''What Do I Call You'' is the fourth Korean-language

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 the seventh overall by South Korean singer

Taeyeon Kim Tae-yeon (; born March 9, 1989), known mononymously as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and on ...

. The EP was released on December 15, 2020, 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 ...

and consists of six tracks, including the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...

of the same name and her previous digital single " Happy".

Background and release

On November 20, 2020,

announced that

was preparing to release a mini album the following month. On November 30, Taeyeon teased her comeback on her social media with the message, "I'll be coming back soon." On December 3, SM Entertainment announced that EP ''What Do I Call You'' would be released on December 15, 2020. Preorders began the same day. This marks Taeyeon's first domestic comeback in seven months since " Happy", released on May 4, 2020.

Composition

The digital edition of ''What Do I Call You'' contains five songs, while the physical release contains six songs including the single "Happy", which was released as a digital single on May 4, 2020. There are two versions of the physical edition, with each featuring a different cover, CD-ROM design, booklet, poster, postcard, bookmark and photo card. The EP incorporates various genres, primarily R&B and pop.

Commercial performance

Upon release, the title track "What Do I Call You" ranked first on major music charts such as

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 ...

and Bugs. The other tracks in the album also ranked highly in the charts. The album took over iTunes charts in 22 regions. It tied with her previous album '' Purpose'' and Hwasa's '' María'' for the third most national iTunes number ones for an album by a Korean female soloist, ranking behind her repackage edition of '' Purpose'' and

Wendy Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity ...

's '' Like Water''. The album also ranked number one in China's largest music site QQ Music and KuGou Music digital album sales chart. In South Korea, ''What Do I Call You'' debuted at number four on the Gaon Album Chart with 99,065 copies sold. The album became Taeyeon's seventh top ten album in the country, and broke the record for the largest sales for a female soloist in 2020 with 89,263 copies on Hanteo. As of February 2021, it has sold over 124,442 units in South Korea, becoming her fifth album sold over 100,000 copies, following her four previous albums: '' I'' (2015), '' Why'' (2016), '' My Voice'' (2017) and '' Purpose'' (2019). She's the first solo female artist to have five albums sold over 100,000 units on Gaon Album Chart.

Critical reception

'' Teen Vogue'' chose ''What Do I Call You'' as one of the "Best K-Pop Moments of 2020", with contributor Hannah Weiss writing: "With its chill soundscape and Taeyeon's airy vocals, ''What Do I Call You'' is the perfect soundtrack to close 2020. The album examines loneliness, desire and regret through a soft filter, sharing a touch of warmth to carry us through this winter". Lim Seon-hee from '' IZM'' compared the EP's concepts to those of American singer

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

and its musical styles to Ariana Grande: "''What Do I Call You'' is a collaboration of seasoned-ness and sincerity, with a wider range of emotions despite the method of 'removing away' without embellishment and excess. Now, no matter what genre she try, she can easily build a flagpole with her name inscribed. Beyond it all, the album becomes alive just by the deep touch of the voice that blows warm breath in the season of the bitter wind."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from

Melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a " pepo". Th ...

. * S.M. Entertainment Co., Ltd. – executive producer *

Lee Soo-man Lee Soo-man (, born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean business executive and record producer who is best known for being the founder of SM Entertainment, a multinational South Korean entertainment company based in Seoul. He has also been referred ...

– producer * Vocal direction – G-High *

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture ( sound design, audio post-produ ...

operation – G-High * Background vocals – Choi Youngkyung, Chelcee Grimes and Gabriela Geneva (NIIVA) * Bass guitar – Taeyun Lee * Digital editing – Lee Min Kyu at SM Big Shot Studio / Kang Seonyoung at MonoTree Studio * Engineer for mix – Lee Min Kyu at SM Big Shot Studio *

Recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

– No Min Ji at SM Yellow Tail Studio / Kang Seonyoung at MonoTree Studio * Mixing – Jung Eui Suk at SM Blue Cup Studio * Mastering – Kwon Namwoo at 821 Sound Mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Sales

Accolades

Release history

Notes

References

{{Taeyeon 2020 EPs Taeyeon EPs SM Entertainment EPs Korean-language EPs Rhythm and blues EPs Pop music EPs