Remembering GFRIEND

It came almost as a shock to many a K-Pop fan that GFRIEND decided to disband sometime back in May. Personally, I did not want to believe this as they still were the real deal and the new direction in music from their old contemporary style was something refreshing and a pleasure to listen to. Well, that is as far as it went though as and everything came to a grinding halt. 

Source Music confirmed that GFRIEND will be ending their exclusive contract on May 22, 2021. GFRIEND members have decided to pursue solo careers, which is what we get to hear from K-Pop sources.

Separate handwritten letters to announce their disbandment were shared by the members of the group on Weverse. This decision was reached after “careful consideration and extensive discussion” and that Source Music would not renew their contracts any further. They have expressed their sincere gratitude to the girl group and their fandom "BUDDY". Source Music said they will continue to cheer for the girls “as they take the first step towards new beginnings”.

Sowon, the leader of the group, said "GFRIEND has officially neared an end, but this doesn't mean the end of us. Don't be too sad Buddy". Buddy is the group's Fandom. 

GFRIEND was formed by Source Music in 2015 with 6 members - Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB, and Umji. They made their debut with the EP "Season of Glass" on January 15, 2015. They have since then released 11 mini-albums and 3 Full Albums. 

They have given fans hit tracks like "Me Gustas Tu", "Fingertip", "Rough" and "Navillera". And more recently hits like "Fever", "Mago" and "Apple" further cemented their presence.

So what are they up to. 

• Sowon has officially signed with IOK Company as an actress and changed her stage name to "Kim So Jung". So its, K-Drama humm...
• Rapper San E X GFriend's Yuju to release collaboration track 'So Silly'.
• Yerin has signed with a New Agency called Sublime Artist Agency.
• Eunha dropped the song, “At The End Of Time” for a popular Online Webtoon called "The Stairway of Time", back in June.

GFRIEND's music is very groovy, soulful, pleasant,  K-Pop songs filled with melody. They had a neat and clean image. Their style of music was very iconic and set an example for other budding K-Pop groups. You can't miss the Soulful Bop, the mix of both modern & classical beats and the ever present Violin rhythm all coming together to form a totally wonderful composition.

Here is my pick of their Top 15 Songs from the past 6 years! If you haven't listed to it yet, then I am sure you will definitely love this list.

#1 Navillera

#2 Rough

#3 Hear The Wing Sing

#4 Fingertip

#5 Fever

#6 Mago

#7 Glass Bead

#8 Me Gustas Tu

#9 Apple 

#10 He We Are

#11 Sunny Summer

#12 Flower Garden

#13 Flower (Korean Version)

#14 Vacation

#15 Our Secret (비밀 이야기)

Your my GFRIEND Forever!! I am your BUDDY!

Best of GFRIEND 2020

The best songs of Best of GFRIEND in 2020

Song of the Sirens (stylized as 回:Song of the Sirens), the ninth extended play by South Korean girl group GFriend, released on July 13, 2020, by Source Music and distributed by kakao M. The EP contains six songs and Apple is the lead / title song.

APPLE

Songwriter(s): FRANTS; Pdogg"hitman" bang; Hwang Hyun (MonoTree); Eunha; Hannah Robinson; Richard Phillips; Alex Nese; Chendy; Yuju; Noh Joo-hwan; Kim Jin (Makeumine Works); Gu Yeo-reum (Makeumine Works); Lee Seu-ran

Producer(s): FRANTS; Pdogg"hitman" bang

MV Director: Guzza of Lumpens

回:Walpurgis Night recorded by South Korean girl group GFriend, their third Korean-language studio album. Mago was released as the title track of the album on November 9, 2020 by Source Music.

MAGO

Songwriter(s): FRANTS"hitman" bang; Kyler Niko; Paulina Cerrilla; Eunha; Cho Yoon-kyung; Yuju; Alice Vicious; Cazzi Opeia; Ellen Berg; JADED JANE; Noisy Citizen; Justin Reinstein; JJeanUmji

Producer(s): FRANTS

MV Director: Guzza of Lumpens

Labyrinth (stylized as 回:LABYRINTH) is the eighth extended play (EP) and 5th anniversary debut commemorate album by South Korean girl group GFriend. The album was released on February 3, 2020, by Source Music and distributed by kakao M. 

CROSSROADS

Here We Are

Eclipse

Promotion Gallery:

Labyrinth

Song of the Sirens

Walpurgis Night

GFRIEND - LABYRINTH

GFRIEND are back once again with a bang!! They signed with Big Hit Entertainment (who acquired Source Music) and have dropped their 9th mini album LABYRINTH. It features 6 songs and photo books. It comes in 3 versions: Crossroads, Room & Twisted.

After initial promotion and photo shoots the mini-album finally went on sale February 03, 2020.

The title track “Crossroads,” was co-composed by Noh Joo Hwan and Lee Won Jong. 

Big Hit Entertainment founder Bang Shi Hyuk also penned lyrics for two songs!!

Overall the signature style of GFriend is maintained in all songs, either as Pop ballads or Upbeat tracks. 

Track List below: 

Promotional Medley:

Verdict: Here We Are is a powerful song with some great vocals. Eclipse is the signature GFRIEND track, no mistakingly that. Finally the title track Crossroads is just brilliant.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Music Videos:

Crossroads

Promotional Shoots:

GFRIEND - Fever Season

This Album by GFRIEND is a knockout winner and just the title song Fever is enough as it speaks for itself. Although, the rest of the songs pale into insignificance, Flower (Korean Version) is another worthy mention in this mini-album.

Strangely I feel the BlackPink influence is spreading like a disease and more groups notably Twice with Fancy and GFRIEND with Fever as adopting a more punk and stylish look than their contemporary style for which they are known. And all the members have contributed significantly in singing.

The Song is very neatly done and the music rhythm flow is constant without much variation apart from the vocal transitions which varies with each part. I was little skeptical after listening to the medley and was not thrilled but convinced myself to wait out till the album released on July 1, 2019. And I am stoked! I like it - well "Fever" that is. They have already racked up sales of over 50,000 copies in the first week which is 5x more than their first album showing their steady improvement and reach to a larger fan base.

Title Track - Fever

 Complete Track List Below

Music Video

The choreography is brilliant. "Sin B" is all over the place!! Eunha and Yuju are brilliant as usual. Umji and Sowon look great and Yerin drop dead gorgeous...

Album Gallery

GFRIEND - the 2nd Album 'Time for Us'

GFRIEND are back with a bang!! Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB and Umji never fail to deliver with their vocal magic and here is the proof. Their 2nd Album 'Time for Us' & "Sunrise" his hit the top of iTunes Charts across several countries including Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Israel, Malaysia and Philippines. It has also topped the No. 1 on iTunes Top Albums charts with 'Time for Us'.

About the Album: Album was released on Jan 14, 2019 by SOURCE MUSIC, licensed to Kakao M Corp. 'Time for Us' features 13 Songs with playtime of 46 Minutes.

Sunrise MV

You can sample the tracks for 30 secs each and download over at iTunes

TRACK LISTING - Stand out tracks listed in Pink. 

1. Sunrise
2. You Are Not Alone
3. L.U.V. 
4. Glow 
5. Our Secret 
6. Only 1 
7. Truly Love 
8. Show Up 
9. It's You 
10. A Starry Sky 
11. Love Oh Love 
12. Memoria (Korean Version) 
13. Sunrise (Instrumental) 

Bottom Line - GFRIEND is your Best Friend! - 3.5 Stars out of 5.

GFRIEND

Label: Source Music
Members: 6 (Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB, Umji)
Total Hits: 9 
Average Rating: 4.27
5 Star Hits: 1 
Singing: 4/5
Choreography: 3/5

Profile: GFRIEND is a six-member South Korean girl group formed by Source Music in 2015. The group consists of Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB and Umji. They made their debut with the EP Season of Glass on January 16, 2015.

GFriend won several 2015 female rookie awards and has garnered momentum since their debut, despite coming from a small company.

In 2016, they continued their success with their third EP Snowflake and won first place on many music shows with the title song "Rough".

They released their first full-length album LOL in July 2016. In 2017, GFriend made a comeback with a new concept with their fourth EP The Awakening and the pre-orders for the album exceeded 100,000 units.

GFriend released their fifth EP Parallel in August 2017 and the extended play was re-released a month later under the title Rainbow.

In 2018, GFriend held the first concert since debut called Season of GFriend and later their first Asia Tour with the same name.

GFriend released their sixth EP Time for the Moon Night in April 2018 and the special EP Sunny Summer in July 2018.

GFriend made an official Japanese debut with a compilation album, GFriend 1st Best in May 2018.

GFriend have started 2019 with a bang with multi iTunes chart topping album "Time for Us" and hit track 'Sunrise", In July 2019 their new mini album "Fever Season" sold record number of albums in its first week which is outstanding.

GFriend Hits & Ratings

GFRIEND	FINGERTIP	5
GFRIEND	Glass Bead	4.5
GFRIEND	Hear The Wind Sing	4.5
GFRIEND	Me Gustas Tu	4
GFRIEND	Navillera	5
GFRIEND	Sunny Summer	4.5
GFRIEND	Rough	5
GFRIEND	Vacation	4
GFRIEND	Summer Rain	3.5
GFRIEND	Neverland	3.5
GFRIEND	Flower Garden	3.5
GFRIEND	Click	3
GFRIEND	Compas	3.5
GFRIEND	Life Is A Party	3.5
GFRIEND	Ave Maria	3.5
GFRIEND	Mermaid	3.5
GFRIEND	Sunrise	4
GFRIEND	You Are Not Alone	4
GFRIEND	L.U.V	3
GFRIEND	Our Secret	3
GFRIEND	Only 1	3.5
GFRIEND	Truly Love	3.5
GFRIEND	Fever	5
GFRIEND	Beautiful*	3.5
GFRIEND	Flower (Korean Ver.)	4