Fifth Harmony (album)

In 2016, Fifth Harmony released their second studio album, which is titled 7/27.[7] To promote the album, they embarked on the 7/27 Tour. During an interview with radio host Elvis Duran after an iHeartRadio Jingle Ball concert, the group announced they were working on a new album.[8] On December 18, 2016, they announced on social media that Camila Cabello had left Fifth Harmony. Following the repercussion of Cabello's departure and speculations about the group's future, the members published another statement saying, "We have spent the past year and a half (since her initial solo endeavor) trying to communicate to her and her team all of the reasons why we felt Fifth Harmony deserved at least one more album of her time. We are excited for our future, and we can't wait for what the new year brings."[9][10]

In January 2017, the group renewed their contract with Epic Records as a quartet; the same month they announced the Asian leg of the 7/27 tour[11] and made their first appearance as a four-piece at the 43rd People's Choice Awards on January 17. During the show, they performed an edited version of "Work from Home" and won the award for "Favorite Group" for the second consecutive year.[12] During an interview with Billboard, member Ally Brooke said the group were having "a lot of creative control and input" for the first time and that they "are so excited" about it.[13] On April 12, 2017, the quartet appeared on the cover of Galore magazine, in which they discussed the concept and sonority present on their third album: "We've been creating sounds that we've been wanting to touch base on. Some R&B tones, some rhythmic tones. It's been amazing to create with one another because we're so different when it comes to music", Dinah Jane said. She added, "We love different genres. So to vibe together and create this Fifth Harmony sound is what makes it so special."[14][15][16]

The recording sessions for Fifth Harmony began in China 2017. During the creative process the members had more involvement than with their previous albums, co-writing most of the songs, choosing which ones to produce and sharing ideas during the production.[18] The group collaborated with several record producers and songwriters, including The Stereotypes, Skrillex, The Monsters and the Strangerz, Ammo DallasK, and Tommy Brown.[19] According to Lauren Jauregui, those collaborators created "safe spaces" where they could try out ideas without being judged.[18] In an interview with Official Charts Company, Dinah Jane said the producers knew what the group were going to do and respected their ideas and decisions. She added, "We're all in an environment where we can creatively open up to each other and not be afraid. There are no boundaries, and that comes through in the music. We've taken risks."[20]

During the writing process, the group worked in pairs; each pair stayed in a room with a producer and songwriter. They could listen to the process of the songs then brainstorm ideas for the lyrics. Producer Leah Haywood of production team Dreamlab told Billboard, "It's not like [the group] came in at the end and started riffing. We sat and wrote verses together, because they're empowered women who want to be pushing the agenda." The group first hinted at the studio album with Skrillex and Poo Bear in March 2017;[21] according to Poo Bear they were "hungry and excited and seemed like they had a serious new point to prove".[18] The songs were written at Windmark Recording Studios.[18]

Fifth Harmony performing at the Los Angeles Country Fair 2017 event on September 15, 2017.

On July 24, 2017, Fifth Harmony performed "Down" on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, during which the host Fallon announced the album's title and release date.[46] Buyers who pre-ordered the album online received exclusive access to autograph-signing events for the album in Fullerton, California, on August 14 and in San Francisco on August 15.[47] Another signing event was held at Hard Rock Cafe in New York City on August 29, 2017.[48] Coinciding with the album release date, the group appeared at a live event promoted by the Vevo team that was held in Hollywood's NeueHouse. During the conversation, the music video for "He Like That" was premiered for streaming.[49] On August 27, 2017, the group appeared at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards where they performed "Angel" and "Down"—the latter song featured an appearance by Gucci Mane.[50]

For online marketing, Fifth Harmony's Twitter account announced three challenges that fans could complete to unlock hidden videos by accumulating enough save and stream data for the album on Spotify. Fans could track the challenge's progress on the group's website.[51] A video showing the making of the official music videos for "Angel" and "He Like That", and a video in which the group documented the creative process for their VMAs performance were unlocked.[52][53][54] The group later appeared on Good Morning America on August 29, 2017, where they sang "He Like That" and talked about their performance at the VMAs.[55] Fifth Harmony appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden on September 12, 2017, where they performed songs and participated in a game called Flinch.[56][57] On September 29, the girls embarked on their PSA Tour to promote the album.

On August 9, 2017, Fifth Harmony announced their PSA Tour, an official concert tour to promote the album. The tour began on September 29, 2017, in Santiago, Chile, at the Movistar Arena[58] and ended on May 11, 2018, at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida. Becky G was announced as a supporting act for some of the Latin American dates and the Lost Kings were planned to support the group in Australia but the Australian concerts were canceled.[59] The tour's setlist included all ten songs from the album and several of the group's songs from previous albums.

The lead single from Fifth Harmony, "Down", was released to all major streaming services and digital platforms on June 2, 2017.[60] It debuted at its peak position of number 42 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top fifties of charts in other countries, including the UK, Ireland, Canada, France, Portugal and Slovakia. The accompanying music video for "Down" premiered on Fifth Harmony's Vevo channel on June 8, 2017. The video was directed by James Larese; it has a neon-inspired aesthetic interspersed with clips of the group performing a choreographed dance.[61] Its music video earned Fifth Hamony their fourth MTV Video Music Award at the 2017 ceremony for Best Pop Video.[62]

"He Like That" was released as the second single from the album; it was released to mainstream radio in the U.S. on September 19, 2017.[63] The official video for "He Like That" was released on the group's Vevo channel on August 25, 2017.

The album's third single was "Por Favor"—a duet with Pitbull—was released on October 27, 2017.[64] The song was later included on the album's Spotify re-release.[65] Fifth Harmony performed "Por Favor" on U.S. television several times, including on Dancing with the Stars, Showtime at the Apollo and at the 2017 Latin American Music Awards.

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	64/100[70]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[26]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[35]
The New York Times	80/100[71]
Idolator	3/5[2]
Pitchfork	5.3/10[29]
Rolling Stone	[23]
Spin	6/10[24]
The Guardian	[33]

Fifth Harmony received generally positive reviews from music critics.[70] Brittany Spanks from Rolling Stone called the album the group's "most cohesive album yet" and a "satisfying introduction to what Fifth Harmony can be capable of in their new era as a quartet".[23] Marc Snetiker from Entertainment Weekly said the album echoes like a "B side" to their previous album 7/27 but delivers only "a faint aftershock of its quake".[35] AllMusic's Matt Collar described the album as "sophisticated" and said its "undistinguished production" finds the group completing the transformation "from a youthful pop outfit into a mature, adult contemporary R&B entity".[26] In a review for The Guardian, Michael Cragg wrote that the album simultaneously feels like "a statement of intent and a hastily cobbled together swansong", commending the album's divergence of sounds but regarding it "overall, a mixed bag".[33]

Writing for The New York Times, Jon Caramanica praised the Fifth Harmony, commenting that it is "potent and overflowing with sugary pleasures" and full of "military-grade pop production and laser-targeted singing".[71] Idolator's Mike Nied called it "easily their most eclectic release" and "a statement from the quartet".[2] In a mixed review, Katherine St. Asaph of Spin described it as a "workmanlike pop album, vocally immaculate and sonically au courant, but seldom more than functional", adding that the album is "so focused on functional, micromanaged pop tracks that it doesn't allow the women a personality besides 'vaguely, anonymously sassy' ".[24]

Fifth Harmony debuted at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, with 46,000 album-equivalent units according to Nielsen SoundScan. It reached the same peak as 7/27, making it Fifth Harmony's fourth consecutive top-ten and third top-five album, equaling the number of top-ten albums from all-female acts Destiny's Child and Dixie Chicks. They are only behind The Supremes, who achieved eight top-ten albums. In terms of sales, the album was the second-highest entry on the chart in the week of its debut, with only 32,000 pure copies sold.[72] The album spent four weeks on the Billboard 200 beginning at number 4 and descending to 34, 100 and 162 in each following week.[73]

In South Korea, Fifth Harmony debuted at number 97 on the Gaon Album Chart and at number 10 on the International chart for physical media copies.[74][75] In Japan, the album debuted at number 70 on Billboard Japan's Hot Albums chart and peaked at number 51 in its fourth week. The album also debuted at number 33 on Billboard Japan Top Albums for estimated physical sales of 1,677 units.[76][77] The album debuted at number 22 on the Oricon Daily Albums Chart on September 12, 2017, and peaked at number 19 a day later.[78][79]

Notes

• Only digital versions of the album list Frank Brim as a co-writer for "He Like That".[65]
• Dayo Olatunji is incorrectly credited as Dayo Alatunji.

Sample credits

• "He Like That" contains a portion of the composition "Pumps and a Bump", written by Dexter Ansley, Gerald Baillergeau, Ondreius Burgie, MC Hammer, George Clinton, Garry Shider and David Spradley, performed by MC Hammer.
• "Messy" contains a portion of the composition "It Wasn't Me", written by Shaggy, Rikrok, Shaun Pizzonia and Brian Thompson, performed by Shaggy featuring Rikrok, which interpolates "Smile Happy", performed by War, written by Thomas Allen, Harold Brown, Morris Dickerson, Leroy Jordan, Charles Miller, Lee Levitin, and Howard Scott.

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes[80]