Reflection is the debut studio album by American girl group Fifth Harmony. It was released on January 30, 2015, by Syco Music and Epic Records. Lyrically, the album discusses themes of female-empowerment, romance, heartbreak and confidence. Musically, Reflection is primarily a pop record and showcases synthpop, "grungy" hip hop and R&B sounds. The album features guest appearances by American rappers Kid Ink and Tyga, as well as American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, and collaborations with several producers including Ori Kaplan, Dr. Luke and Stargate.
The album received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics. Commercially, the album entered the Billboard 200 at number five, earning the group their first top-five entry in the United States with sales of 80,000 equivalent units—62,000 of those coming from traditional album sales. Reflection entered the top twenty in the United Kingdom, after peaking at number eighteen, and charted within the top ten in countries such as Canada, New Zealand and Spain. The album charted within the top thirty in ten other countries. To further promote the album, the group embarked on their fourth headlining concert tour, the Reflection Tour, visiting the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe.
Reflection was supported by three singles: its lead single, "Boss", released on July 7, 2014, followed by "Sledgehammer" premiering on October 28, 2014, and "Worth It" featuring Kid Ink, the last single, was released on January 19, 2015. All three singles made appearances in the top fifty of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking individually at 43, 40 and 12, respectively. "Worth It" became the album's most successful single, charting in the top ten in thirteen countries. In the United States, both "Boss" and "Sledgehammer" achieved platinum certification, while "Worth It" was certified triple platinum. Since its release, the album has sold 155,000 pure copies in the United States. Reflection has since been certified Platinum by Recording Industry Association of America for combined sales, streaming and track equivalent units of 1 million.
Background and release After finishing in third place on the second season of The X Factor, and releasing their debut extended play titled Better Together, Fifth Harmony announced they would be releasing a full-length album in the spring of 2014. During the voting stages of the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, where Fifth Harmony was nominated in the Artist to Watch category, fans were asked to vote for the group a certain number of times to help unlock the album's cover art. The title and the cover of the album were unveiled on Fifth Harmony's official website on August 12, 2014. After receiving negative feedback from fans, the group revealed a new album cover on August 23, 2014. The album's release date was delayed several times during the last quarter of 2014 and early 2015, and was ultimately released in the United States on February 3, 2015.
Recording and development
They recorded 60 songs in total for the album. During an interview with Billboard before the album's release, Fifth Harmony said the album would signal a more mature sound for the group. "We've started recording and getting into that process, we have shifted the lane a bit and made it a more mature sound, because obviously, we're growing up too." Lauren Jauregui also told Billboard during an interview that the album's recording was set to begin in April 2014, and said its sound would be less pop than their earlier work on Better Together.
During the album's production, the group worked with a variety of collaborators. The Norwegian production duo Stargate wrote and co-produced the song "Worth It" with musician Ori Kaplan who also played the saxophone. It was recorded at three different studios: Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles and Windmark Recording in Santa Monica, California, and The Hide Out Studio located in London, England. Jaycen Joshua mixed the song, assisted by Ryan Kaul and Maddox Chhim, at Larrabee Sound Studios in North Hollywood, California.
Producer Dr. Luke contributed to the track "This Is How We Roll" along with Cirkut. It was recorded at Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood and Luke's In the Boo in Malibu, California. Serban Ghenea mixed the song at MixStar Studios. The group also worked with Tommy Brown who recreated a '90's R&B sound for the song "Everlasting Love" with Travis Sayles and produced the stripped-down track "We Know". Singer-songwriter Victoria Monét wrote and produced the group's vocals on both songs and handled the co-production of the title track, "Them Girls Be Like" produced by T-Collar with additional production by Monét. "Everlasting Love", "Reflection", "Them Girls Be Like" and "We Know" were recorded at Vietnam Studios.
The album's lead single, "Boss", written by Eric Frederic, Joe Spargur, Daniel Kyriakides, Gamal Lewis, Jacob Kasher and Taylor Parks, was produced by Ricky Reed with Joe London and Daylight. It was recorded at The Venice Studio in Venice, Los Angeles, and The Record Plant also in Los Angeles. Singer Meghan Trainor contributed vocals on "Brave, Honest, Beautiful" and co-wrote the songs "Sledgehammer" and "Suga Mama". Chris "Flict" Aparri (credited as "Flict") handled the production for the three tracks. The three songs were recorded at Windmark Recording Studios.
Composition Music and lyrics
Musically, Reflection explores a variety of musical genres. As noted by Matt Collar, of AllMusic, the album spans "electronic-infused dance music to synthy, rhythmically bumptious hip-hop to retro-'90s R&B." Jason Lipshutz, from Billboard also noted the diversity present in the album's production, commenting that the group shows "that they are capable of slick synth-pop, grungy hip-hop and fluttering R&B" and adds that the "latter [is] clearly indebted to the girl groups of the '90s". The songs share similar production and instrumentation. For example, horns can be heard during the hook on the first track "Top Down", and are also introduced in the second song "Boss", serving as support instruments. They also appear on the third track "Worth It".
The lyrics explore themes of feminism and female empowerment. Meaghan Garvey of Pitchfork described the album as "an album of fun, feminist pop that is simultaneously wise beyond its years and refreshingly age-appropriate—and it effortlessly embodies the ideals grasped at by the girl power think piece wave, with a sharp, nuanced perspective that can only come from lived experience".
Several critics noted the influence of singer Beyoncé on the album comparing it to her work. During the song "Them Girls Be Like", member Lauren Jauregui sings: "Do you ever post your pics with no filter, 'Hashtag,' I woke up like this, too" in a clear reference to Beyoncé's song "Flawless". Editor Dawn Richard of The New York Times, wrote that "Them Girls Be Like" and "Boss" are both a "dutiful Beyoncé homage". The song "Brave, Honest, Beautiful" contains portions of Destiny's Child's "Bootylicious", co-written by Beyoncé. The group also praised the singer Mariah Carey on the track "Like Mariah", produced by J.R. Rotem with samples of the hook on Carey's 1995 single "Always Be My Baby".
Songs and lyrical content The album opens with synth riffs introduced on the first track "Top Down". As well as finger snaps, it features tottering beats and a horn riff in the hook, which critics compared to Ariana Grande's "Problem". In the song's chorus the group sings, "Blaze it up we'll be cruisin', with the Top Down/Rev up the engine we'll be cruisin' watch it go down/Get in my truck and I'll be ridin' with my Top Down". Brennan Carley of Spin described it as "an unknowingly filthy anthem about riding in the car". During the hook, the phrase "electric city" is repeated several times. The song's hip hop-inspired production was also compared to "Fancy" by rapper Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX.
The second track "Boss" features trumpets, handclaps and heavy bass, creating a rhythmic, militaristic sound. The lyrics feature several cultural references. For example, the song's first verse refers to hip hop dance movement "Nae Nae": "Everyday is payday, swipe my card, then I do the nae nae." The second line clearly cites the rappers Kanye West and Ray J: "You're talking to a lady, I want a Kanye and not a Ray J." During the chorus, the group also praised female icons Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey. The song was compared to Destiny's Child's "Independent Women". Christina Garibaldi from MTV commented that the group "proudly sing about the fact they don't need a man as they "pledge allegiance to my independent girls in here". In an interview with Garibaldi, the group said "the whole point of this song is for girls who are our age to turn it on and feel confident and empowered because at this age being insecure is such a common occurrence. So we think when you turn that song on, you feel sexy and feel good about yourself." The next track, "Sledgehammer", is '80s-inspired synthpop. It features EDM beats, and heavy synths. Lyrically, the song uses "Sledgehammer" as a metaphor to express the physical effects of love.
The fourth track "Worth It" features a guest appearance by Kid Ink. Written from the perspective of a woman telling a man that she is "Worth It", it implies a sexual connotation. However, like other songs on Reflection, "Worth It" could also be interpreted as a feminist song. Jeff Benjamin of Fuse expands this notion by writing the song can inspire "young girls to truly believe they're 'Worth It' and can own Wall Street or any other place on which they set their sights". Its instrumentation consists of horns sample, trance synths and a trap-inspired Roland TR-808 drum machine. Critics compared the song to "Talk Dirty" by Jason Derulo (also produced by Norwegian production team Stargate and musician Ori Kaplan) for a similar use of horns in its production.
The Dr. Luke-produced track, "This Is How We Roll", is a pop rock and electronic dance music fusion, with the chorus driven by guitar chords that drop off during each EDM-influenced hook. Brennan Carley of Spin noted that a similar sound can be found on "Scream & Shout" by Will.i.am and Britney Spears, mainly during the song's breakdown. The sixth track, "Everlasting Love", is influenced by '90s R&B; the group sings over piano notes and chattering percussion. The following track, "Like Mariah" samples Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby". It also features guest vocals by rapper Tyga. The group sings the chorus: "Your loving takes me higher/You set my heart on fire/When you touch my body/Got me singing like" with Carey's hook harmonizing around. Jason Lipshutz of Billboard commented that in the song, "Fifth Harmony admirably pulls off the sunny R&B vibe and falsetto runs of the pop icon they're honoring on the track".
"Them Girls Be Like" lyrics also feature cultural references, as noted by Lipshutz who wrote, "like 'Boss', the song oozes self-assuredness, this time swatting down female rivals instead of tongue-wagging males. The millennial-friendly lyrics are an absolute blast to swim through". During the song, the group sings: "We ain't like them girls that do too much/If you thirsty, you can't sit with us." The verse directly refers to the movie Mean Girls. In the bridge, Lauren Jauregui belts out: "Do you ever post your pics with no filter" in a clear reference to the movement #Nofilter. Time editor Jamieson Cox noted that with the song, the group "promote[s] a positive body image". Musically, the track is strongly influenced by Caribbean music.