"Galaxy Supernova" is the eighth Japanese single by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation. It was included on the group's third Japanese studio album '' Love & Peace'' and was released as the second single from the album on September 18, 2013. The song was written by Frederik Tao Nordsø Schjoldan, Fridolin Nordsø Schjoldan, Kamikaoru, and

Martin Hoberg Hedegaard Martin Hoberg Hedegaard, also known as Saveus (born 9 October 1992) is a Danish singer, songwriter and record producer. In 2016, he wrote and produced the EP ''Will Somebody Save Us'' and in 2018 he released his first full-length album, ''Neuro' ...

, whilst production was handled by Nozomu Tsuchiya. Musically, "Galaxy Supernova" is an electropop song. The song received generally favorable reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, who praised its music styles and compared the song to the group's previous Japanese singles " Mr. Taxi" and "

Paparazzi Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...

". The song peaked at number three on the Japanese Oricon Singles Chart and number four on the Japan Hot 100. A music video for the track was released on September 5, 2013. To promote the song, Girls' Generation performed live on music shows ''Secret Live'' and ''Live Monster'' in Japan. The song was eventually certified Gold by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pr ...

for 100,000 single track downloads.

Background and release

"Galaxy Supernova" was written by Frederik Tao Nordsø Schjoldan, Fridolin Nordsø Schjoldan, Kamikaoru, and

, whilst production was handled by Nozomu Tsuchiya. It is an electropop song that features "pulsing" synthesizers in its composition. It was released as the second single from Girls' Generation's third Japanese album '' Love & Peace'' on September 18, 2013. The album was subsequently released in December 2013. It was released as a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

in Japan by Nayutawave Records, and includes the B-side track "Do the Catwalk". Meanwhile, the

digital single In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...

was released in several Asian countries including Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. A limited CD +

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edition of the single, which included a bonus music video for "Galaxy Supernova", was released in Japan by Nayutawave Records. "Galaxy Supernova" was used in an advertisement campaign for Samantha Thavasa Jeans, the first jeans line from Japanese fashion company

Samantha Thavasa Samantha Thavasa is a Japanese luxury fashion house founded in 1994 by Kazumasa Terada. The label is known primarily for its handbags popular among women in their twenties. Other accessory lines such as Samantha Thavasa Deluxe, Samantha Vega, S ...

, in conjunction with the group's endorsement deal with the brand.

Reception

"Galaxy Supernova" received generally favorable reviews from

. Jeff Benjamin from '' Billboard'' praised the song's catchy "earworm hooks" and compared it to the group's previous Japanese singles " Mr. Taxi" and "

" for the same electropop production. Patrick St. Michael, writing for ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched b ...

'', picked "Galaxy Supernova" as one of the outstanding songs that "play to he groups strengths" on its parent album ''Love & Peace'' and labelled it a successor to "Mr. Taxi". "Galaxy Supernova" was a commercial success in Japan. The single took the number four spot on its first day of release on Oricon Daily Singles Chart. The following day, it rose to the number one spot on the Daily Chart, selling 14,565 physical copies. It peaked at number three on the

Oricon Weekly Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In ...

, and became the eighth best-selling physical single of September in Japan, selling 62,371 copies. As of December 2016, the single has sold 69,533 copies. "Galaxy Supernova" debuted at number 39 on the Japan Hot 100—a chart operated by '' Billboard'' magazine—on September 23, 2013. The following week, it rose to number four on the chart, which later became its peak. It dropped to number nine on the chart the following week. On the Japan Adult Contemporary Airplay chart, the single debuted at number 75 on September 23, 2013, and later peaked at number six on September 30, 2013. "Galaxy Supernova" also peaked at number 22 on the Hot Top Airplay, and number two on the Hot Singles Sales. The song's music video was the sixth most-viewed K-pop music video on YouTube in 2013.

Music video and promotion

The accompanying music video for "Galaxy Supernova", directed by Toshiyuki Suzuki, was released on September 5, 2013. The video features the members wearing multicolored jeans and outfits, dancing in a "flashy

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

world", as described by Benjamin. A behind-the-scenes video was released on September 20, 2013, featuring scenes from the photo shoot for the Samantha Thavasa Jeans collection as well as the group practicing their choreography. To promote the song in Japan, the group gave a ''Secret Live'' performance of "Galaxy Supernova" and " Gee" to 200 fans in Tokyo on the release day of the single and held a "Premium Talk" event on September 19 in Osaka. On November 4, 2013, the group held a live event in Tokyo for 500 people who bought the single. The group performed the song and the Japanese version of "

Genie Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic myt ...

" on the Japanese television music show ''Live Monster'' on January 12, 2014.

Track listings and formats

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the single's liner notes. *Nozomu Tsuchiya – producer *Miles Walker –

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

Tom Coyne Tom Coyne may refer to: * Tom Coyne (writer), American writer and professor * Tom Coyne (broadcaster) (1930–2015), British television presenter * Tom Coyne (music engineer) (1954–2017), American mastering engineer * Thomas Coyne (cricketer) ( ...

– mastering engineer *Takaki Kumada – photographer *Shinya Nakayama – graphic designer *Toshiyuki Suzuki – art director, music video director *Toshikazu Abe – music video producer *Yu Hamashima – music video producer *Kevin Maher – choreographer *

Rino Nakasone is a Japanese dancer, choreographer, artistic director and actor. Nakasone and her dance crew, Beat Freaks, participated in the third season of ''America's Best Dance Crew'', where they finished in second place. Nakasone has worked as a choreogr ...

– choreographer * Shim Jae-won – choreographer

Charts

Sales and certifications

Sales

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galaxy Supernova 2013 singles Girls' Generation songs Japanese-language songs Universal Music Japan singles SM Entertainment singles South Korean synth-pop songs