"Still Life" () is a song by South Korean boy band

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. It was released via YG Entertainment on April 5, 2022, serving as the group's first release in four years since " Flower Road" in 2018, as well as their first release as a quartet. "Still Life" experienced commercial success, topping the charts in several territories upon its release including in South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. It debuted within the top ten on the ''Billboard'' Global 200 at number nine, making BigBang only the third K-pop group to do so since the chart's inception in 2020.

Background and release

T.O.P was the first BigBang member to enlist for his two-year service per South Korea's mandatory military service requirement in February 2017. The remaining four members continued group promotions without him, holding several concerts in various countries until December. In 2018, members G-Dragon, Taeyang and

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similarly began their military enlistment, thus putting group activities on a hiatus. The digital single " Flower Road" was released in March 2018 as a gift and a farewell from the group to its fans ahead of a lengthy hiatus, as the band members complete their mandatory military service. The group's fifth member, Seungri, was initially set to enlist on March 25, 2019. On March 11, however, Seungri announced his departure from the group as well as his retirement from the entertainment industry due to the controversy of his involvement in the Burning Sun scandal. The rest of the band members were discharged from the military during the remainder of the year. In March 2020, despite reports suggesting otherwise, all four members renewed their contracts with YG Entertainment and were preparing for a comeback, which was eventually delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 21, 2022 local time, YG confirmed that the group would make their comeback with a new single on April 5, 2022; the title of the track "Still Life" was unveiled three days later.

Critical reception

"Still Life" received positive reviews from critics. Angela Patricia Suacillo from '' NME'' gave the song 5 stars out of 5, saying that the track "honors the distance between where the group were four years ago and where they are now", adding that the song "reminiscent of soft rock from the ’70s and ’ 80s, ’Still Life’ excels at bringing out the unique vocal tones of each member". Suacillo felt that the song "close a chapter of their lives that's been left hanging for the past four years – whether or not this signifies a final bow from the group is something we'll have to wait and see". '' Rolling Stone''s Kristine Kwak felt the song shows BigBang's "vulnerability and growth", and how the members have become "more introspective and seem to be content with where they are at".

Commercial performance

Upon its release, "Still Life" topped all South Korean's domestic music charts and also topped realtime charts on major music streaming sites in China and Japan. The song debuted at number one on South Korea's

Gaon Digital 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 ...

in the chart issue dated April 3–9, 2022; on its component charts, the song also debuted at number one on the Gaon Download Chart, Gaon Streaming Chart, and Gaon BGM Chart. "Still Life" remained atop the Digital Chart for three non-consecutive weeks. In addition, it also remained at number one on the Streaming Chart for five consecutive weeks. On the ''

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'' K-pop Hot 100, the song debuted at number two in the chart issue dated April 16, 2022, ascending to number one in the following week. In Hong Kong, "Still Life" debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hong Kong Songs in the chart issue dated April 16, 2022. In Indonesia, the song debuted at number eight on the ''Billboard'' Indonesia Songs in the chart issue dated April 16, 2022. "Still Life" debuted atop the charts in other Asian territories such on the ''Billboard'' Malaysia Songs for two consecutive weeks, in Singapore on the RIAS Top Streaming Chart in the chart issue dated April 1–7, 2022 and ''Billboard''

Vietnam Hot 100 The ''Billboard Vietnam'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Vietnam for songs, compiled by ''Billboard Việt Nam'' since January 2022. The chart is updated every Thursday (ICT) on both the ''Billboard Việt Nam'' and ''Billboard A billboard ( ...

, which in the latter remained at number one for three consecutive weeks. In Taiwan, "Still Life" debuted at number three on the ''Billboard'' Taiwan Songs in the chart issue dated April 16, 2022. In Japan, the song debuted at number seven on the ''Billboard'' Japan Hot 100 in the chart issue dated April 13, 2022; on its component charts, it debuted at number two on the Download Songs, number seventeen on the Streaming Songs, and number nine on the Top User Generated Songs. On the Oricon Combined Singles, "Still Life" debuted at number eleven in the chart issue dated April 18, 2022. In New Zealand, the song debuted at number eight on the RMNZ Hot Singles in the chart issue dated April 11, 2022, In Australia, "Still Life" debuted at number three on the ARIA Top 20 Hitseekers Singles Chart in the chart issue dated April 11, 2022. In United States, "Still Life" debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' World Digital Song Sales making it BigBang's fifth single to do so. In addition, it peaked at number 24 on the ''Billboard'' Digital Song Sales in the chart issue dated April 16, 2022. In Canada, the song debuted at number 87 on the ''Billboard''

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in the chart issue dated April 16, 2022. Globally, the song topped iTunes Top Songs charts in 33 regions and debuted at number nine on the ''Billboard'' Global 200, with 34 million streams and 29,700 sold worldwide, making BigBang the third Korean group to enter the top 10 on the chart, and debuted at number three on the ''Billboard'' Global Excl. U.S. in the chart issue dated April 16, 2022.

Accolades

Credits and personnel

– lead vocals ** G-Dragon – lyrics, composition ** T.O.P. – lyrics, composition * Kush – lyrics, composition, arrangement, piano * VVN – composition * Vince – composition * Seo Won-jin – arrangement, guitar * 24 – arrangement, keyboard

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Notes

References

{{Big Bang singles 2022 singles 2022 songs BigBang (South Korean band) songs Billboard Korea K-Pop number-one singles Gaon Digital Chart number-one singles Korean-language songs Songs written by G-Dragon Songs written by T.O.P YG Entertainment singles Number-one singles in Malaysia Number-one singles in Singapore