New Chapter No. 1: The Chance of Love

New Chapter #1: The Chance of Love is the eighth official Korean studio album by South Korean pop duo TVXQ. It was released on March 28, 2018 by SM Entertainment. It is the duo's first full-length Korean album since their discharge from the South Korean army, which they served from 2015 to 2017. The Chance of Love is described to be a "mature sexy" album, with many songs in the album following a metropolitan style of sound that encompasses various genres, including electronic music, R&B, jazz pop, and pop ballad.[1] "The Chance of Love," a swing jazz-inspired dance song, was the album's lead single, with the mid-tempo pop song "Love Line" as the album's follow-up promotional single.

New Chapter #1: The Chance of Love
Digital and B version cover.
Studio album by
TVXQ
ReleasedMarch 28, 2018 (2018-03-28)
Recorded2017–18 in Seoul, South Korea
Studio
Genre
Length36:56
LanguageKorean
Label
Producer
TVXQ chronology
Fine Collection: Begin Again
(2017)		 New Chapter #1: The Chance of Love
(2018)		 Tomorrow
(2018)
Singles from New Chapter #1: The Chance of Love
  1. "The Chance of Love"
    Released: March 28, 2018
  2. "Love Line"
    Released: March 28, 2018

The Chance of Love received generally mixed reviews from Korean music critics, who felt the album lacked musical consistency, but praised the duo's vocal performances. In South Korea, the album debuted at number one on the Gaon Albums Chart, TVXQ's fifth consecutive number one on the chart, and moved 110,000 copies on the first month. It ended the year as South Korea's 14th best-selling album.[2] The sequel album, New Chapter #2: The Truth of Love, was released on December 26, 2018.

Background and composition

From 2015 to 2017, the duo went on a hiatus to fulfill their compulsory military service. U-Know Yunho was inducted into the Republic of Korea Armed Forces in July 2015,[3] and he joined the military band for the 26th Mechanized Infantry Division on August 31.[4] Max Changmin was inducted into the armed forces as a conscripted policeman in November 2015.[5][6] For the next two years, the duo recorded The Chance of Love during their breaks from the military. Yunho was finally discharged from service in April 2017,[7] and Changmin in August 2017.[8]

On August 21, 2017, no more than three days after Changmin's discharge, a press conference was held in Seoul to welcome the duo's complete comeback to the music industry. Two more press conferences were held in Tokyo and Hong Kong.[9] At the conferences, the duo announced their comeback concert Your Present, new solo releases, and a comeback album, later revealed to be New Chapter #1: The Chance of Love, the first in a series of two musical releases.[10] The name New Chapter is a reflection of TVXQ's own evolution from being a boy band to a mature vocal group.[11]

TVXQ described the new album as "fluid," with "easy-listening" songs like "Love Line" and "The Chance of Love" as starters. The record then dives into more mature-sounding styles, consisting of tracks produced with a future bass sound. The album is meant to be listened in order so it could play out like a movie.[11]

Promotion

The Chance of Love was officially announced on March 16, 2018 with the slogan "King of K-Pop is Back!"[12] A series of teaser videos, directed by Cho Han-jin[13] were revealed between March 18 and March 22, all which included snippets of the tracks from the new album. The first video titled "New Chapter Film #T" dropped on March 18 in which Changmin's solo track "Closer" was used as the background music. On March 19, the duo appeared in a 30-minute live stream session for VLIVE, where they announced the midnight premiere of the album's second teaser, "New Chapter Film #V", which used "Only for You" as the background track. The third teaser #X was revealed on March 21 with a snippet of "Sun & Rain" as the accompanying music. The last teaser #Q included the instrumental of "Bounce". The teaser videos consisted of footage from the album's photobook.

On March 23, TVXQ unveiled a teaser video for the single "Love Line" on YouTube. A television commercial for the album's lead single "The Chance of Love" started airing on March 24, while a different version premiered on YouTube. The music video for "The Chance of Love" was directed by Rigend Film, while "Love Line" was directed by Kim Ji-yong.[13]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
IZM[14]

Critical

Korean music critics provided The Chance of Love with mixed ratings. Though the duo's vocal performances were praised, the album itself was said to have lacked cohesion.[14] IZM: Neo Music Community noted that the album was a huge deviation from TVXQ's earlier sounds, which focused on hard-hitting SMP vocals and strong beats.[14] Nonetheless, K-pop veterans were praised for making efforts in adjusting their style to the ever-changing pop music scene.[14]

Chart performance

On the first day of release, the album debuted at number one on South Korea's digital charts.

In doing so, it became TVXQ's lowest-selling record in South Korea. In Japan, The Chance of Love debuted at number seven on the Oricon Albums Chart, making it the duo's lowest-charting Korean album on the chart.

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."평행선 (Love Line)" (Pyeonghaengseon lit. Parallel Lines)
  • Jake Torrey
  • Noah Conrad
  • Khristian Araneda
3:16
2."운명 (The Chance of Love)" (Wunmyeong lit. "Fate")Yoo Young-jin
  • Jihad Rahmouni
  • Lorenzo Fragola
  • Haris Alagic
  • Yoo
3:27
3."다 지나간다... (Broken)" (Da Jinaganda... lit. "It Will Pass")Cho Yun-kyung
3:28
4."Only For You"
  • Lee Hee-jun
  • Lee Su-ran (Jam Factory)
  • Delly Boi (Joombas)
  • Davey Nate (Joombas)
  • Jass Reyes
2:56
5."퍼즐 (Puzzle)" (U-Know Yunho solo)Jung Jan-dee (Jam Factory)
3:04
6."Closer" (Max Changmin solo)
  • Hwang Ji-won (Jam Factory)
  • Bong Eun-young (Jam Factory)
3:08
7."Bounce"
  • Lee Su-ran
  • Le'mon (Joombas/EKKO)
  • Kyle MacKenzie
  • Keir MacCulloch
  • Hannah Wilson
  • Aston Merrygold
  • Yoo
3:18
8."Wake Me Up"realmeee
3:35
9."게으름뱅이 (Lazybones)" (Geeureumbaengi lit. "Idler")Park Chang-hyunPark Chang-hyun4:00
10."새벽 공기 (Without You)" (Saengbyeok Gonggi lit. "Air of Dawn")Lee Su-ran
  • Marcus Lindberg
  • Hjalmar Wilen
  • Yoko Hiramatsu
3:15
11."Sun & Rain"
  • Mathew Tishler
  • Aaron Benward
  • Felicia Barton
  • Yoon Gun
3:29
Total length:36:56

Charts
Chart (2018) Peak
position
South Korean Albums (Gaon)[15] 1

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of New Chapter #1: The Chance of Love.[13]

Performers and musicians
Technical personnel

References
  1. "TVXQ drops hints about their first comeback since completing military service". Soompi. March 18, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  2. "2018년 상반기 Album Chart". Gaon (in Korean). Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  3. "TVXQ's Yunho joins military". The Korea Times. July 21, 2015.
  4. "TVXQ′s U-Know Yunho Placed in Active-Duty 26th Division Military Band". enewsWorld. August 31, 2015.
  5. "오늘 군 입대 최강창민, 직접 머리 미는 영상 공개" [Max Changmin to enter military service today]. Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). 19 November 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  6. "TVXQ, Super Junior singers enlist". The Korea Times. 2015-11-18.
  7. "TVXQ's Yunho finishes military service [VIDEO]". The Korea Times. 20 April 2017.
  8. "Changmin and Choi Si-won to be discharged on the 18th". Hancinema. 17 August 2017.
  9. "TVXQ to tour three cities in Asia". Sports Chosun (in Korean). 2017-08-16. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  10. "TVXQ announces new album for next year". Star Today (in Korean). 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  11. "TVXQ! Discuss 'New Chapter #1: The Chance of Love': Exclusive Video". Billboard. 11 April 2018.
  12. "TVXQ! Official Twitter". Twitter. 2018-03-16. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  13. New Chapter #1: The Chance of Love (CD liner notes). TVXQ. SM Entertainment. 2018. SMK0316.CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. "'New Chapter #1: The Chance of Love' Review". IZM: Neo Music Community (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  15. "Gaon Album Chart – Week 13, 2018". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Retrieved April 5, 2018.
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