording engineer
  • Choo Dae-kwan – recording engineer assistant
  • Nam Koong-jin (SM Concert Hall Studio) – mixing engineer
  • Koo Jong-pil (Beat Burger) (SM Yellow Tail Studio) – mixing engineer
  • Kim Cheol-soon (SM Blue Ocean Studio) – mixing engineer
  • Jeong Ui-seok (SM Blue Cup Studio) – mixing engineer
  • Tom Coyne (Sterling Sound) – master engineer
  • Min Hee-jin – creative director
  • Shin Hee-won – music video director
  • Min Hee-jin – design
  • Jo Woo-cheol – Graphic design
  • Kim Ye-min – Graphic design
  • Kim Ju-young – Graphic design
  • Kim Han-kyeol – Graphic design
  • No Hae-na – stylist
  • Jeong Seon-ee – hair stylist
  • Kim Ji-young – make-up artist
  • Kim Yong-min – executive supervisor
  • Red Velvet – vocals

Charts

Accolade

Year-end awards
Year Organization Award Result
2017 Golden Disc Awards Album Division Main Award Nominated

Release history
Region Date Format Label
Various September 7, 2016 Digital download SM Entertainment
South Korea CD, digital download SM Entertainment, KT Music

References
  1. Hwang, Hye-jin (May 26, 2016). "SM 측 "레드벨벳 컴백 준비중, 일정 확정되면 발표"". Newsen (in Korean). Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  2. Park, Young-woong (August 19, 2016). "[단독] SM, 엑소 다음은 레드벨벳! 9월 새 앨범 컴백". Naver (in Korean). Sports Chosun. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  3. Leeteuk (September 9, 2016). Super Junior Kiss The Radio (in Korean). Seoul. KBS. KBS Cool FM.
  4. Ahn, Woorim (September 1, 2016). "Red Velvet to Make Comeback on September 7". bnt news. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  5. Jo, In-woo (September 3, 2016). "레드벨벳, '러시안 룰렛'으로 컴백". The Korea Times (in Korean). Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  6. Kim, Soo-hyung (September 13, 2016). "'최파타' 레드벨벳 "러시아 룰렛 데뷔 전부터 꽂혀…애착多"". The Korea Herald (in Korean). Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  7. "컴백 레드벨벳, 세 번째 미니 앨범 'Russian Roulette' 베일 벗는다!". smtown (in Korean). September 6, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  8. Min, Susan (September 6, 2016). "[Video] Red Velvet Drops Teaser Video for 'Russian Roulette'". enewsWorld. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  9. Min, Susan (September 8, 2016). "Red Velvet to Perform 'Russian Roulette' for First Time on 'M COUNTDOWN'". enewsWorld. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  10. Ahn, Eun Kyung (September 11, 2016). "[예능리뷰] '인기가요' 레드벨벳, 청량함 가득한 '러시안 룰렛 (Russian Roulette)' 무대". Top Star News (in Korean). Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  11. Herman, Tamar (September 7, 2016). "Red Velvet & Bobby Kick Off K-Pop's Wave of September Releases". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  12. Glasby, Taylor (October 12, 2016). "meet the girl group breaking k-pop's rules". Dazed Digital. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  13. Glasby, Taylor (December 14, 2016). "The 20 best K-Pop tracks of the year". Dazed Digital. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  14. Stern, Bradley (September 6, 2016). "Red Velvet's 'Russian Roulette' Video Makes Murder Look Positively Adorable". PopCrush. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  15. Benjamin, Jeff (September 14, 2016). "Red Velvet Hits New Peak on World Digital Songs, Heatseekers Albums With 'Russian Roulette'". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  16. South Korea's Weekly Gaon Digital Chart September 4-10, 2016 (in Korean) Originally from Gaon Music Chart (September 2016). Retrieved on September 25, 2016.
  17. South Korea's Weekly Gaon Digital Chart September 11-17, 2016 (in Korean) Originally from Gaon Music Chart (September 2016). Retrieved on September 25, 2016.
  18. Benjamin, Jeff (October 12, 2016). "Most Viewed K-Pop Videos in America, Around the World: September 2016". Billboard. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  19. "Billboard Japan Hot Albums | Charts | Billboard JAPAN". Billboard JAPAN (in Japanese). Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  20. Park, So-young (September 13, 2016). "레드벨벳, '더쇼' 1위..큰절로 감사인사 "추석 잘 보내세요"". Osen (in Korean). Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  21. Russian Roulette (booklet) (in Korean). Red Velvet. S.M. Entertainment. 2016.CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. "French Digital Albums: Week 36, 2016". September 2, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  23. "CDアルバムランキング - 2016年09月19日付". Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  24. South Korea's Gaon Album Chart from September 4–10, 2016 (in Korean) Originally from Gaon Music Chart (September 2016). Retrieved on September 25, 2016.
  25. "Red Velvet Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  26. "Red Velvet Chart History (World Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  27. South Korea's Monthly Gaon Albums Chart (in Korean) Originally from Gaon Music Chart (September 2016). Retrieved on October 13, 2016.
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