''End Theory'' is the sixth studio album by South Korean singer
Younha
Go Youn-ha (Hangul: 고윤하, Hanja: 高潤荷; born April 29, 1988), known mononymously as Younha, is a South Korean singer-songwriter and record producer. She began her career in 2004 in Japan, where she was nicknamed the "Oricon Comet" for h ...
. It was released on November 16, 2021, through
C9 Entertainment
C9 Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment agency founded in 2012 by Kim Dae-soon. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company and event management.
The company was a subsidiary of Claire's Korea, par ...
. It consists of eleven tracks, including the lead single "Stardust". The reissue version of the album, titled ''End Theory: Final Edition'', was released on March 30, 2022.
Background and composition
''End Theory'' contains stories about different kinds of "end",
like the end of the Earth, of a relationship, or of the universe,
and conveys the singer's messages through metaphors related to the cosmos. It took eleven months to complete it,
as Younha started working on it at the beginning of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
In an interview with ''Esquire Korea'', the singer explained that she thought of using the end as a theme when she started thinking she needed to make an album to comfort people who couldn't meet and were waiting for it to end, "like singing a song about peace when war breaks out. To do that, you need to know what's at the end.
..There should always be hope."
Younha wrote the lyrics, and sometimes the music, for most of the 11 songs; among them, the selection of the title track fell on pop ballad "Stardust", as she thought it showed the preciousness and the importance of the process from a beginning to an end better than the others.
The song, which talks about the precious beings met on planet
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
and what true love is, was composed by her best friend and member of composition team
Urban Zakapa
Urban Zakapa () is a South Korean R&B singer-songwriter group formed in 2009 by Fluxus Music. Originally a 9-member group, in 2012 they became a trio, consisting of Park Yong-in, Jo Hyunah and Kwon Soon-il. The group's name is an abbreviation fo ...
Kwon Sun-il, with Younha penning the lyrics, and started from the question "What kind of useful person am I?" "P.R.R.W." stands for Process, Result and Reason Why.
Aside from Younha and Kwon, the producing team includes Jewno and James Son; the latter joined after appealing, through Kwon, to participate, leading Younha to ask him for a demo out of curiosity. The collaboration with Sarah Kang on "Tik-Tok" was born at the suggestion of Younha after seeing an acoustic live performance of Kang playing the guitar outdoors, and they worked on the song through video calls. The Korean title, which translates to "6 years and 230 days", refers to the days left to the destruction of the Earth.
On March 30, 2022, ''End Theory'' was repackaged as ''End Theory: Final Edition'' adding three additional songs, "C/2022YH", "Event Horizon" and "Black Hole", based on
rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
.
"C/2022YH", whose Korean title means "comet", is a pop rock fast tempo song with a 16-bit piano riff;
"Event Horizon" is the name of
the outer boundary of a black hole, a completely uncharted territory that Younha compared to a breakup, when no one knows what will happen next;
"Black Hole" is a future bass pop song where she tells a black hole she will never forget the moment it was a star.
Younha took charge of the lyrics and composition of all three songs.
Critical reception
Son Gi-ho from ''IZM'' gave the album 4 out of 5 stars; he called it "intense" from the first track, stating: "All the songs in the album are sincere to capture both the person who rescued her and the music," and concluding "The light reached after countless attempts and failures gives Younha a chance to grow on her own and becomes a medium in the name of hope that will unite her and the public again. In that way, a solid galaxy that will not be shaken by any adversity is born."
''Art Insight'' wrote: "Younha's ''End Theory'' doesn't erase the existence of sadness and failure from life, but looks straight ahead.
..It contains confidence for tomorrow and gives support and comfort with a trustworthy message of 'I will be by your side'."
''End Theory'' was featured on
''Time'''s list of the best K-pop songs and albums of 2021, while ''Billboard'' chose "Stardust" as the 13th best K-pop song of 2021 for its simplicity made of "simple, beautiful chord progression that grows naturally within the song's orchestral production."
Accolades
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Monthly charts
References
External links
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* at ManiaDB
* at ManiaDB
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{{Authority control
2021 albums
Korean-language albums
Younha albums