''Russian Roulette'' is the first

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

and debut major release from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

Spica Spica is the brightest object in the constellation of Virgo and one of the 20 brightest stars in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation α Virginis, which is Latinised to Alpha Virginis and abbreviated Alpha Vir or α Vir. Analys ...

. It was released on February 8, 2012 with the song of same name as the promotional song. The EP was re-released on March 29, 2012 with the name ''Painkiller''. The song of same name was used to promote the re-release.

Background

After releasing "Doggedly" as a prologue single, on January 31, 2012, B2M Entertainment officially announced that the group would have their formal debut with a mini-album, titled ''Russian Roulette''. On February 2, a teaser video of the music video of "Russian Roulette" was released on B2M Entertainment's

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

account. On the following days, more photos of the music video and concept of the mini album were released. The teaser caught the attention of the public due to the girls playing

Russian roulette Russian roulette () is a potentially lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against the head or body (their opponent's or their own), and pulls the trigger. If the ...

on a table. The music video was released one week after, on February 8, same day of mini-album's release. On the same day, B2M entertainment revealed more details of the members. After promoting "Russian Roulette", B2M Entertainment announced the re-release of the mini-album under the title ''Painkiller'', with the song of the same name being the promotional song. The agency revealed some photos of the concept on March 26.

Composition

"Russian Roulette", title song of the mini-album of same name, was written by Song Sooyoon and produced by Han Jaeho and Kim Seungsoo (also known as

Sweetune Sweetune () is a South Korean record producing team, originally consisting of Han Jae-ho and Kim Seung-soo, and now including nine other members. They have produced many hit songs and albums for Korean idols and Japanese idols, including Kara, Ra ...

). They are also known for producing songs for the groups

Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in ...

f(x) F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounc ...

Rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

SS501 SS501 (currently promoting as Five O One) is a South Korean boy band consisting of five members: Kim Hyun-joong, Heo Young-saeng, Kim Kyu-jong, Park Jung-min (singer), Park Jung-min and Kim Hyung-jun. They debuted in 2005 with the Extended play, ...

, Nine Muses, Infinite and more. "Painkiller", re-release's title song, was written by Kim Jinhee with Ring and composed by

Ryan Jhun Ryan S. Jhun () is a South Korean songwriter and producer. Jhun is known for his work with various K-pop soloists and idol groups, getting his start through acts from SM Entertainment such as Shinee, Super Junior, f(x), Taeyeon, Exo, NCT, and ...

, David D.A Doman and WillIam David Porter. Ryan Hyun also produced other songs of the mini-album, such as "Hwa (Fire)" and "Up N Down". "Hwa (Fire)" was written by the group's leader Kim Bo Ah. "Diary" was written and produced by the member Kim Bohyung.

Promotion

The group debuted on February 9, on

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

's show ''

M! Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet from the CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. It features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. First hosted by Leete ...

''. They also promoted the song "Russian Roulette" on the shows ''

Music Bank ''Music Bank'' () is a South Korean music program which airs every Friday at 17:15 KST on KBS2. the show is also broadcast in more than a hundred countries through KBS World. Episodes are filmed at the KBS New Wing Open Hall in Yeouido-dong, Ye ...

'', ''

Music Core ''Show! Music Core'' (), or simply ''Music Core'' is a South Korean music television program broadcast by MBC. It airs live every Saturday at 15:30 (KST). The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform live on stage. I ...

'', ''

Inkigayo ''Inkigayo'' (; English title: ''The Music Trend'', previously ''Popular Song'') is a South Korean music program broadcast by SBS. It airs live every Sunday. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform on stage. ...

'', '' Music on Top'' and ''K-Pop Con''. Promotions of "Russian Roulette" ended on March 11, on SBS' ''Inkigayo''. On March 29, the group returned promoting the EP with the song "Painkiller" on ''M! Countdown''. All promotions ended on April 22, on SBS' ''Inkigayo''.

Music video

Russian Roulette On February 2, a teaser video of the music video of "Russian Roulette" was released on B2M Entertainment's

account. The music video was released one week after, on February 8, same day of mini-album's release. In the music video, the girls are playing

on a table with one lighted

candle A candle is an ignitable candle wick, wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a Aroma compound, fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. ...

under. The girls also perform the song in 3 different studios. In the end, the member Juhyun got shot by the

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

and the candle under the table was cleared. Painkiller A teaser of the video of "Painkiller" was released on March 24 on B2M Entertainment's YouTube account. The full music video was released on March 29, along with the mini-album re-release. In the music video, the girls performing the song in an empty street and also in a studio with black background. Also appears some solo shots of the girls on the empty street and under a white background with some

incandescent lamps An incandescent light bulb, also known as an incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe, is an electric light that produces illumination by Joule heating a filament until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb that is either ...

. In the end of the video, when Juhyun turns her head to the camera, the camera got some electrical defect and broke off alone, then the camera drops to the floor, interrupting its connection. The video ends with the name of the group (SPICA) and the song's name (Painkiller) appearing in a black screen.

Controversy

During the promotions of "Russian Roulette", it was warned by the TV company MBC to change some parts of the lyrics of the song, since the original was deemed for broadcast. It was stated by the group's company, B2M Entertainment, explained that the lyrics in the track did not meet MBC broadcast standards. The parts in question were related to the desperate situation of the females in the video, and how a line about "holding one's breath" could be negatively interpreted as promoting suicide. In order to promote the song on ''

'', B2M Entertainment, Spica and the writers changed some parts of the song's lyrics.

Track listing

Charts

''Russian Roulette''

Album

Sales and certifications

Painkiller

Album chart

Sales and certifications

Release history

References

External links

* * (with

Lee Hyori Lee Hyo-ri (; born May 10, 1979) is a South Korean singer. She debuted as a member of group Fin.K.L in 1998, which became one of the most popular girl groups in South Korea during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Aside from Fin.K.L, she has als ...

) * {{Spica 2012 debut EPs Korean-language EPs 2010s Korean-language albums Spica (band) albums