"UN Village" is a song recorded by South Korean singer Baekhyun. It was released on July 10, 2019, as the lead single of his debut extended play, City Lights.[1] The song was written and composed by LIØN and dress. Musically, "UN Village" was described as a R&B song with groovy beats and string sounds.
On July 10, Baekhyun made his official debut as a solo artist with the extended play City Lights,[2] which went onto debut at number one on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart, and became the best-selling solo album of 2019. "UN Village" was released on July 10 for digital download and streaming in various countries by SM Entertainment, as the lead single of City Lights.[1]
Composition
"UN Village" was described as an R&B song with a groovy beat and strings sound.[1][3] In terms of musical notation, the song is composed in the key of F♯ minor, with a tempo of 84 beats per minute and is three minutes and fifty five seconds long.[4] The lyrics are about a romantic moment a couple shares under the moonlight of UN Village hill in Hannam-dong, Yongsan District, Seoul.[3]
Reception
"UN Village" received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Riddhi Chakraborty from Rolling Stone India described "UN Village" as a "strong opener with complex and smooth R&B melodies". She added that "Baekhyun takes his time to build up effortless and intricate vocal runs but it’s still just a small taste of what his voice is truly capable of".[5]
An accompanying music video for "UN Village" was uploaded to SM Entertainment's official YouTube channel, simultaneously with the single's release.[9] It was preceded by a teaser released on the same platform on July 4. The video features a colored and black-and-white theme of the singer while he roams around the titular neighborhood emoting his feelings as he sings.[10] In a music video commentary video, Baekhyun revealed that the music video was shot in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.[11][12]
Before the official release, Baekhyun held a private showcase in Seoul Arts Center where he performed the song for the first time for the media.[13] Two hours after the release, he held a live broadcast through Naver's V Live app, where he talked about the album, songs and production process.[14]
On July 11, a behind clip of "UN Village" music video was released through Baekhyun's official YouTube channel as a vlog.[15] Baekhyun promoted the song on various South Korean music programs starting with KBS's Music Bank on July 12, 2019.[16] On the same day, he performed the song on the show You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook.[17] On July 19, Baekhyun received his first music trophy for "UN Village" on KBS's Music Bank.[18]
Commercial performance
"UN Village" debuted at number 22 on the Gaon Digital chart issue dated July 7–13, 2019.[19] The song also debuted at number two on the component Download Chart.[20] Additionally, the song charted at number 23 on the US BillboardWorld Digital Song Sales chart.[21]