Get Up (EP)

South Korean girl group NewJeans released the music video for their first single, "Attention", as a surprise release in July 2022.[1] It was immediately followed by their eponymous debut extended play (EP), which was supported by two other singles, "Hype Boy" and "Cookie".[1][2] The EP became the first debut album by a K-pop girl group to sell over a million copies, while NewJeans later became the fastest K-pop act to reach one billion streams on Spotify following the release of their commercially successful first single album, OMG, in January 2023.[1][2][3] The album included the tracks "Ditto" and "OMG", the former of which became the longest-running number-one song on South Korea's Circle Digital Chart and marked the group's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.[2][4]

In January 2023, ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin first revealed in an interview with South Korean magazine Cine21 that NewJeans was preparing a new album.[5] On April 4, 2023, South Korean news site Star News reported that the album would be released in July 2023, preceded by one of its B-side tracks set to be released at the end of June.[1] Later that month, Min stated in an interview with Billboard that the group had finished recording in early April.[6] In May 2023, Korean media outlets reported that the B-side track would be released on July 7.[7] On June 19, 2023, ADOR officially announced the release date for NewJeans' second EP, titled Get Up, and revealed the tracklist, including the lead singles, alongside a snippet of one of the B-side tracks.[3] That same day, the EP became available for pre-order at 11:00 (KST).[8] After the announcement, Hybe's share price rose by 3% in one day.[9]

Erika de Casier (pictured) co-wrote four tracks on Get Up.

To produce Get Up, ADOR enlisted both long-time collaborators, such as South Korean producers 250 and Park Jin-su, and musicians outside of the K-pop music scene. The label organized a studio session in Copenhagen where they invited Danish singer-songwriter Erika de Casier, Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeldt of Norwegian musical duo Smerz, Danish producer Fine Glindvad Jensen, American songwriter Kristine Bogan, and American producer Frankie Scoca, among others.[10] De Casier, Stoltenberg, Motzfeldt, and Jensen already knew each other and were friends; both de Casier and Stoltenberg said they had never listened to K-pop before the project. Analyzing the musicians' discographies, critic Kim Do-heon noted that they all shared a R&B-based languid bedroom pop production mixed with UK garage.[11] The musicians were initially divided in groups and asked to produce something by lunch; the only guide they had were loops sent by 250 to use as starting points.[12]

De Casier, Stoltenberg, and Motzfeldt described the session as spontaneous and playful in interviews with GQ and Crack. It was their first time writing music for others, a process that they found liberating and low stakes compared to working on their own music, which allowed them to naturally develop the songs. Used to working as a duo, Stoltenberg and Motzfeldt said that writing with others was initially confusing as they had to direct the production while Jensen and de Casier simultaneously wrote the tracks. Since they were writing for a group of teenagers, they decided to go for lively melodies and youthful lyrics. Stoltenberg said some of the elements and rhythms – "this half tempo, fast tempo switch and vocal samples" along with a "sparse" production – were inspired by footwork and similar genres they used to listen to at the start of their career. The session lasted a few days, during which the group wrote four of the EP's six tracks: "New Jeans", "Super Shy", "Cool with You", and "ASAP".[10][12]

The first song they wrote was "Super Shy".[10] De Casier said that she was inspired by her experiences as a shy teenager when writing the lyrics with Bogan.[10] For "New Jeans", de Casier first came up with the hook "new year, new jeans, you and me" and her and Jensen built the song around the call and response chant, inspired by S.O.A.P. and Aqua.[10] "Cool with You" was initially developed by de Casier and Jensen while they were sharing ideas and voice memos.[10] "ASAP" was developed from a beat created by Smerz and based on one of 250's loops at the end of the session, during late afternoon, while the group was relaxing.[10][12] The songs were then sent to the label and finished in South Korea, where some of the lyrics were changed and translated to Korean;[10] NewJeans member Haerin was credited for the first time as a lyricist on "New Jeans" and member Danielle wrote lyrics for "Super Shy" and "ASAP".[13] Park was also credited as a composer and producer on "New Jeans" and "Cool with You". The remaining tracks, "ETA" and "Get Up", were produced by 250; "ETA" was written by South Korean rapper Beenzino, Gigi, Ylva Dimberg, and 250, who also wrote "Get Up" with Freekind.[14]

Get Up comprises six tracks and is about 12 minutes long.[16] It draws from R&B and eclectic styles of dance music,[17][18][19] further embracing the genres first explored in OMG.[13][20] Hanni described the EP as a representation of "NewJeans' summer", spanning a range of emotions and stories revolving around love.[21][19] Get Up opens with "New Jeans".[13] Inspired by UK garage and Jersey club,[13] the percussion-driven track expresses NewJeans' desire to keep carving their own path and experimenting with new music, also referencing in the lyrics "So Fresh, So Clean" (2001) by American duo Outkast.[22][13] "Super Shy" is a bubblegum liquid drum'n'bass and Jersey club song that features a staccato kick drum pattern in which NewJeans wish to overcome their shyness and confess to their first love.[23][24]

"ETA", an acronym for estimated time of arrival, is a song based on mellow melodies that incorporates Think break-like funky drum breaks,[19][13] "cozy" synths,[19] and energetic choppy air horns taken from Debonair Samir's Baltimore club song "Samir's Theme".[13][19][22] In the track, NewJeans encourage their friend to break up with their boyfriend due to his infidelity.[22][19] Joshua Minsoo Kim of Pitchfork described it as the result of NewJeans' previous experiments with club music, namely Jersey club in "Cookie" and Baltimore club in "Ditto".[19] "Cool with You" is a UK garage track driven by "effortless" melodies, "playful" ad-libs,[19] layered harmonies, melismas, and whispered vocals.[13][22] In the track, NewJeans candidly express their feelings toward a partner,[19] uncaring of what others might say about them.[22] The EP's interlude, "Get Up" is a "dreamy" R&B ballad based on atmospheric synths emphasizing NewJeans' airy harmonies.[13][22] It alludes to a fight with a lover.[22] The record closes with "ASAP", a "sweet" pop song that incorporates "bubbly" percussion, syncopated synths, and a ticking sound similar to that of a clock as a call-back to the first track.[13][22] With woozy vocals,[19] NewJeans sing about longing for a partner, whom they frequently call to share with them "life's small joys".[19][22]

Get Up was released at 13:00 (KST) on July 21, 2023, a day before NewJeans' first debut anniversary.[18] It was available in three different physical formats: a bag version, available in six variants, a box set version in collaboration with The Powerpuff Girls and a Weverse-exclusive version.[3][8][25] All versions include a CD, a CD envelope, an outbox, three photo books, a lyric book, a photo card envelope, five photo cards, a sticker envelope, three stickers, five post cards and a bookmark.[25][26][27] Other gadgets were exclusively available at stores such as Target, Weverse Shop Japan and Universal Music Store.[28][29]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[17]
IZM	[55]
NME	[22]
Pitchfork	7.6/10[19]

Upon release, Get Up featured in NPR's list of the best new music.[56] In her five-star review for NME, Rhian Daly praised the six "flawless" songs and wrote that Get Up served as a "divine" introduction to NewJeans' second year, successfully establishing them as "the group to watch" in the K-pop music scene.[22] Joshua Minsoo Kim of Pitchfork wrote that the group "channel the ecstasy of self-love and infatuation through lively dance music" while their "brisk, club-inflected pop songs cement them as one of the most interesting K-pop acts working today".[19] Kim Do-heon reviewed the EP positively, describing it as "retro while being at the forefront of the trend".[11] Music critic Kim Young-dae called Get Up the "highly refined result of tenacious pursuit of simplicity and intuitive sophistication" that "transcends genres and cultures".[57] Cielo Perez placed Get Up at number 18 on Paste's list of the 30 greatest K-pop albums of all time.[58]

According to the EP's distributor, YG Plus, Get Up exceeded 1.72 million stock pre-orders the day before the release, breaking NewJeans' previous record of 800,000 pre-orders for OMG.[18] Hanteo Chart reported that the EP had sold 1,194,623 copies on its first day of release, becoming the group's third consecutive album to sell over one million copies.[59] Get Up sold 1.65 million copies in its first week of release, becoming the second most-sold album by a K-pop female artist in its first week of release.[60] The EP debuted at number two on the Circle Album Chart in the issue dated July 16–22, 2023, with 1,451,905 copies sold. The Weverse-exclusive version debuted at number four in the same chart issue with 271,895 copies sold.[61] Critics noted that the functional design of the EP, shaped like a bag, contributed to its commercial success in South Korea.[62]

In the United States, Get Up debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in the issue dated August 5, 2023, earning NewJeans their first entry and number-one on the chart. NewJeans became the second K-pop girl group to top the chart after Blackpink,[63] while the EP became one of only two albums[note 1] by a girl group to have reached number one on the chart in fifteen years, since Danity Kane's Welcome to the Dollhouse in 2008. It is also the 20th mostly non-English language album to top the chart, and the fourth of 2023.[note 2] The EP opened with 126,500 album-equivalent units, of which 101,500 were pure album sales, and accumulated 34.39 million streams in its first week.[64] It beat the soundtrack of American film Barbie (2023) in what Billboard described as "the year's closest race" for the number-one album by just 500 units.[65] In Japan, Get Up debuted at number five on the Oricon Albums Chart in the issue dated July 17–23, 2023, with 27,304 copies sold.[66] It rose to number four the following week with 15,768 copies sold.[67]

Credits are adapted from the EP's lyric book.[14]

Locations

• Recorded, engineered and edited at Hybe Studio
• Mixed at Brecks Farmhouse Studios (2), The Sound Factory Studios, Los Angeles, California (3, 4), and Chapel Swing Studios, Valley Glen, Los Angeles (5)
• Mastered at Becker Mastering, Pasadena, California

Personnel

• List of best-selling albums in South Korea
• List of best-selling albums by girl groups in South Korea
• List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 2023