''Face the Sun'' is the fourth studio album by South Korean boy band

Seventeen Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

. It was released on May 27, 2022 by

Pledis Entertainment Pledis Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment company founded by Han Sung-Soo in 2007. The label is home to actress Nana, Hwang Min-hyun, Baekho, and K-pop groups Seventeen and Fromis 9. Its name originates from the pleiades, a star cl ...

through

YG Plus YG Plus Inc. (previously named Phoenix Holdings Inc.) is a publicly traded media and advertising company acquired by YG Entertainment in November 2014. In 2019, the company entered the music distribution industry and also engages in production, d ...

. The album contains nine tracks, with "Hot" serving as lead single. The first track, "Darling", was pre-released on April 15, 2022. The repackaged version of the album, titled ''Sector 17'', released on July 18 alongside its lead single "World". The fourth track, "Cheers", was pre-released on July 7, 2022.

Background

In March, seven months after the release of the commercially successful EP ''

Attacca A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...

'',

announced that

would be releasing a studio album, their first since ''

An Ode ''An Ode'' is the third studio album by South Korean boy band Seventeen. It was released on September 16, 2019, through Pledis Entertainment. The album spawned two singles, "Hit" was released as the album's lead single on August 5, 2019, followed ...

'' (2019), in May. Following the release of the group's first-ever English single "Darling" on April 15, the label confirmed that Seventeen would return on May 27 with a fourth studio album titled ''Face the Sun''. Starting on April 26, the group released "Inner Shadows", a 13-part trailer on YouTube to tease the new album. Described by band member Hoshi as marking the "shedding f theirformer image and becoming more mature", the album greatly contrasts with their earlier, more cheerful concepts.

Release and promotion

Pre-orders for the album opened on April 22. On May 23, a highlight medley was released, as a preview of the 9 tracks of the album. The album will be supported by the 'Be the Sun' World Tour, their first tour after the Ode to You Tour, which ended prematurely in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Be the Sun tour began in Seoul, followed by stops in North America and Asia. Seventeen released a trailer for the reissue of the album, titled ''Sector 17'', at their concert in Seoul. ''Sector 17'' was released on July 18, 2022.

Commercial performance

''Face the Sun'' surpassed 1.74 million pre-orders in one week, exceeding Seventeen's previous career high of 1.41 million pre-orders for ''

''. On May 20, it was reported that the album had recorded two million pre-orders. According to the

Gaon Music Chart The Circle Chart (), previously known as the Gaon Music Chart or the Gaon Chart (), tabulates the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in South Korea. It is produced by the Korea Music Content Association and sponsored by South Korea's ...

, the album sold 2,239,351 copies in the month of May. ''Face the Sun'' debuted at number seven on the US ''Billboard'' 200, earning 44,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditi ...

s, including 42,000 pure album sales, in its first week. It is Seventeen's highest-charting and first top-ten album on the chart, having previously reached the top 20 twice in 2021 with their EPs ''

Your Choice ''Your Choice'' is the eighth extended play (EP) by South Korean boy band Seventeen, released through Pledis Entertainment on June 18, 2021, eight months after its predecessor, ''Semicolon'' (2020). The album comprises six tracks of a variety of g ...

'' and ''Attacca''. According to Hanteo, ''Sector 17'' sold 1,126,104 copies in its first week. Later it was reported that the EP sold 2 million copies in its first week, making Seventeen the second K-pop group to sell over 2 million copies in the first week of release.

Critical reception

In a positive review for ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since ...

'', Sara Delgado praised ''Face the Sun'' for its "sonic versatility." For ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', Abby Webster gave ''Face the Sun'' four stars, and wrote that the album's singles paled in comparison to the album's "familiar yet sublimely inventive B-sides." Abbie Aitken for '' Clash'' wrote that "''Face the Sun'' is a testament of Seventeen's influence as a key group within K-pop."

Accolades

Track listing

Notes * "Darling" is stylized as "Darl+ing" * "'Bout You" is stylized as "'bout you" * "World" is stylized as "_WORLD"

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Seventeen (band) 2022 albums Korean-language albums Seventeen (South Korean band) albums Hybe Corporation albums