At Gwanghwamun () is debut extended play by South Korean singer Kyuhyun. It was released on November 13, 2014, by SM Entertainment and distributed by KT Music. The EP features seven tracks in total, including the lead single which shares the same name as the title of the album.
Background On November 6, 2014, it was announced that Super Junior's youngest member Kyuhyun would be releasing his very first solo mini-album, At Gwanghwamun, which would be released on November 13, making him the fourth solo artist of S.M. Entertainment in a little over a year, following Super Junior-M's Henry (Fantastic), SHINee's Taemin (Ace), and Zhou Mi, another Super Junior-M member who recently had a solo debut stage with Rewind on November 3.
Along with releasing multiple autumn-themed teaser images, the singer has uploaded several short teaser snippets onto his official Twitter account. Each of the teasers were only a few seconds in length, but gave his fans an opportunity to sample the upcoming mini-album.
Release On November 13, 2014, Kyuhyun released his first EP through various music sites, and the title track on 12 midnight (KST). The lead single immediately took the first spot on nine of real time charts such as MelOn, Genie, Soribada, Daum Music, Naver Music, Mnet, Olleh Music, Bugs and Monkey3, thus achieving an "all-kill". Not only his title song hit the charts, but all of his tracks made their way to top 10 positions in most of the music sites.
On November 26, 2014, Kyuhyun released Chinese version for title track "At Gwanghwamun".
Composition The title track "At Gwanghwamun" () was composed and written by well-known composer of S.M. Entertainment, Kenzie. It is a sad ballad song that talks about painful break-up, giving an autumn feeling that many listeners would love to hear. Kyuhyun's sweet and emotional voice could be heard in the song's background, accompanied by string instruments and drums.
The EP also gained a lot of attention for its track listing, which includes "Eternal Sunshine," composed by the world-famous pianist Yiruma along with 2FACE, as well as "My Thoughts, Your Memories" () composed by the artist himself, with lyrics from TVXQ's Changmin who is known to be a good friend of his.
Track listing
Notes Track 6 is a cover version of the song under the same title, which was originally performed by South Korean singer-songwriter Lee Moon-se, from his fourth studio album When Love Passes By released in 1987.
Charts
Chart (2014) Peakposition Sales 2014 Gaon Weekly Albums Chart 1 KOR: 72,824+Sales references of At Gwanghwamun: 2014 Gaon Monthly Albums Chart 1 2014 Gaon Year-End Albums Chart 35 US Billboard World Albums Chart 2
Awards and nominations
Annual music awards Year Award Category Recipient Result 2015 24th Seoul Music Awards Bonsang (Main Prize) At Gwanghwamun High1/Mobile Popularity Award Kyuhyun Hallyu Special Award 17th Mnet Asian Music Awards Artist of the Year Best Male Artist Best Male Vocal Performance At Gwanghwamun Song of the Year 2016 30th Golden Disk Awards Disk Bonsang Digital Bonsang
Music program awards Song Program Date "At Gwanghwamun" M! Countdown (Mnet) November 20, 2014 November 27, 2014 Music Bank (KBS) November 21, 2014 Show! Music Core (MBC) November 22, 2014 Show Champion (MBC Music) November 26, 2014
Release history + Release history for At Gwanghamun Region Date Format LabelSouth Korea November 13, 2014 Various SM
See also List of K-pop on the Billboard charts List of number-one albums of 2014 (South Korea)
References
External links
Kyuhyun's official website