''Miracles in December'' ( ko, 12월의 기적; ) is the second

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.

by South Korean–Chinese boy band

Exo Exo ( ko, 엑소; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean-Chinese boy band based in Seoul formed by SM Entertainment in 2011 and debuted in 2012. The group consists of nine members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai ...

. It was released by

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 ...

on December 9, 2013. Presented as a special winter album, ''Miracles in December'' is a follow-up to the group's first studio album '' XOXO'', which was released in June 2013. Like all of the group's music, the EP has Korean and Chinese versions. The EP is also the group's second release as well as first EP to be promoted extensively being as a combined group. Its singles were "Miracles in December" and "Christmas Day". "Miracles in December" attracts many positive reviews and commercial success. The Korean version was ranked number two in

Gaon Singles Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based o ...

and at number three in

Korea K-Pop Hot 100 The K-pop Hot 100 is a music singles chart in South Korea, launched by ''Billboard'' in conjunction with ''Billboard'' Korea () on August 25, 2011. It is the second Asian ''Billboard'' chart after the Japan Hot 100. The chart used the same multime ...

, as to the Mandarin version, it was ranked number nine in

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Weekly Music Chart and led Gaon International Singles chart. "Miracles in December" was chosen as the title track and first single of the

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.

, and along with "Christmas Day" was presented live on several local musical performances and concerts during the promotional cycle.

Background and recording

In early November 2013, Exo's management agency, SM Entertainment, announced Exo would be holding a joint concert, titled "Christmas Wonderland", with f(x) from December 24 to 25. On December 3, a 2-minute medley clip for the Korean and Mandarin-language versions of the ''Miracles in December'' EP were released. On December 4, the music videos for "Miracles in December" were unveiled on

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 ...

. Released in two languages, Exo-K, Exo's Korean-language sub-group, recorded the EP's tracks in

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

while Exo-M, the Mandarin-language sub-group, performed the same songs in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

. A pop ballad with classical piano accompaniment, the lead single "Miracles in December", was written by Andreas Stone Johansson and Rick Hanley. However, the song was only performed by four Exo members:

Baekhyun Byun Baek-hyun (; born May 6, 1992), better known mononymously as Baekhyun, is a South Korean singer, songwriter and actor. Baekhyun began training under SM Entertainment in 2011. A few months later, he made his debut in 2012 as a member of the ...

D.O. Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become licens ...

, and Chen recorded the song in Korean, while Baekhyun, Chen, and

Luhan Lu Han (Chinese: 鹿晗, born April 20, 1990), also known mononymously as Luhan, is a Chinese singer and actor. He was a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy group Exo and its sub-group Exo-M, before leaving the group in October 2014. Tha ...

recorded it in Mandarin. Special performances by all four (Baekhyun, D.O., Chen, and Luhan) members, with

Lay Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village *Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) * ...

miming the piano, were often performed on made-for-TV live music programs such as Inkigayo and

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Composition and background

"Miracles in December" according to the description of the album on the site of Korean music '' Naver Music'' is a song genre pop-

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

that uses the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

and

strings 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 ...

in your arrangement. The song was composed and arranged by composers veterans such as Andreas Johansson Stone and Rick Hanley in collaboration with the production team of

. The voices in the Korean version are provided by Chen,

and

, while the mandarin version belongs to the first two, and

. The song talks about a man who recalls with nostalgia the relationship with his former girlfriend and his desire to return to it, but cannot do so because of the shame and guilt. Yoon So Ra and Liu Yuan wrote the letters of the Korean and Chinese version respectively.

Release and promotion

The music videos for "Miracles in December" (one Korean, one Mandarin) were directed by Jo So-hyun, and were filmed in November in

Paju Paju () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Paju was made a city in 1997; it had previously been a county (''gun''). The city area of Paju is ,"Paju (Gyeonggi-do Province)." ''Naver Encyclopedia of Knowledge''. Naver, 2015. 4 Mar. 2016. ...

, Gyeonggi-do and a studio in Ilsan, near Seoul. On December 2, 2013 a few teasers for the Korean and Chinese version of the music video was released on official

YouTube channel YouTube is a global online video sharing and 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 Google, and is the second most v ...

SM Town SM Town (stylized as SMTOWN) is a musical collective for the recording artists under South Korean entertainment company SM Entertainment. SM Town artists have performed at the annual SM Town Live world tours since the SM Town Live '08 Asia tour ...

, causing a lot of interest from fans. This, however, many thought that the group was promoting as a new sub-unit, which led to SM to clarify the rumors. A representative of the agency said that "it is true Baekhyun, D.O. and Chen to sing the single main... That does not mean that they are officially a sub-unit... We are planning to implement other members also to climb on stage for various performances». And continued: «We are preparing several performances because this album is a special album of winter and is full of gratitude to the fans and it is not correct to call this a new sub-unit activity.» On December 4, 2013 both versions of the videos were announced, at 8:00pm ( KST) and were released on video-sharing websites. The music video was directed by Jo Soo-hyun, and was filmed in November in

Gyeonggi Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

in a study in Ilsan. On December 5, Exo held their debut performances from the album with "Miracles in December" on

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

's '' M Countdown'' stage.; and the song was made available for download as

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 ...

. On December 9, 2013 the EP ''Miracles in December'' was released. On December 19 The group staged the Korean version of "Christmas Day" (Simplified Chinese: 耶诞节) on ''M Countdown''. Performances featured all twelve members of Exo with accompanying choreography produced by

Tony Testa Anthony Joseph Testa (born 31 March 1987) is an American choreographer, creative director, educator and dancer. Early life Testa started dancing at age eight in his hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado at Westin Arts Academy & Artistic Fusion Dan ...

and Greg Hwang. The EP finished at numbers 1 and 2 both weekly and monthly on the

Gaon Albums 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 pure sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, previously kno ...

, for the Korean and Mandarin versions, respectively. The "Miracles in December" single (Korean version) reached number 2 on Gaon's Weekly Digital Singles Chart and number 3 on Billboard's

. The Mandarin version of the song was number 47 on the Gaon chart, but topped the Gaon International Singles Chart. It also went to number 7 on China's

charts. "Christmas Day"'s Korean edition reached number 5 and 38 on the Gaon and K-Pop Hot 100 weekly charts, respectively, and the Mandarin edition reached number 10 on Baidu's charts.

Live performances

In December,

began their promotions running Korean version live on several local music programs, including '' M Countdown'' 5, ''

'' 6, '' Show! Music Core'' 7 and '' Inkigayo'' 8. In the following week's promotions, SM informed that

and

also participate in presentations, as well as promised the fans.

, Chen and

appeared on the stage of SBS MTV's '' The Show'' on December 17, 2013 and '' Show Champion'' on December 18, 2013. The song was also included in the set-list of the winter festival of the group with his classmates seal f(x) ''SM Town Week: Christmas Wonderland'' on 23 and 24 December 2013. The Chinese version of "Miracles in December" was acted in the ''MTV The Show'' on December 24, 2013 with D.O., Luhan, Baekhyun, Chen and Lay members.

Critical reception

K-pop critic "Seoulbeats" gave a positive review of the song saying that " t'sreally worth all the hype that it's receiving." Analysis indicated that "Miracles in December" just grows and grows throughout its duration and commended the harmonization as "a thing of beauty".

Track listing

Credits adapted from Naver.

Charts

Korean and Chinese versions Combined version

Awards and nominations

Sales and shipments

Album sales

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2013 EPs SM Entertainment EPs Genie Music EPs Korean-language EPs Chinese-language EPs Mandopop EPs Exo EPs Christmas albums by South Korean artists 2013 singles SM Entertainment singles Korean songs Korean-language songs Chinese songs Mandarin-language songs