''A Flower Bookmark 2'' () is the second cover

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 ...

by South Korean singer-songwriter IU. It is also her sixth Korean-language extended play. The EP was released on September 22, 2017, by

LOEN Entertainment Kakao M Corp. (; formerly Seoul Records, YBM Seoul Records and LOEN Entertainment) was a South Korean entertainment company established by Min Yeong-bin in 1978. It was one of the largest co-publisher companies in South Korea. The company opera ...

under its imprint Fave Entertainment. Like her previous cover album, ''A Flower Bookmark'' features cover versions of nostalgic

K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

songs popularized from the 1960s to the 2000s.

Background and release

''A Flower Bookmark 2'' consists of

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of nostalgic

songs popularized from the 1960s to the 2000s, including "Autumn Morning" (

Yang Hee-eun Yang Hee-eun (; born August 13, 1952) is a South Korean singer and songwriter. Life Yang Hee-eun, the eldest of three daughters in Gahoe-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, graduated from Seoul Jae-dong Elementary School, Gyeonggi Girls' Middle Sc ...

, 1991), "Last Night Story" (

Sobangcha Sobangcha () is a South Korean three-member dance pop music group formed by Daesung Enterprise. The group is composed of Kim Tae-hyung, Jeong Won-gwan, and Lee Sang-won. Former member Dun-woo left the group in 1990. Sobangcha was one of the ear ...

, 1988), "Sleepless Rainy Night" (

Kim Gun-mo Kim Gun-mo (; born January 13, 1968) is a South Korean singer-songwriter who is considered the country's most successful musical artist of the 1990s. His 1995 album, ''Wrongful Meeting,'' previously held the Guinness World Records, Guinness Wor ...

, 1990), "Secret Garden" (

Lee Tzsche Lee Sang-eun (; born March 12, 1970), also known by the stage name Lee Tzsche (), is a South Korean singer-songwriter. She debuted in 1988 and released 15 full-length albums. She won the Rookie Artist Award at the 1988 Golden Disc Awards and Fema ...

, 2003), "By the Stream" ( Jeong Mi-jo, 1972) and "Everyday with You" ( Deulgukhwa, 1980s). It was reported that IU personally approached the artists directly to ask for permission to remake their songs. On September 18, 2017, " Autumn Morning" was released to coincide with the singer's ninth anniversary. The rest of the tracks were digitally released four days later, along with a music video of "Last Night Story" and a special performance clip of "Sleepless Rainy Night". The physical release of the album was scheduled to be September 25, but was postponed to October 12 because the remake album was originally going to include "With the Heart to Forget You" by the late singer

Kim Kwang-seok Kim Kwang-seok (; ; January 22, 1964 – January 6, 1996) was a popular and influential South Korean folk rock singer. He debuted in 1987 as a member of Noraereul Channeun Saramdeul, an activist folk band. He achieved widespread popularity as ...

. However, due to the recent revelations surrounding his daughter's death, FAVE decided to remove the track from IU's album. On January 6, 2018, IU unveiled a music video for the song, describing it as a tribute to the late singer Kim Kwang-seok. She shared, "As a loving fan of his music, I'd like to express my respect and memory to Kim Kwang-seok with this beautiful song sung with all my sincerity."

Reception

Commercial reception

"Autumn Morning" achieved a perfect all-kill status two days after its release. The song also peaked at number one on the

Gaon Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based on ...

Critical reception

The Korea Herald ''The Korea Herald'' () is a South Korean English-language daily newspaper founded in August 1953 and published in Seoul. The editorial staff is composed of Korean and international writers and editors, with additional news coverage drawn from i ...

'' said that the album lacked raw emotions, and IU's voice failed to bear the weight and complicated emotions of the originals. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s review of the album was positive, explaining that "IU's latest features six cover songs that takes the vocalist’s sound into bygone decades, delving into genres like folk and nu-disco to prove her worth as one of South Korea’s most formidable songstresses." '' The 405'' says that "isn't content to just mimic her childhood favorites, these are classic Korean songs completely re-imagined and recreated to into something undeniably 'IU'."

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Single charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flower Bookmark 2 2017 EPs IU (singer) EPs Covers EPs Kakao M EPs Korean-language EPs