Maps of Music

Girls (2022)

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

Pre-orders passed 1,610,000 copies before the EP was released, the highest figure for a girl group album in K-pop.

Key places

Recording and mixing credited to SM Booming System, Seoul (2022)

Recording site Big Hit Studios, Seoul — The album credits list SM Booming System for recording, mixing, and digital editing of track 1. The point is placed at Seoul city centre, not at the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: Private company studio, not open to visitors.

Album story

Overview

• Girls: second extended play by South Korean girl group Aespa
• Released 8 July 2022 through SM Entertainment and Warner Records
• Six tracks; the digital version adds Black Mamba, Forever, and Dreams Come True
• Promotional single Illusion; official singles Life's Too Short (English version) and Girls
• Debuted at number one on South Korea's Circle Album Chart with 1,426,487 copies in its first week
• Aespa's second number-one album on that chart and their highest-selling album to date
• Certified Million by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) in September 2022

Background

• Teaser posted 1 June 2022: a digital mountain range and synth-heavy music
• Second EP announced for 8 July; first EP since Savage in October 2021
• First release since the 2021 remake of S.E.S.'s Dreams Come True
• Digital and physical pre-sales opened 2 June 2022
• Aespa chosen as June artist for Apple Music's Up Next campaign
• Release moved from its original date to allow more refinements to the songs
• Members chose Illusion over Lingo as the pre-release single, feeling it fits the concept better

Recording

• Recording, mixing, and digital editing split across several SM studios, including SM Booming System, SM Yellow Tail Studio, and SM Starlight Studio
• Mixing at SM Blue Ocean, SM Blue Cup, and SM Concert Hall studios
• Mastering by Sonic Korea (track 1) and 821 Sound (tracks 2–6)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Aespa is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment.
• The group is known for popularizing the metaverse concept and hyperpop music in K-pop.

Members

• Karina (leader, dancer, rapper, vocalist), Giselle (rapper, vocalist), Winter (vocalist, dancer), Ningning (vocalist, dancer).

Career

• Debuted on November 17, 2020 with the single "Black Mamba", which set the record for the most 24-hour views of a K-pop group's debut video.
• "Next Level" (2021) won Song of the Year at the 19th Korean Music Awards.
• The EP Savage (2021) was the highest-charting debut album by a K-pop girl group on the US Billboard 200 at number 20.
• The EP Girls (2022) became the best-selling album by a K-pop girl group in history and the first to sell one million copies in its first week.
• Performed at Coachella in 2022 and held the Synk: Hyper Line tour (2023) and the Synk: Parallel Line tour (2024–2025).
• Released the first studio album Armageddon in 2024; "Supernova" topped the Circle Digital Chart for eleven weeks.
• Released the second studio album Lemonade in 2026.

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: mean score 78 from 5 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews
• Rolling Stone: Kristine Kwak gave four stars out of five and said the EP includes everything one could want from an Aespa record
• AllMusic: Neil Z. Yeung gave 4 out of 5, calling the EP edgier and more aggressive than most of their contemporaries
• Beats Per Minute: Chase McMullen rated the album 77 out of 100
• NME: Rhian Daly gave three stars, saying the lead single sometimes plays it too safe
• Clash: Robin Murray wrote that the album shows Aespa's advancement as artists

Records

• Circle Album Chart: number one, 1,426,487 copies in the 28th week of 2022
• Pre-orders passed 1,000,000 on 9 June 2022, a week after the announcement
• Pre-orders exceeded 1,610,000 one day before release, the highest for a girl group album in K-pop
• Became Aespa's best-selling album to date, surpassing Savage (2021)
• KMCA Million certification in September 2022
• Billboard 200: number three with 56,000 album-equivalent units, including 53,000 pure album sales; the week's highest-selling album and Aespa's first US top-10 album
• Oricon Digital Albums Chart (Japan): number three
• Billboard Japan Hot Albums: number two
• Hanteo Chart: first-week sales above one million copies
• Europe: Belgium Ultratop Flanders 200 Albums, Finland Top 50 Albums, Hungary Top 40 Albums, Sweden Top 20 Physical Albums, Poland Top 50 Albums, France Top 100 Albums, Croatia International Albums, UK Album Downloads Chart

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The lead single Girls was described as a dark, brooding dance-pop track in which Aespa battle Black Mamba, the antagonist.
• Lingo was described as a country dance-pop track with harmonica and cowbells, celebrating bonds between close friends.
• The closing track ICU is a gentle acoustic ballad with folk guitar and delicate strings.
• Pre-orders for the album had already passed the 401,000 record Aespa set with Savage by 9 June 2022.
• Apple Music's Up Next feature short film accompanied the pre-orders for the album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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