Maps of Music

Monochrome (2013)

Where the lyrics of Monochrome take you, and where it was really made.

Lee Hyori dropped the electronic pop she was known for and made an analogue, retro album, and it earned her an award at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards.

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Album story

Overview

• Monochrome: fifth studio album by South Korean singer-songwriter Lee Hyori
• Released 21 May 2013 by B2M Entertainment, distributed by CJ E&M Music
• Analogue sound and retro feel, departing from her earlier style
• First full-length release after a three-year hiatus since H-Logic (2010)
• Sixteen tracks in total, including the lead single 'Bad Girls' and 'Miss Korea'

Background

• Comeback pushed back several times through 2012 before the May 2013 album was announced
• Unlike her previous work, she collaborated with foreign composers such as Norwegian team Dsign Music
• Dsign Music had earlier composed Girls' Generation's 'Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)' and 'I Got a Boy'
• B2M said the album would include acoustic and easy listening songs instead of electronic pop
• The title track was chosen as a dance tune with powerful group choreography to reach listeners

Recording

• Worked with blues musician Kim Tae-chun and her then-boyfriend Lee Sang-soon
• Featured artists: Beenzino of Jazzyfact, Bak Ji-yong of Honey G, comedian Ahn Young-mi, and Lee's companion dog Soonshim
• 'Show Show Show' is a cover of Monrose's 'No No No'

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Debuted in 1998 as the leader of girl group Fin.K.L, one of the most popular South Korean girl groups of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
• Made her solo debut in August 2003 with the album Stylish..., whose hit single "10 Minutes" won numerous daesangs at year-end award ceremonies.
• Korean media dubbed her popularity the "Hyori Syndrome" and nicknamed 2003 "The Year of Hyori".
• Released the albums Dark Angel (2006), It's Hyorish (2008), H-Logic (2010), Monochrome (2013) and Black (2017).
• Became the highest-paid female singer in South Korea when she signed with Mnet Media in 2006.
• Formed the project groups SSAK3 and Refund Sisters in 2020.
• Hosted numerous television programs, including Family Outing, Hyori's Homestay and The Seasons.

Activism

• Has been a prominent animal rights advocate, publishing the photo-essay book Closer in 2012.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Newsis critic Lee Jae-hoon said she reminded him of Jang Pil-soon and wrote that the album opened a second chapter of her music life
• Lee Jae-hoon also wrote that she was no longer content to be quiet just because she called herself a musician
• 10 Asia critic Kwon Seok-jung named the album's keyword as 'transformation'
• Kwon credited collaborations with musicians from other scenes, including Kim Tae-chun and Beenzino, for making the change possible
• Kwon wrote the sound was closer to 1960s soul, country, rock and roll and modern folk than to her earlier trendy dance music

Records

• Peaked at number four on the Gaon Albums Chart
• About 17,000 physical copies and 2.75 million digital tracks sold in 2013
• 79th best-selling Korean album of 2013
• Lee won Best Female Artist at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards after the album's success

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The 'Bad Girls' teaser was a parody, and Lee spoofs Sharon Stone's interrogation scene from the 1992 film Basic Instinct.
• The 2Hyori Show comeback show was held on 14 May 2013 at Ilsan KINTEX.
• To keep the 2Hyori Show secret, entrants had to sign a confidentiality pledge, and recording devices were not allowed in.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

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