Can You Hear Me? (EP)

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Can You Hear Me?
A close-up of the face of a woman with long brown hair. She holds her right hand up to her right ear. To the right of the photo are the words "Can You Hear Me" in white capital letters.
EP by
IU
ReleasedMarch 20, 2013 (2013-03-20)
Recorded2012–13
DCH Studio, Tokyo
LOEN Studio, Seoul
Flyte Tyme Studios, Santa Monica
Middle Chorus Studio, Beijing
Jackson's Lyric Studio, Birmingham, AL
GenreR&B, pop music, show tune
Length19:36
LanguageJapanese, English
LabelEast World
ProducerKazuhiko Koike (exec.), Shin Won-Soo (exec.), Hidenobu Okira, Jo Yeong-Cheol, Jeong Seong-Kean
IU chronology
Spring of a Twenty Year Old
(2012) 		Can You Hear Me?
(2013) 		Modern Times
(2013)
Singles from Can You Hear Me?
  1. "Beautiful Dancer"
    Released: March 20, 2013

Can You Hear Me? is the second Japanese extended play by South Korean singer-songwriter IU. It was released on March 20, 2013.

Background and development[edit]

IU made her Japanese debut under EMI Music Japan in March 2012, with the single "Good Day." Since then, she had been active in both South Korea and Japan. In South Korea, she released the extended play Spring of a Twenty Year Old and collaborated with Korean girl group Fiestar for the song "Sea of Moonlight." In July, she released a Japanese version of her 2011 single "You & I," and held her first Japanese concert, IU Friendship Special Concert: Autumn2012, on September 17, 2012. In October 2012, IU released two cover songs digitally, "Friend" by Japanese rock band Anzen Chitai and "Aishiteru" (愛してる, "I Love You") by Callin', one of the ending theme songs for the anime Natsume's Book of Friends.[1] Both of these were recorded at her first Japanese concert.

In support of the French musical, Notre-Dame de Paris performed at the Tokyu Theatre Orb in Shibuya in February and March, IU covered a song from the English version of the musical, "The Age of the Cathedrals." This was released as a cellphone download on February 6, 2013, and later as a PC download on February 13.[2] This rendition was added to Can You Hear Me? as a bonus track.

The album was officially announced on January 25, 2013.[3]

Writing and production[edit]

The album was mostly recorded at DCH Studio, Tokyo, and Loen Studio in Seoul. Additional instrumental recording was recorded at Flyte Tyme Studios in Santa Monica, California and Jackson's Lyric Studio in Birmingham, Alabama. An orchestral sequence in the song "Beautiful Dancer" was performed by the China National Symphony Orchestra, which was recorded at Middle Chorus Studio in Beijing.[4]

The extended play features IU's first original Japanese songs. American R&B production team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were enlisted to write two songs for the project, "Beautiful Dancer" and "Truth."[3][4] "Beautiful Dancer" was the first time for IU to sing an R&B song.[5] Hiro of the Japanese hip-hop unit LGYankees also served as a vocal producer for the album, and wrote lyrics to three songs on the album.[4]

The song "Voice-mail" was written and composed by IU, then translated into Japanese.[3][4] This is the fourth self-penned song by IU, after "Take My Hand" from The Greatest Love soundtrack (2011), "A Stray Puppy" from Last Fantasy (2011) and "Peach" (2012). IU composed the song on her acoustic guitar, and completed it in two to three hours.[5]

The Korean version of the song was later put onto IU's third Korean-language studio album Modern Times as a bonus track.

Promotion and release[edit]

"Beautiful Dancer" was chosen as the leading promoted track from the extended play and released to radio. It was used as the March ending theme song for the Nippon TV music show Happy Music.[6] The music video was released on March 8, 2013, and was shot over two days in Thailand.[7] A week after the album on March 27, 2013, IU held her first fan meeting event, IU: The First Fan Meeting in Japan at the Tokyo International Forum.[7] IU was featured in magazines to promote the album, was as Haruhana, CanCam, Soup, Rolling Stone Japan and Mini.[8]

"The Age of the Cathedrals" and "New World" were released as promotional singles as album previews in Japan digital outlet, which were released digitally on February 6, 2013 and February 20, 2013.[9]

Chart reception[edit]

The album debuted at number 23 on Oricon's albums chart, selling 6,000 copies.[10][11] After charting for three weeks in the top 300 albums, the extended play sold a total of 8,000 copies.[11] This was less than her previous Japanese extended play, I□U, a compilation album of Korean songs released before her debut in 2011, and significantly less than her two Japanese singles, "Good Day" and "You & I," which were both top 10 releases.[11]

"New World" reached a peak of 76 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, and the lead single "Beautiful Dancer" reached number 66.[12]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Beautiful Dancer"HiroJames Harris III, Terry Lewis, John Jackson4:29
2."Truth"HiroJames Harris III, Terry Lewis, John Jackson3:37
3."Fairytale"HiroAndy Love, Niclas Kings3:38
4."Voice-mail"IU, Yadako (Japanese translation)IU4:06
5."New World"YadakoAli Thomson, Christoffer Wikberg, Alina Devecerski3:49
Total length:19:36
CD+DVD edition bonus track
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
6."The Age of the Cathedrals"Luc Plamondon, Will Jennings (English translation)Riccardo Cocciante3:06
Total length:22:47
DVD
No.TitleLength
1."A Documentary Film of IU 2012～2013"29:52

Chart rankings[edit]

Charts (2013) Peak
position
Japan Oricon daily albums[13] 9
Japan Oricon weekly albums[10] 23
Taiwan G-Music J-pop/K-pop chart[14] 10

Sales and certifications[edit]

Chart Amount
Oricon physical sales[11] 8,000

Personnel[edit]

Personnel details were sourced from Can You Hear Me?'s liner notes booklet.[4]

Managerial

Performance credits

Visuals and imagery

Technical and production

Release history[edit]

Region Date Format Distributing Label Catalogue codes
Japan March 20, 2013 (2013-03-20)[15] CD, CD+DVD, digital download EMI Music Japan TOCT-29128, TOCT-29129
Taiwan March 22, 2013 (2013-03-22)[16] CD+DVD Golden Typhoon I5309
Japan April 6, 2013 (2013-04-06)[17] Rental CD+DVD EMI Music Japan TOCT-29128

References[edit]

  1. ^ "安全地帯の名曲「Friend」をIU(アイユー)がカバーし、本日よりデジタル配信!!" [Anzen Chitai signature song Friend covered by IU, released today digitally!!]. IU Official Fanclub. October 24, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  2. ^ "ミュージカル「ノートルダム・ド・パリ」サポートソングを歌う!!" [Singing musical Notre-Dame de Paris' support song!!]. IU Official Fanclub. January 25, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "IU待望の日本オリジナルMini-Album「タイトル未定」 3/20発売決定!!" [IU's long awaited Japan original mini-album (TBA) released on March 20!!]. IU Official Fanclub. January 25, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e Can You Hear Me? (Media notes) (in Japanese). IU. Tokyo, Japan: EMI Music Japan. 2013.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ a b "IU Special Interview". Ayano Hoshino. Oricon. March 30, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  6. ^ "「Beautiful Dancer」、日本テレビ系「ハッピーMusic」3月エンディングテーマ決定" [Beautiful Dancer used as Nippon TV's Happy Music March ending theme song!!]. IU Official Fanclub. February 26, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  7. ^ a b "冒頭82秒に隠された秘密とは、IU（アイユー）の新曲MV完全フルver.が公開！". CDJapan. March 8, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  8. ^ "メディア情報" [Media Information]. IU Official Fanclub. March 21, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  9. ^ "3/20発売 Mini-Album「Can You Hear Me?」より、『New World』本日より先行配信スタート!!" [New World from 3/20 release mini-album Can You Mean Me? released digitally today!!]. IU Official Fanclub. February 20, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  10. ^ a b ＩＵのリリース一覧 [A look at IU's releases] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  11. ^ a b c d "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service "You Big Tree"]. Oricon. Retrieved November 16, 2013. (subscription only)
  12. ^ "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard Japan. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  13. ^ "T-ara, Girls' Generation, IU, TVXQ & SHINee make it onto Oricon's Top 10". Allkpop. March 21, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  14. ^ "G-Music 風雲榜 (東洋榜) 2013年 第12週" [G-Music Billboard (East Asian) 29013 Week 12] (in Chinese). G-Music. April 5, 2013. Archived from the original on May 12, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  15. ^ "Can You Hear Me ?(通常盤)". Amazon Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  16. ^ "IU/ Can You Hear Me?" (in Chinese). G Music. Retrieved November 16, 2013.[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ Ｃａｎ Ｙｏｕ Ｈｅａｒ Ｍｅ ？／ＩＵ (in Japanese). Tsutaya. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
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