''Arrival'' also known as ''The Advent'' or ''Jiang Lin'' (降临), is the debut EP by

Mandopop Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; with later influences coming from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkien p ...

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Ma ...

, Top Combine. The EP was released on October 26, 2008 in

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...

by EE Media. The EP was also released in two separate versions, a "black" version and a "gold" version. ''Arrival'' is influenced by

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, g ...

melodies, which has heavy focuses on hip hop, R&B, and

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

. A majority of the EP was produced and recorded in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in March 2008, and the EP is also produced by several famous Korean producers, such as Kim Kibom. The music video for the EP's first promotional single, "Arrival", was also filmed in South Korea, directed by Chun Hyuk-jin, the same director who directed some music videos for

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...

artists.

Recording and promotion

The EP was recorded in

under the supervision of Doremi Media, Top Combine's management in Korea. Kim Kibom, the producer of the title single "Arrival," produced the song "especially for the group." Influenced by modern

, the single is produced with elements of hip hop, rock, and contemporary

. Vocally, the single incorporates harmonization and rap, arguably similar to

's SMP genre. The side tracks of the album, such as "Cotton Candy", "Next Stop, Forever," etc. are less concentrated on hip hop, but they are portrayed as a faction of

bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is considered disposable, contrived, or marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States ...

. "Cotton Candy" was also composed and written by Top Combine member, Mars Ma. Top Combine noted that the EP was not only experimental, but also very enjoyable to record. The EP includes elements of music style that Mainland Chinese boy bands have not experimented in the past, and the group was eager to test out the new style. As soon as the album was released on October 19, the group went on a nationwide tour to promote the album, appearing in many variety programs and music programs that are broadcast on national television. Their appearance on Hunan TV's ''Happy Camp'' (快乐大本营) snatched an overwhelmingly high rating of 2.14, making the variety show to achieve the highest ratings of China for the month.

Track listing

# "Arrival" () - 3:45 # "Cotton Candy" () - 3:51 # "Next Stop, Forever" () - 4:51 # "Clown (I Can't Let You Go)" () - 4:39 # "Kiss" - 3:52

References

External links

EE Media Official Site

Doremi Media Official Site

Top Combine Official Site
{{in lang, zh 2008 EPs Mandopop EPs