Ice Cream Cake (Red Velvet Song)
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"Ice Cream Cake" is a song recorded by South Korean
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 ...
Red Velvet for their debut
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 ...
''Ice Cream Cake'' (2015). Primarily a
dance-rock Dance-rock is a dance- infused genre of rock music. It is a post-disco genre connected with pop rock and post-punk with fewer rhythm and blues influences. It originated in the early 1980s, following the decline in popularity of both punk and dis ...
track with influences from
drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...
, the song was written by lyricist
Jo Yoon-kyung Jo Yoon-kyung () is a South Korean lyricist and writer. She has written primarily for SM Entertainment artists such as BoA, Girls' Generation, Shinee, Exo, NCT, Red Velvet, and Aespa. In 2017, she won Lyricist of the Year at the Gaon Chart ...
, Kim Dong-hyun, Fredrik Häggstam,
Hayley Aitken Hayley Michelle Aitken (born 11 April 1986) is an Australian pop singer-songwriter and record producer who also performs mononymously as Hayley. She had a top 40 hit on the ARIA Singles Chart with her second single, "Kiss Me Quick" (Jul ...
, Johan Gustafsson and Sebastian Lundberg, while production and arrangement were handled by Hayley Aitken and Trinity Music. Following the release of "
Automatic Automatic may refer to: Music Bands * Automatic (Australian band), Australian rock band * Automatic (American band), American rock band * The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band Albums * ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce album), a 1983 el ...
", it was released as the group's second single (marketed as the "main" title track) from the extended play on March 16, 2015, by
SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1995 by Lee Soo-man. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies and has been responsible for fostering and popularizing the car ...
, along with an accompanying
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
. With its parental release, the group showcased their dual sonic concept in one album for the first time as "Ice Cream Cake" was promoted as the "Red" single, in contrast to "Automatic" which was promoted as its "Velvet" single. The song has since received critical acclaim from music critics, calling it an "addictive" and "unpredictable" pop infection, and showcased the group's potential. It also attained commercial success, becoming the group's breakthrough and second top-five hit, peaking at number four on Gaon Digital Chart and number three on ''
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''
World Digital Songs The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—its first issue was dated January 23—as ...
chart.


Background and release

After wrapping up promotions for "Be Natural" in late October 2014, it was announced that Red Velvet would return with an
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 ...
, marking their first proper release since the group's debut in August 2014. Prior to the official comeback announcement, Red Velvet was spotted filming in a
desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
just outside of
Palmdale, California Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the Antelope Valley of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On August 24, 1962 ...
for a music video in February 2015 with then
SM Rookies SM Rookies (, stylized in all caps as SMROOKIES) is a pre-debut training team created by South Korean entertainment agency SM Entertainment in 2013, composed of trainees who have yet to join an idol group. From 2013 to 2023, the team officiall ...
member Yeri, with the then-rumored song title to be "Blonde Girl". On March 11, 2015, S.M. Entertainment officially introduced Yeri as a new member of Red Velvet through a video uploaded on their
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channel, along with image teasers from member
Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United States ...
and
Joy Joy is the state of being that allows one to experience feelings of intense, long-lasting happiness and contentment of life. It is closely related to, and often evoked by, well-being, success, or good fortune. Happiness, pleasure, and gratitu ...
. On the same day, they revealed the title of the group's first album to be ''Ice Cream Cake'', which would be released on March 18, 2015. The official video for "Ice Cream Cake" was then uploaded on the official
SMTOWN SM Town (stylized in all caps as SMTOWN) is a musical collective for the recording artists under South Korean entertainment company SM Entertainment. SM Town artists have performed at the annual SM Town Live world tours since the SM Town Live ' ...
channel on March 16, 2015 along with the single.


Composition

"Ice Cream Cake" was produced by
Hayley Aitken Hayley Michelle Aitken (born 11 April 1986) is an Australian pop singer-songwriter and record producer who also performs mononymously as Hayley. She had a top 40 hit on the ARIA Singles Chart with her second single, "Kiss Me Quick" (Jul ...
and producing team Trinity Music, which consists of Sebastian Lundberg, Fredrik Haggstam and Johan Gustafson. In December 2012, a 21-second demo version of the song was first spotted during an episode of Swedish
TV show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platfo ...
''Kobra'', where Lundberg, Haggstam and Gustafson can be seen processing the demo version which was sung in English. After being purchased by S.M. Entertainment, the song's lyrics was rewritten in Korean by songwriter
Jo Yoon-kyung Jo Yoon-kyung () is a South Korean lyricist and writer. She has written primarily for SM Entertainment artists such as BoA, Girls' Generation, Shinee, Exo, NCT, Red Velvet, and Aespa. In 2017, she won Lyricist of the Year at the Gaon Chart ...
and Kim Dong-hyun, with the former who had been writing for Red Velvet's labelmates previously, and the song title changed from its original name of "Ice Cream Truck." Musically, the song is primarily a dance-rock track with influence from
bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a more specific rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States in the late 1960s, th ...
and
drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...
, which represents the group's "Red" sonic characters. It was composed in the key of
A major A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...
with a tempo of 172 beat-per-minute. In addition, it also features "haunted"
harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
which can be heard during the intro of the song, while being accompanied by the sound of a
music box A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces Musical note, musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder (geometry), cylinder or disc to pluck ...
. The lyrics tell the excitement of a girl being attracted to her boyfriend, using "ice cream cake" as a
metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...
to the girl's feelings. Two different remix versions of the song were also used for the group's promotion, with the first one having an additional dance break section (performed on KBS Music Bank Half-Year Special) and the second one having a longer intro and another dance break section towards the end of the song, while omitting the second verse and chorus of the original version (performed on 2015 MBC Music Festival).


Music video

The music video for "Ice Cream Cake" was filmed around February 2015 at the Four Aces Movie Ranch located in
Palmdale, California Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the Antelope Valley of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On August 24, 1962 ...
. It was directed by director Woogie Kim, who had previously directed Red Velvet's debut single "Happiness". Setting in an abandoned motel, the music video features all five members dancing and singing to the song while showing the girls eating ice cream and drinking iced coffee in colorful outfits in the desert. At some scenes, the group can be seen driving along the road while being chased after by a big pink ball. The song's choreography was created by choreographer Kyle Hanagami, who had previously choreographed for "Be Natural" in 2014. The video was uploaded on the official SMTOWN channel on March 16, 2015, and became the most viewed K-pop video in both America and the world for the month of March. It has since received more 100 million views, making it their sixth most watched music video.


Live performances

Promotion of the song was started with ''Ice Cream TV'' on March 17, 2015, where the group promoted their debut extended play by performing the songs live in the show, which was streamed through Naver Music and was hosted by
SHINee Shinee ( ; ; ; stylized as SHINee) is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group consists of four members: Onew, Key (entertainer), Key, Choi Min-ho, Minho, and Taemin. Originally a five-piece band, Jonghyun died on ...
's
Minho Minho or Miño may refer to: People * Miño (surname) * Choi Min-ho, South Korean singer and actor known mononymously as Minho Places * Minho (river) or Miño, in Portugal and Spain Jamaica * Rio Minho, a river Portugal * Minho Province ...
. Two days after the digital release, they had their first live performance of "Ice Cream Cake" on ''
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 ...
'', followed by performances on ''
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 ...
'' on March 20 and ''
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. ...
'' on March 22, where they also performed a shortened version of "
Automatic Automatic may refer to: Music Bands * Automatic (Australian band), Australian rock band * Automatic (American band), American rock band * The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band Albums * ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce album), a 1983 el ...
". A week later, the group returned to ''Music Bank'' and won their first music show trophy since their official debut. They then continued to promote the song within the first half of 2015 on music shows and radio talk shows, before ending with a year-end performance at the fifth
Gaon Chart Music Awards The Circle Chart Music Awards (), formerly known as the Gaon Chart Music Awards, is a major music awards ceremony that is presented annually in South Korea by the Korea Music Content Association primarily based on the commercial performance of t ...
on February 17, 2016, where they received the ''Hot Performance of the Year'' award. The song was part of the set list for Red Velvet's first concert ''Red Room'' in August 2017, where a remix version was performed instead of the original version. In addition to the domestic promotion, Red Velvet had their first overseas performance of "Ice Cream Cake" and their first as a 5-member group in an
SMTOWN SM Town (stylized in all caps as SMTOWN) is a musical collective for the recording artists under South Korean entertainment company SM Entertainment. SM Town artists have performed at the annual SM Town Live world tours since the SM Town Live ' ...
concert held in Taiwan. The group then promoted and performed songs from the album in the Philippines for the ''Best of the Best K-pop Concert'' on April 12, a concert which also featured label mates
Super Junior Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band. The group is composed of Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun. Han Geng, Kibum, and ...
and
Girls' Generation Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piec ...
as well as
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boy band
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, before having their first
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promotion at KCON on August 2 at the Staples Center in
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.


Critical reception

Upon its initial release, "Ice Cream Cake" was compared to the sound of label mate
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 ...
by many, and has since received critical acclaim from music critics. While Jeff Benjamin of ''
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 ...
'' magazine complimented the song as "a punchy, sugary pop confection", Kim Do-hyun of ''
IZM ''IZM'' () is a South Korean online magazine that publishes pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Stre ...
'' chose it as a highlight of the EP, said the song "seemed to inherit" the sound of f(x), but "it built an identity" as "first Red Velvet". Jakob Dorof of pop music magazine ''
Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...
'' described the track "Ice Cream Cake" as "a treat as unexpected as it is unpredictable ..packs a punch, but goes down smooth over time" and deemed it "the SM label's specialty: bubblegum pop that deeply rewards repeat rotations." On an individual music video review, Jesse Lent of ''KpopStarz'' said the song was "deeply arresting" and "delivers every intriguing move you could want from a shiny new pop song". Writer Chelsea from ''Seoulbeats'' applauded the song "alarmingly catchy" and "definitely an ear worm", while writer Jung Bae of ''Hellokpop'' chose the song as the Best Dance and Electronic Song of 2015 and ranked it fifth on the Song of the Year chart. The song would later appear in the top 25 Red Velvet songs by ''Billboard'', landing at number eighteen on the list.


Commercial performance

Upon its digital release, "Ice Cream Cake" achieved great success and became the group's breakthrough hit. The song debuted and peaked at number four 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 ...
for the week of March 15, 2015. It became the group's second top-five hit following "Happiness", which debuted and peaked at number five in 2014. Furthermore, "Ice Cream Cake" also charted at number 11 on the monthly chart of Gaon Digital Chart, for the month of March 2015. Having spent a total of 17 weeks charting within the top 100, "Ice Cream Cake" appeared at number 46 on the year-end Gaon Digital Chart. As of July 2016, the song received more than 1.3 million downloads, making it Red Velvet's second million-seller and currently their eighth best-selling hit.Cumulative sales of "Ice Cream Cake" and "Dumb Dumb": * * * Elsewhere, the song debuted at number three on the US ''
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 ...
'' World Digital Song, becoming their third entry and second top-five hit on the chart. As of December 2019, "Ice Cream Cake" is the group's fourth most downloaded song in the United States, having achieved a total of 23,000 downloads.


Accolades

"Ice Cream Cake" won the Female Dance Award at the 2015
Melon Music Awards The Melon Music Awards () is a major music awards show that is held annually by Kakao Entertainment (a Kakao company) through its online music store Melon. The event was initially a fan-voted award conducted entirely online from 2005 through ...
. It won the Best Female Dance Performance at the
2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards The 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards ceremony, organized by CJ E&M through its music channel Mnet, took place on December 2, 2015, at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong. The ceremony was the sixth consecutive Mnet Asian Music Awards to be hosted outside ...
, and got longlisted on the
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Song of the Year A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usually ...
. It also won the Digital Bonsang on the 2016
Golden Disc Awards The Golden Disc Awards (, formerly spelled the Golden Disk Awards before 2015) is an annual South Korean major music awards ceremony that honors achievements in the local music industry. The awards ceremony was founded with the purpose to prom ...
. The song also received six music program wins.


Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Ice Cream Cake''. Studio * Recorded at SM Blue Ocean Studio * Recorded at In Grid Studio * Additional vocal editing at SM Big Shot Studio * Mixed at SM Concert Hall Studio * Mastered at Sonic Korea Personnel * Red Velvet (
Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United States ...
,
Seulgi Kang Seul-gi (; born February 10, 1994), known mononymously as Seulgi, is a South Korean singer and dancer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Red Velvet (group), Red Velvet, its sub-unit Red Velvet – Irene & Seulgi, and the super ...
,
Wendy Wendy is a given name generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain during the English Civil War in the mid-1600s, a male Captain Wendy Oxford was identified by the Leveller John Lilburne as a spy reporting on his activit ...
,
Joy Joy is the state of being that allows one to experience feelings of intense, long-lasting happiness and contentment of life. It is closely related to, and often evoked by, well-being, success, or good fortune. Happiness, pleasure, and gratitu ...
,
Yeri Yeri may refer to: * Yeri, Cyprus * Yeri, Tajikistan *Yeri (singer) (born Kim Ye-rim, 1999), South Korean singer, member of Red Velvet. *Yery Yeru or Eru (Ы ы; italics: ''Ы'' ''ы''), usually called Y in modern Russian language, ...
)vocals, background vocals *
Jo Yoon-kyung Jo Yoon-kyung () is a South Korean lyricist and writer. She has written primarily for SM Entertainment artists such as BoA, Girls' Generation, Shinee, Exo, NCT, Red Velvet, and Aespa. In 2017, she won Lyricist of the Year at the Gaon Chart ...
lyrics * Kim Dong-hyunlyrics *
Hayley Aitken Hayley Michelle Aitken (born 11 April 1986) is an Australian pop singer-songwriter and record producer who also performs mononymously as Hayley. She had a top 40 hit on the ARIA Singles Chart with her second single, "Kiss Me Quick" (Jul ...
composition, arrangement, background vocals * Sebastian Lundbergcomposition, arrangement * Fredrik Häggstamcomposition, arrangement * Johan Gustafsoncomposition, arrangement *
Kenzie Kenzie is a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Mononym *Kenzie (rapper) (born 1986), British rapper, DJ, actor, and personal trainer; past member of hip hop group Blazin' Squad *Kenzie (songwriter) (born 1976), South K ...
vocal directing * Kim Chul-soonrecording * Lee Min-kyurecording, additional vocal editing * Jeong Eun-kyungrecording * Jiyoung Shinadditional vocal editing * Nam Koong-jinmixing * Jeon Hoonmastering * Shin Soo-minmastering assistant


Charts


Weekly charts


Monthly charts


Year-end charts


Release history


See also

* List of ''Inkigayo'' Chart winners (2015) * List of ''M Countdown'' Chart winners (2015)


References

{{authority control Songs written by Hayley Aitken 2015 songs Red Velvet (group) songs Songs written by Johan Gustafson (record producer) Songs written by Sebastian Lundberg Songs written by Fredrik Häggstam Songs with lyrics by Jo Yoon-kyung