This Christmas: Winter Is Coming
Digital cover artwork
EP by
Taeyeon
ReleasedDecember 12, 2017 (2017-12-12)
Genre
Length30:08
Language
  • Korean
  • English
LabelSM
ProducerLee Soo-man (exec.)
Taeyeon chronology
My Voice
(2017)		 This Christmas: Winter Is Coming
(2017)		 Something New
(2018)
Singles from This Christmas: Winter Is Coming
  1. "This Christmas"
    Released: December 12, 2017
  2. "I'm All Ears"
    Released: January 12, 2018

This Christmas: Winter Is Coming is the first winter extended play and the third overall by South Korean singer Taeyeon. The extended play is marketed as a special Christmas album release.[1] It was released by SM Entertainment on December 12, 2017.

Release and promotion

This Christmas: Winter Is Coming and the music video for "This Christmas" were released on December 12, 2017.[2] To promote the album, Taeyeon held a three-night concert titled "The Magic of Christmas Time" on December 22, 23 and 24, 2017 at Kyunghee University, Seoul.[3]

Composition

The EP consists of eight tracks, of which a variety of genres and the Christmas atmosphere is expressed through Taeyeon's powerful voice.[4] The opening track "The Magic of Christmas Time" is a sweet English pop ballad song reminiscent of a beautiful animation set in a pure white snowy winter. The title track "This Christmas" is an authentic ballad song featuring a magnificent orchestral sound and the delicate and explosive singing ability of 'Taeyeon' and an instrumental version is also included.[5] While "Let It Snow" is a swing genre song that provides bright energy with colorful guitar performances and brass, string sounds, and you can feel the excitement of Christmas. In addition, "Candy Cane" is a retro pop R&B song that creates a year-end festival atmosphere with jingle bells and rich wind instruments creates an even more joyous mood.[6] "Shhhh" takes inspiration from jazz and blues that was written by poet Won Tae-yeon, who draws attention with its sexy, cute and fun lyrics about a girl looking for a gift hidden by Santa Claus.[6] It contains an emotional pop ballad song "Christmas without You", a sentimental pop ballad song that contains a sad feeling of longing for a lover while looking at the happy scenery of Christmas. The closing track of this winter album is "I'm all ears", which Tamar Herman from Billboard described the track as "swaying", "sentimental pop-rock tune" that her vocal offering herself up as a shoulder to lean on.[7] "I'm all ears" was also released as the EP's second and final single a month after the EP was released.

Reception

This Christmas: Winter Is Coming debuted at number 2 on the South Korean Gaon Album Chart, and at number 6 on the Billboard World Albums Chart.[8][9] "This Christmas" debuted at number 2 on the South Korean Gaon Digital Chart.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
IZM[10]
IdologyPositive[11]
The Korea HeraldPositive[6]

This Christmas: Winter Is Coming received generally positive reviews from media outlets. Hong Dam-young from The Korea Herald considered the album's musical styles as "not like Mariah Carey's classic "All I Want for Christmas Is You". Instead of jingle bell sounds and flamboyant upbeat synths, the eight-track album is drenched in the singer’s calm and undeniable vocal prowess, an instrument on its own".[6] While Idology's editor-in-chief Mimyo praised Taeyeon for creating new Christmas songs, "this album creates a 'new song' by taking the microscopic elements of the Western Christmas season song tradition (beyond 'salt shaker', jazz, etc.) in detail and combining them elegantly".[11]

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations for This Christmas: Winter Is Coming
Year Award Category Result Ref.
2019 Golden Disc Awards Disc Bonsang Nominated [12]

Track listing

Credits adapted from Naver

This Christmas: Winter Is Coming[13]
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."The Magic of Christmas Time"
  • Krysta Youngs
  • Robin Ghosh
2:47
2."This Christmas"
  • Score (13)
  • Megatone (13)
  • Score (13)
  • Megatone (13)
  • 13
4:27
3."Let It Snow"
  • Agnes Shin (MonoTree)
3:18
4."Candy Cane"
  • Hwang Hyun (MonoTree)
3:24
5."Christmas Without You"
4:19
6."Shhhh" (Korean: 쉿; RR: Swit)
  • Christopher Wortley
  • Mahan Moin
  • Greig Watts (DWB Music)
  • Paul Drew (DWB Music)
  • Pete Barringer (DWB Music)
  • DWB Music
  • Christopher Wortley
3:48
7."I'm All Ears" (Korean: 겨울나무; RR: Gyeounnamu; lit. Winter Tree)
  • Lee Joo-hyoung (MonoTree)
  • Lee Joo-hyoung (MonoTree)
  • Astrid Holiday
  • MonoTree
3:35
8."This Christmas" (Instrumental) 
  • Score (13)
  • Megatone (13)
  • 13
4:27
Total length:30:05

Charts

Release history

Region Date Format Label Ref.
South Korea December 12, 2017 SM Entertainment [16]
Various Digital download, streaming [13]

References

  1. ↑ "Taeyeon Releases Seasonal 'This Christmas - Winter Is Coming' EP". Billboard. December 13, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Taeyeon celebrates Christmas with special album". The Korea Herald. December 7, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Taeyeon to return with Christmas record, concert in December". The Korea Herald. November 16, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  4. ↑ "겨울에 돌아온 태연, 'This Christmas'로 음원차트 상위권 안착". Hankyung News. 2017-12-12. Archived from the original on November 12, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  5. ↑ "태연, 12일 겨울 앨범 컴백…크리스마스 콘서트 3회 매진". JTBC News. 2017-12-07. Archived from the original on November 12, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "[Album review] Taeyeon's Christmas ballads heaven to ears". The Korea Herald. December 13, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Taeyeon Surprises Fans with Intimate 'I'm all ears' Music Video". Billboard. 2018-12-01. Archived from the original on November 12, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Gaon Album Chart – Week 50, 2017". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  9. 1 2 "World Albums, December 30, 2017". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  10. ↑ Jung, Yu-na. "This Christmas – Winter is Coming 2017 - 태연". IZM. Korea. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  11. 1 2 Mimyo (11 December 2017). "This Christmas – Winter is Coming 2017 - 태연". Idology. Korea. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  12. ↑ "33rd Golden Disc Awards nominees announced". SBS PopAsia. December 7, 2018. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  13. 1 2 "This Christmas – Winter is Coming – The 3nd Mini Album by Taeyeon". iTunes Store. 12 December 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Album Chart - 2017.12 Month". Gaon. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  15. ↑ "2017년 Album Chart". Gaon. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  16. ↑ "This Christmas – Winter Is Coming – The 3nd Mini Album by Taeyeon". Melon. Retrieved December 13, 2017.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.