Snowflake is the third extended play (EP) by South Korean girl group GFriend. It was released by Source Music on January 25, 2016 and distributed by LOEN Entertainment. The album contains five songs, including the single "Rough", and two instrumental tracks. The album debuted at number two on the Gaon Album Chart and has sold more than 33,000 units. GFriend promoted the album with a series of televised live performances on South Korea's music shows, winning a total of 15 music show awards. "Rough" was also commercially successful, topping the Gaon Digital Chart and selling more than one million digital downloads. Musically, the album is similar in style to K-pop from the late 1990s and 2000s.
GFriend's third EP was much-anticipated after the group won Rookie of the Year at the Golden Disk Awards and Best New Female Artist at the MelOn Music Awards for their hit singles "Glass Bead" and "Me Gustas Tu".[1] The album's title, Snowflake, and track list were revealed on January 14, 2016.[2] It was released on January 25, in both CD and digital formats. The lead single, "Rough", is the final song in the group's "school series" and represents the end of a school year.[3][4] They maintained their "powerful-innocent" concept, wearing school uniforms and showcasing "perfectly synchronized fierce and powerful" dance choreography.[1][5] The accompanying music video for "Rough" was inspired by the anime film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.[6] It was produced by Zanybros and directed by Hong Won-ki.[3]
Hours after the album's release, the group held a showcase at AX Korea in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, which was broadcast live via Naver's V app.[7] They performed songs from the album for the first time at the showcase.[1][8] The group then promoted the album with performances of "Rough" on various music shows, starting with SBS MTV's The Show on January 26. In their second week of promotion, the song won first place on every music show with a chart system. By February 28, "Rough" had won a total of 15 music show trophies, including "triple crowns" on M! Countdown, Music Bank, Show Champion, and Inkigayo.[9][10][11] With these wins, GFriend is in second place for number of wins by a girl group for a single song, behind Apink's 17 wins for "Luv".[9][12]
The album opens with a dramatic intro track, "Snowflake". The lead single, "Rough", is a dance song described as "lyrical, catchy, and melodic" with "powerful beats and emotional lyrics".[13] Its Korean title literally translates to "Running Through Time", and the lyrics are about a girl's desire to "run through time and grow up" so she can be with the one she loves.[1][14][15] "Say My Name" features drums, acoustic guitar, and synthesizer riffs. "Luv Star" is a medium-tempo dance song with string instrumentation and "Someday" was described as an "energetic cheer song". "Trust" is a medium-tempo pop ballad that portrays the love story of a "shy but serious girl".[16] "Rough" and "Say My Name" were written by Iggy and Seo Yong-bae, who also wrote both of GFriend's previous singles. Seo is an in-house producer at Rainbow Bridge World.[17]
The album entered the weekly Gaon Album Chart at number two, selling 11,165 physical copies in one week.[18][19] It was also number ten on the Billboard World Albums chart.[20] As of June 2016, it has sold more than 33,000 copies.[21] All five songs from the album charted on the Gaon Digital Chart, with "Rough" peaking at number one the third week of release.[22][23] "Rough" has sold more than 1.2 million digital downloads as of May 2016.[24] During the month of January, the music video for "Rough" was the third most watched K-pop music video globally.[25]
Won Ho-jung of The Korea Herald said the album's musical style is similar to K-pop from the late 1990s and 2000s, and can appeal to fans who still want the "old-style feel" of classic Korean pop idol groups.[26] Won described "Rough" and "Say My Name" as powerful and dramatic, and "Luv Star" and "Someday" as adorable and "sugary sweet". Won called GFriend's vocals "on point" and noted that the members were able to adeptly switch between "powerful, soaring voices" and "cutesy, nasal voices" for the two types of songs. Overall, Won said the album "demonstrates GFriend's potential to move beyond the cliché schoolgirl concept and do something interesting of their own, bringing classic girl groups to 21st-century K-pop."[26]
^"GFriend". After School Club. Episode 199. February 16, 2016. Event occurs at 15:58. Arirang. Archived from the original on September 18, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
^Kang Seo-jeong (February 24, 2016). "여자친구, '쇼챔' 1위 '트리플크라운'..13관왕 '대기록'[종합]" [GFriend wins number one on 'Show Champion' for the triple crown... 13th trophy so far] (in Korean). OSEN. Naver News. Archived from the original on February 27, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
^2016년 상반기 결산 Album Chart [First half of 2016 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 16, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
2016년 01월 Download Chart [January 2016 Download Chart] (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
2016년 02월 Download Chart [February 2016 Download Chart] (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
2016년 03월 Download Chart [March 2016 Download Chart] (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on April 22, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
2016년 04월 Download Chart [April 2016 Download Chart] (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
2016년 19주차 Download Chart [Week 19 of 2016 Download Chart] (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
2016년 20주차 Download Chart [Week 20 of 2016 Download Chart] (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
^"2016년 01월 Album Chart". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
