His first extended play, Hot, was even a critical hit, winning the award for Best R&B & Soul Album at the 6th Korean Music Awards. Later, his first full-length studio album, Solar (2010), was also a major success and has sold over 100,000 copies. After gaining more recognition from his last comeback with his second studio album, Rise (2014), which became successful when its lead track, “Eyes, Nose, Lips,” peaked and topped music chart for weeks and was even awarded 2014’s Song of the Year at the Mnet Asian Music Awards and Golden Disc Awards, Taeyang then released his third studio album, White Night, on August 16, 2017. Just like Rise, White Night also gained recognition and critical success. Let’s take a deep dive into Taeyang’s third studio album and its details!
White Night
White Night was released in 2017 and was Taeyang’s first solo work after a wait of three years since the release of his last solo album, Rise, in 2014. It’s also the third studio album ever released by Taeyang. The album has eight tracks in total, with two of the singles having accompanying videos: ” Wake Me Up” and “Darling.” The digital album was released on August 16, 2017, and the physical album was released six days later, on August 22. The album was recorded between 2013 and 2017 and consisted of mostly R&B and electronic songs. The album was produced by various names such as Taeyang himself, Teddy, Kush, Choice37, Future Bounce, Peejay, Seo Won-jin, P.K, R.Tee, 8!, Brian Lee, and Joe Rhee. Check out the music videos for “Wake Me Up” and “Darling” below!
Background and Release
The news of Taeyang’s upcoming album was first released by YG Entertainment in January 2017. On top of that, the agency also said that Taeyang was also working on preparing solo concerts along with the new album. The filming for the music videos was done in Los Angeles, California and Alaska at the beginning of July. The hype for the music video was also supported by Yang Hyun-suk, who posted the online teasers on July 22, 2017. The official name and release date for the album was announced on August 7, 2017. Two days later, the music video for the album intro was released on August 9. According to YG Entertainment’s rep, the title White Night referred to “a natural phenomenon of the sun not going down even in the night,” and the music video for album intro tries to depict the meaning of the title. It was announced on August 10, 2017, that “Darling” would be the lead track of the album. The lyrics for song were written by YG Entertainment’s famous and trusted producer, Teddy, who also sat in the producer’s chair along with 8!, Brian Lee, Choice37, and Future Bounce. Meanwhile, the second single, “Wake Me Up,” was produced by the musical duo Kush and Joe Rhee from YG’s sub-label, The Black Label, along with R.Tee. The Black Label also wrote the lyrics for the song. Aside from the fact that this album is produced by many well-known producers, Taeyang also made a surprise by revealing that Block B’s Zico would participate in this album and was featured on one of the songs. In an interview, Taeyang admitted that the initial idea for the song was found in early 2013, exactly four years before the album’s release. In a separate interview, Taeyang admitted that his full solo album this time was largely inspired by his relationship with the Korean actress who is now his wife, Min Hyo-rin. Reported from Yonhap News, Taeyang described his then-girlfriend as a muse for his music.
Composition
Filled with evocative melodies and heartfelt lyrics, “White Night” seeks to explore various emotions through musical influences that remind us of Michael Jackson, Usher, and The Weeknd. In this album, Taeyang also included elements of EDM and disco in the sweet R&B music, making this album dynamic and catchy. Starting with a light intro, this album presents “Wake Me Up” as the opening track, then continues with “Darling,” which is accompanied by piano playing with a pop ballad nuance; the album is thick with incredible music depth. His next track, which has the same title as his last album, “Rise,” presents a more funky rhythm than the rest of the album, while the song “Amazin’” plays more with the disco feel. Another song, “Empty Road,” is more focused on pop acoustics, while “Naked” is more sensual. Finally, the album was closed with the track “Tonight,” which is a collaboration song with Block B’s Zico. Overall, the album really says a lot about Taeyang’s musical skills!
Commercial Performance
Within a few hours of its release, the album had already sold a total of 16,000 digital copies, making it achieve gold status on China’s QQ Music, the site in which the album was made available for pre-order. In the Korean music charts, White Night debuted on the Gaon Albums Chart and ranked number three. By the end of 2017, the album had sold 47,365 copies in South Korea, alone. Not only making a buzz in South Korea, the album also topped the Billboard World Digital Albums chart and debuted at number one. The album even became the best-selling international album in the United States for the week of September 2, 2017, one month after its release. A week later, the album stayed in the peak position. With this achievement unlocked, Taeyang became the third K-pop act and second soloist, after groupmate G-Dragon, to stay at the top of the World Albums chart for multiple weeks.
Track Listing
White Night World Tour
To promote his new album, Taeyang held an international concert tour which started in Japan with four stadium shows and continued with visit to 19 cities around the world. The White Night tour also marked the second world tour from Taeyang. The tour started with two stops in Japan. The first was on March 31, 2017, at Chiba Marine Stadium, then he continued with two new shows at Kobe Sports Park Baseball Stadium. From the three shows, it is estimated that 140,000 fans were present. Big Bang’s labelmate Winner filled the opening act for the shows in Chiba on July 8 and 9, 2017, while the girl group Blackpink performed for the opening show at Kobe. In Seoul, the concert was held at Jamsil Indoor Stadium on August 26 and 27, 2017. From Korea, he was scheduled to tour in eight countries in the rest of Asia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Macau, Singapore, and Taiwan Taeyang was also set to visit eight cities in the US. After that, he held nine concerts starting in Toronto, on August 30, 2017. He was scheduled to close his North American concerts with an appearance in Vancouver on September 15, 2017, and the shows sold out due to high demand. At the end of September through October 2017, Taeyang made stops in Southeast Asia, including Jakarta.
So, those are all the things that you need to know regarding Taeyang’s White Night album. What do you think about the album? Please take a listen and tell us your thoughts in the comment box below!
