''Labyrinth'' (stylized as 回:''LABYRINTH'') is the eighth

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP) and 5th anniversary debut commemorate album by South Korean girl group GFriend. The album was released on February 3, 2020, by

Source Music Diegetic music or source music is music in a drama (e.g., film or video game) that is part of the fictional setting and so, presumably, is heard by the characters. The term refers to diegesis, a style of storytelling. The opposite of source m ...

and distributed by kakao M. The release marked the group's first album in seven months, following '' Fever Season'' and the group's first project since Source Music was acquired by the company Big Hit Entertainment (now known as Hybe Corporation) in 2019. The EP contains six songs including the lead single "

Crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...

". Musically, it is a

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

album with influences of various styles and genres including

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstra ...

and

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 ...

. Commercially, the EP topped the

Gaon Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Korea based on their Record sales, pure sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, pr ...

upon debut. GFriend promoted the album with live performances on South Korean music shows, winning a total of 7 music show awards.

Release and promotion

On January 16, it was reported that GFriend would make comeback in early February with a mini-album titled 回:''Labyrinth''. It marks the group's first release after Big Hit Entertainment acquired their record label

in 2019. On January 20, GFriend released a comeback timetable through the group's official SNS channel, containing the schedule for the content release of 回:''Labyrinth''. The schedule showed sequentially the dates of releases of the track list, concept photo, music video teaser, highlight medley, and music video. Preorders began on the same day. On January 21, the group released a teaser video titled "A Tale of the Glass Bead: Previous Story" through Big Hit Entertainment's official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel. The teaser is a compilation of the music videos of the title tracks of Gfriend's previous releases. The video begins with scenes from music videos of "

Love Whisper "Love Whisper" (; : "If you listen carefully") is a song recorded by South Korean girl group GFriend for their fifth extended play ''Parallel'' (2017). The song was released by Source Music on August 1, 2017, as the EP title track. It has sold o ...

" released in 2017, and shifts between those of "

Glass Bead Glass bead making has long traditions, with the oldest known beads dating over 3,000 years. Glass beads have been dated back to at least Roman times. Perhaps the earliest glass-like beads were Egyptian faience beads, a form of clay bead with a ...

" and "

Fingertip A finger is a limb of the body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of most of the Tetrapods, so also with humans and other primates. Most land vertebrates have five fingers ( Pentadactyly). Chambers ...

". Through this teaser, Gfriend announced the beginning of a full-fledged growth musical narrative based on organically connected storytelling. The full tracklist of the album was released on January 22. From January 27 to January 29, the group released three pairs of different versions of concept photos. On January 30, the group released the official trailer of the music video for the lead single "

". On January 31, Big Hit released a "Highlight Medley" video on YouTube, containing the highlights of the album tracks. The EP was released on February 3 in CD and digital formats. It was released seven months after the release of their previous offering '' Fever Season''. An accompanying music video for the lead single, "Crossroads" was released in conjunction with the release of the album. It shows "the ups and downs of relationships between the six members of GFriend as choices are made." The video is emotional and features the six members trying to find and repair their relationships with each other. It is devoid of any choreography to emphasize on storytelling. It connects the story-lines of the group's past music videos of "Fingertip" and "

Time for the Moon Night ''Time for the Moon Night'' is the sixth extended play (EP) by South Korean girl group GFriend. It was released by Source Music on April 30, 2018, and distributed by kakao M (formerly LOEN Entertainment). The album contains six songs, includi ...

" by presenting Eunha as the forlorn main character in an attempt to reunite with the rest of the group and alludes to intermittent theme of bright butterflies. On February 12, a special clip of their song "Labyrinth" was uploaded on the

1theK Originals 1theK Originals, formerly LOEN TV (Hangul: 로엔 TV), is a South Korean web series, produced by Kakao M. It is shown on the label's official YouTube channel. History 2011: Debut LOEN TV started in 2011, also going under the name ''LOEN Bangsong'' ...

YouTube channel. On launch day, the group held a showcase to promote the album at Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul which was broadcast on

Naver Naver (Hangul: 네이버) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. It was launched in 1999 as the first web portal in South Korea to develop and use its own search engine. It was also the world's first operator to in ...

V Live V Live (stylized as VLIVE), sometimes referred to as V App, is a South Korean live video streaming service that allows celebrities based in the country to broadcast live videos such as live chat sessions with fans, performances, reality shows ...

channel. The showcase was canceled for the public due to concerns about the spread of the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

, and tickets were refunded. The group promoted the album with performances of "Crossroads" and "Labyrinth" on various South Korean music shows starting with Mnet's '' M Countdown!'' on February 7. The group also promoted the songs on KBS's '' Music Bank'' and SBS's ''

Inkigayo ''Inkigayo'' ( ko, 인기가요; English title: ''The Music Trend'', previously ''Popular Song'') is a South Korean music program broadcast by SBS. It airs live every Sunday. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who p ...

''. On February 11, the title track won its first award on

SBS MTV SBS M is a South Korean pay television music channel owned by SBS Medianet, a division of SBS Media Holdings. It features South Korean pop artists, international music, news, and a few reality and variety programs. It was launched in 2001 as t ...

's ''

The Show Show or The Show may refer to: Competition, event, or artistic production * Agricultural show, associated with agriculture and animal husbandry * Animal show, a judged event in the hobby of animal fancy ** Cat show ** Dog show ** Horse show ** Sp ...

'', bringing GFriend's music show awards tally to 60 since their debut. In the last week of the album's promotion, the group performed the song "Labyrinth" instead of the title track "Crossroads", and concluded the promotions with 7 music show wins. On February 23, GFriend canceled a last minute fan sign event due to the

outbreak in South Korea.

Artwork and packaging

Gfriend released 3 versions for 回:''Labyrinth'': "Crossroads", "Room" and "Twisted", each containing a pair of different concept photos. The first photo of the "Crossroads" shows the members standing on the intersection of a cracked train track, staring with expressionless faces. In another photo, the members are seen staring at each other, in the backdrop of a vast reed field. Crossroads version relays a vague and lonely mood. The first photo of the "Room" version shows the members staring at the camera with face devoid of expressions, in the light coming through the windows. The second photo shows the members together but engaged in different thoughts and actions. Room version conveys a relaxing yet indifferent atmosphere. The first photo of the "Twisted" version shows the members wearing the same white dresses, entangled together by colourful threads while the second photo sees them closing their eyes in the same posture. Twisted version portrays a calm and dream-like atmosphere.

Production and composition

The album consists of six tracks. Big Hit's in-house producers, Adora and Frants, led by co-CEO Bang Si-hyuk, participated in lyric-writing and the overall creative process of the EP. "Labyrinth" is an

and

song with distorted

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

instrumentation and contains vocal harmonies. The lyrics were written by "hitman"bang, Cho Yoon-kyung, Noh Joo-hwan, Adora and Sophia Pae. The lead single "Crossroads" is a

song with a retro Eighties pop beat and a

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

rhythm. It features

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

instrumentation and powerful melodies. The song is written by Noh Joo-hwan and produced by Lee Won-jong and Noh Joo-hwan. The lyrics are melancholic, in which the group sings about "a girl who stands at a crossroads, contemplating whether to stay or move forward in the course of growing up." "Eclipse" is an "exotic"

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

song with influences of

tango music Tango is a style of music in or time that originated among European and African immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay (collectively, the " Rioplatenses"). It is traditionally played on a solo guitar, guitar duo, or an ensemble, kn ...

and contains string

glissando In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a glide from one pitch to another (). It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In some contexts, it is distinguished from the co ...

s. "Here we are" is an emotional song with mild

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

chord influences. It was written and produced by Jeong Ho-hyeon. "Dreamcatcher" is a

track with an exotic rhythm and R&B grooves that add to its dark atmosphere. "From me" is a sincere acoustic track that showcases the group's "calm and unique" voices. The song was written by Noh Joo-hwan, Jeina Choi and "hitman"bang".

Critical reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s Tamar Herman described the title track "

" as a

that is essentially GFriend for its melody. ''

IZM ''IZM'' () is a South Korean online magazine that publishes pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ...

''s Hwang Sun-Up compared the group's sound with the Korean music scene, stating, "

has become a global phenomenon and companies are looking for international composers to produce trendy sounds. However, GFriend always was out of the mainstream environment". He further added that "

he group He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

has stabilized a unique identity of any other group".

Commercial performance

Commercially, the lead single "Crossroads" reached number one on three of the main South Korean charts, such as Bugs,

Soribada Soribada ( ko, 소리바다) was the first Korean peer-to-peer file-sharing service, launched in 2000 by Sean Yang. The name 'Soribada' means "Ocean of Sound" or "Receiving (downloading) Sound". It was closed in 2002 by court order but continued t ...

and Vibe and around the world. Internationally, the album reached number one on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

in 13 different countries and nationally, sold 29,000 copies on its first day on Hanteo and broke the group's personal record with 54,000 copies in South Korean territory in the first week, passing the mark of their previous EP, '' Fever Season''. In the South Korean main table, the

, ''Labyrinth'' debuted at number one and became the group's fourth launch to accomplish this feat.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Accolades

Release history

References

External links

A Tale of the Glass Bead: Previous Story
on

{{Authority control Album chart usages for Oricon 2020 EPs Korean-language EPs GFriend EPs Kakao M EPs Hybe Corporation EPs