Your Choice is the ninth Korean extended play (EP) and eleventh overall by South Korean boy band Seventeen. Released through Pledis Entertainment on June 18, 2021, the album comes eight months after its predecessor, Semicolon. Characterized by hip hop and R&B elements, the album consists of six tracks, including the lead single, "Ready to Love". As part of the group's "Power of 'Love'" project, the album depicts the nature of love, and experiments with various genres, including disco funk, rock, and retro R&B.
Seventeen promoted the album through performances on several South Korean and American music shows. Although the album received mixed reviews from critics, it achieved commercial success, selling over a million copies within its first four days of release. Your Choice topped the Gaon Album Chart and Billboard's World Albums Chart and debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200. It charted nationally in 11 countries, reaching the top ten in Japan and Croatia.
Background
We thought the message of love is what could really console people and resonate with them, especially in these tough times that we're having. [...] This time, we wanted to use this word, "love," and the concept of love: we thought it would really express our growth. We thought that would be a good keyword to show where we are and express how we have grown.
The album is part of Seventeen's "Power of 'Love'" project, which aims to depict different aspects of love.[2]Your Choice is the first album included in the project, following the song "Bittersweet" by members Wonwoo and Mingyu, released in May 2021.[2][5] While "Bittersweet" explores the intersection of friendship and love, member S.Coups noted that the album's lead single, "Ready to Love", explores falling in love and confessing feelings.[6]Your Choice also reveals a more mature side to Seventeen, compared to their prior releases.[7]
The album was highly anticipated due to the success of Seventeen's three previous albums, each having sold over one million copies.[8] As their first album since Hybe's acquisition of their label, Pledis, in 2020, Your Choice involved Hybe producers Wonderkid and Bang Si-hyuk for the first time, further increasing the anticipation of the album's release.[8][9]
Release and promotion
Seventeen performing "Ready to Love" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2021
On May 18, an animated 90-second concept trailer for the "Power of 'Love'" project was released on Seventeen's YouTube channel, which confirmed the group's comeback and announced that Your Choice would be released on June 18.[10][11] On June 7, a concept trailer for the album was released,[12] followed by the album's track list on June 14.[13] A highlight medley featuring short audio snippets of each song of the album was unveiled on June 15.[14] Teasers for "Ready to Love" were released on June 16 and 17, showing short parts of the music video and choreography.[8][15]
Two hours prior to its release on June 18, Seventeen held a media conference in Seoul for the album.[8][16] The album release was accompanied by a music video for "Ready to Love" on the same day, which included pastel sets and a dreamy atmosphere.[3] The physical album was available in four versions, including one exclusive to Target.[17] The group performed "Ready to Love" on South Korean music shows, including Music Bank and Inkigayo,[18] and also appeared on American music shows, including ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! on June 23 and MTV's Fresh Out Live on June 25.[19][20] On June 27, a special "confession day" video for "Ready to Love" was released.[21] A performance video for "Anyone", featuring an auto racing theme, was released on July 24.[22]
The album consists of six tracks with a predominantly comforting sound and depicts the nature of love.[2] Musically, the album experiments with a variety of genres, including disco funk, rock, and retro R&B.[3] The first song of the album, "Heaven's Cloud" is a "graceful" pop song, characterized by its "airy, almost carefree instrumentation".[23][24] The second song and lead single, "Ready to Love" is an R&B pop song, featuring synth bass and expressing a love confession.[2][25] "Anyone" is a darker song, featuring an electric guitar riff.[23]
The final three tracks of the album – "Gam3 Bo1", "Wave", and "Same Dream, Same Mind, Same Night" – are songs performed by sub-units of the group, each focusing on a specific style. "Gam3 Bo1", the Hiphop Unit's song, is described as an "unconventional hyper-pop" song and characterized by its "glitchy videogame-inspired" trap beats.[2][26] The song also includes references to the Internet, including NFTs and Zoom.[27] "Wave", the Performance Unit's song, is characterized by house beats and was dubbed as "the group's magnum opus" by NME.[23][24] The last song on the album "Same Dream, Same Mind, Same Night", the Vocal Unit's song, is a R&B ballad, featuring rich vocals.[24]
The album received mixed reviews from critics. Puah Ziwei from NME rated the album four out of five stars, writing "the group continue to showcase their flourishing creativity and musical experimentation, with the exception of a couple minor missteps".[23] Rating the album with 3.5 out of five stars, David Crone from AllMusic commented that the album "continues to develop the group's wide array of genre explorations".[26]IZM's Jeong Su-min compared the album to Seventeen's past releases before Hybe's acquisition of Pledis, writing that "Hybe's desire to create a presence in the US in a short period of time reduced Seventeen's liveliness".[28] "Ready to Love" ranked number 15 on Billboard's "25 Best K-Pop Songs of 2021", where the song was described as a "buzzing, electro-pop production that surges and grows throughout the track".[29]
Your Choice sold 880,000 copies on its first day of release and surpassed one million sales within four days.[32][33] According to the Hanteo Chart, the album sold 1.36 million copies in the first week, marking the highest first-week sales in South Korea in 2021;[34] this also set a record for the band previously set by Heng:garæ.[1][35]Your Choice became Seventeen's fourth album to sell over a million copies.[36][22] The album also attracted international attention, selling 20,500 copies in the United States within its first six days, according to MRC Data.[17]
The day following its release, the album became the number-one album on the iTunes Top Albums Chart in 18 regions.[1] It also became the number-one album on the daily album category on the Oricon Chart.[36]Your Choice marks Seventeen's first entry on the US Billboard 200 at number 15 and their first number one on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart.[36][37] In South Korea, the album charted for six consecutive weeks on the Gaon Chart's album chart upon release, remaining at the number one spot for its first two weeks after release.[38] The album also charted on the monthly Gaon Album Chart for two months, topping the chart in June.[39]
^ abcdKwak, Hyeon-soo (June 16, 2021). "세븐틴 'Ready to love' 뮤비 티저...亞 최고 그룹 귀환" [Seventeen 'Ready to love' 's music video teaser... Asia's top group returns]. YTN Star (in Korean). Retrieved August 6, 2023.
^Lee, Duk-haeng (May 18, 2021). "세븐틴, 6월 18일 컴백 확정...2021 프로젝트 시작 [공식]" [Seventeen confirms comeback on June 18... 2021 Project Start [Official]]. Star News (in Korean). Retrieved August 7, 2023 – via Naver News.
^Sang, Hyeon-ho (June 7, 2021). ""6월 18일 컴백" 세븐틴(SVT), 'Your Choice' 콘셉트 트레일러 영상 공개" [“Comeback on June 18” SEVENTEEN (SVT), ‘Your Choice’ concept trailer video released]. Top Star News (in Korean). Retrieved August 6, 2023.
^Jeon, Ah-ram (June 14, 2021). "세븐틴, 방시혁 참여한 미니 8집 'Your Choice' 트랙리스트 공개" [Seventeen, Bang Si-hyuk's 8th mini album 'Your Choice' tracklist released]. Xports News (in Korean). Retrieved August 7, 2023.
^Yoon, Sang-geun (June 15, 2021). "세븐틴 'Your Choice' 하이라이트 메들리..한층 성숙해진 면모" [Seventeen's 'Your Choice' highlight medley...a more mature side]. Star News (in Korean). Retrieved August 7, 2023.
^Jeong, Hee-yeon (June 17, 2021). "세븐틴, 신곡 'Ready to love' MV 2차 티저 공개" [Seventeen unveils the 2nd teaser for the new song 'Ready to Love' MV]. Sports Donga (in Korean). Retrieved August 6, 2023.
^Choi, Hee-jae (July 3, 2021). "세븐틴, 신곡 'Ready to love'로 음악방송 4관왕...열일 행보ing" [SEVENTEEN wins 4 awards on music shows with the new song 'Ready to Love'... hard work]. Xports News (in Korean). Retrieved August 7, 2023.
^ abKang, Min-kyung (July 24, 2021). "카레이서 된 세븐틴, 'Anyone' 스페셜 영상 공개..완벽 퍼포먼스" [Seventeen, who became car racers, released a special video for 'Anyone'...perfect performance]. Star News (in Korean). Retrieved August 7, 2023 – via Naver.
^Yoon, Sang-geun (June 18, 2021). "세븐틴 'Ready to love' 성숙해진 사랑의 메시지[6시★살롱]" [Seventeen 'Ready to love' 's message of matured love]. Star News (in Korean). Retrieved August 6, 2023.
^Park, Ye-jin (June 25, 2021). '뮤직뱅크' 세븐틴, 방탄소년단 꺾고 1위...상반기 결산 [종합] ['Music Bank' Seventeen beats BTS to take 1st place... Closing of the first half [Total]]. X Sports News (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021 – via Naver.
^Kim, Mi-ri (July 2, 2021). '뮤직뱅크' 세븐틴 1위, 음방 4관왕 기록...2PM·NCT드림·이달의 소녀 등 컴백 [종합] ['Music Bank' Seventeen 1st place, record 4 music awards... 2PM, NCT Dream, Loona, comeback [Comprehensive]]. My Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021 – via Naver.
^Lee, Si-yeon (June 30, 2021). '쇼챔피언' 세븐틴 'Ready to love' 1위 "팬들에 감사"[★밤TView] ['Show Champion' Seventeen 'Ready to love' 1st place "Thanks to the fans"[★TView at night]. StarNews (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 30, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2021 – via Naver.
^Ahn, Yoon-ji (July 1, 2021). 세븐틴, '엠카' 컴백→1위 등극..'부상' 에스쿱스 언급 "승철아"[★밤TView] [Seventeen, 'M Countdown' comeback→1st place... 'Injured' S.Coups mentioned "Seungcheol-ah" [★Night TView]]. Star News (in Korean). Retrieved July 2, 2021 – via Naver.
^"オリコン週間 アルバムランキング – 2021年06月28日付" [Oricon Week Album Ranking – June 28, 2021] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on June 23, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
