''Arrival'' also known as ''The Advent'' or ''Jiang Lin'' (降临), is the debut EP by

Mandopop Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; with later influences coming from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkie ...

boy band,

Top Combine Top Combine is a Mandopop boy band. The group formed in 2007 with the members Bird Zhang, Mars Ma, Kenny Liu, Caesar Li, and Tanas Kim. All were professionally trained in singing, dancing, modeling, and language. With the exception of Tanas, the ot ...

. The EP was released on October 26, 2008 in

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

by EE Media. The EP was also released in two separate versions, a "black" version and a "gold" version. ''Arrival'' is influenced by K-pop melodies, which has heavy focuses on hip hop, R&B, and dance-pop. A majority of the EP was produced and recorded in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

in March 2008, and the EP is also produced by several famous Korean producers, such as Kim Kibom. The music video for the EP's first promotional single, "Arrival", was also filmed in South Korea, directed by Chun Hyuk-jin, the same director who directed some music videos for

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...

artists.

Recording and promotion

The EP was recorded in

under the supervision of Doremi Media, Top Combine's management in Korea. Kim Kibom, the producer of the title single "Arrival," produced the song "especially for the group." Influenced by modern K-pop, the single is produced with elements of hip hop,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, and contemporary dance-pop. Vocally, the single incorporates harmonization and rap, arguably similar to

's SMP genre. The side tracks of the album, such as "Cotton Candy", "Next Stop, Forever," etc. are less concentrated on hip hop, but they are portrayed as a faction of bubblegum pop. "Cotton Candy" was also composed and written by Top Combine member, Mars Ma. Top Combine noted that the EP was not only experimental, but also very enjoyable to record. The EP includes elements of music style that Mainland Chinese boy bands have not experimented in the past, and the group was eager to test out the new style. As soon as the album was released on October 19, the group went on a nationwide tour to promote the album, appearing in many variety programs and music programs that are broadcast on national television. Their appearance on Hunan TV's ''Happy Camp'' (快乐大本营) snatched an overwhelmingly high rating of 2.14, making the variety show to achieve the highest ratings of China for the month.

Track listing

# "Arrival" () - 3:45 # "Cotton Candy" () - 3:51 # "Next Stop, Forever" () - 4:51 # "Clown (I Can't Let You Go)" () - 4:39 # "Kiss" - 3:52

References

External links

EE Media Official Site

Doremi Media Official Site

Top Combine Official Site
{{in lang, zh 2008 EPs Mandopop EPs