''To. X'' is the fifth Korean-language

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 the eighth overall by South Korean singer

Taeyeon Kim Tae-yeon (; born March 9, 1989), known mononymously as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one ...

. It was released by SM Entertainment on November 27, 2023, and contains six tracks, including the lead single of the same name.

Background and release

On November 6, 2023, SM Entertainment announced Taeyeon would be releasing her fifth Korean extended play titled ''To. X'' on November 27. Two days later, the promotional schedule was released. On November 13, the mood sampler teaser video was released, followed by the highlight teaser video three days later. The highlight teaser video for "Burn It Now" was released on November 20, with "Melt Away" on November 21, followed by "Nightmare" on November 22, and "All For Nothing" on November 23. On November 24, the music video teaser video for "To. X" was released. The extended play was released alongside the music video for the lead single on November 27.

Composition

''To. X'' contains six tracks. The

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

, "To. X", is a R&B song that "combines sensuous guitar riffs and rhythmic melodies" with lyrics carrying the message of " aeyeon singingabout the end of a controlling relationship after realizing that the other person is controlling her". The second track, "Melt Away", is a R&B song that "combines sensual guitar riffs, trumpets, and percussion" with lyrics containing "a sense of leisure, arrogance, and confident that one can melt the cold heart of the other person". The third track, "Burn It Down", is a

pop ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ballads ...

song featuring "addictive guitar riff" with lyrics about "complaining that everything has been ruined as if everything was burned down by the other person who only hurt them under the guise of love". The fourth track, "Nightmare" (), is a pop ballad song characterized by "simple acoustic guitar riff" with lyrics about "leaving without regrets after a sharp rebuke to the other person who was showing a weak side". The fifth track, "All For Nothing", is a pop ballad song with lyrics written by Taeyeon about "honestly express ngthe feelings of being hurt by the other person who gave up everything". The final track, "Fabulous", is a R&B song with "jazzy and captivating atmosphere" characterized by "grand and colorful string and trumpet rhythm", its English lyrics describe "the feeling of self-confidence that everyone envies but at the same time feeling in danger".

Commercial performance

''To. X'' debuted at number three on South Korea's

Circle Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Koreabased on their Record sales, physical sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, ...

in the chart issue dated November 26 – December 2, 2023 and ascended to number two on the Circle Album Chart in the following two weeks; on the monthly chart, the EP debuted at number 14 in the chart issue for November 2023. In Japan, the EP debuted at number 50 on the ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence fr ...

'' Hot Albums in the chart issue dated December 6, 2023; on its component chart, it debuted at number 20 on the Top Download Albums. On the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

chart, the EP debuted at number 19 on the Digital Albums Chart in the chart issue dated December 11, 2023. In the United Kingdom, the EP debuted at number 93 on the OCC's

UK Album Downloads Chart The UK Album Downloads Chart is compiled by the Official Charts on behalf of the British music industry. Since July 2015, the chart week runs from Friday to Thursday, with the chart date given as the following Thursday. The chart was introduced i ...

in the chart issue dated December 1–7, 2023.

Promotion

Prior to the release of ''To. X'', on November 27, 2023, Taeyeon held a live event called "Taeyeon 'To. X' Countdown Live" on

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 ...

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

Weverse Weverse () is a South Korean mobile app and web platform created by South Korean entertainment company Hybe Corporation. The app specializes in hosting multimedia content, the sale of artist-related merchandise, content subscription, and artist ...

, and Idol Plus, aimed at introducing the extended play and connecting with her fanbase. Additionally, a

pop-up store Pop-up retail, also known as pop-up store (pop-up shop in the UK, Australia and Ireland) or flash retailing, is a trend of opening short-term sales spaces that last for days to weeks before closing down, often to latch onto a fad or scheduled e ...

named "Letter 'To. X' Concept Room" was opened in Seoul, South Korea, running from November 27 to December 3. The live performance clip for "All For Nothing" was released on December 6, followed by "To.X" on December 8, and "Fabulous" on December 11 while the lyric video for "Nightmare" will be released on December 15, presented through her

channel.

Accolades

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Sales

Release history

References

{{Melon Music Award for Millions Top 10 Albums Taeyeon EPs 2023 EPs SM Entertainment EPs Korean-language EPs 2020s Korean-language albums Kakao Entertainment EPs