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Face the Sun is the fourth studio album by South Korean boy band Seventeen. It was released on May 27, 2022, by Pledis Entertainment through YG Plus. The album contains nine tracks, with "Hot" serving as lead single. The first track, "Darl+ing", was pre-released on April 15, 2022. The repackaged version of the album, titled Sector 17, released on July 18 alongside its lead single "World". The fourth track, "Cheers", was pre-released on July 7, 2022.
Background
In March, seven months after the release of the commercially successful EP Attacca, Pledis Entertainment announced that Seventeen would be releasing a studio album, their first since An Ode (2019), in May. Following the release of the group's first-ever English single "Darling" on April 15, the label confirmed that Seventeen would return on May 27 with a fourth studio album titled Face the Sun. Starting on April 26, the group released "Inner Shadows", a 13-part trailer on YouTube to tease the new album. Described by band member Hoshi as marking the "shedding former image and becoming more mature", the album greatly contrasts with their earlier, more cheerful concepts.
Release and promotion
Seventeen on the set for a performance of "Hot", June 2022
Pre-orders for Face the Sun opened on April 22. On May 23, a highlight medley was released, as a preview of the 9 tracks of the album. The album will be supported by the Be The Sun World Tour, their first tour after the Ode to You Tour, which ended prematurely in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Be the Sun tour began in Seoul, followed by stops in North America and Asia.
Seventeen released a trailer for the reissue of the album, titled Sector 17, at their concert in Seoul. Sector 17 was released on July 18, 2022.
Commercial performance
Face the Sun
Face the Sun surpassed 1.74 million pre-orders in one week, exceeding Seventeen's previous career high of 1.41 million pre-orders for Attacca. On May 20, it was reported that the album had recorded two million pre-orders. According to the Gaon Music Chart, the album sold 2,239,351 copies in the month of May. Face the Sun debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, earning 44,000 album-equivalent units, including 42,000 pure album sales, in its first week. It is Seventeen's highest-charting and first top-ten album on the chart, having previously reached the top 20 twice in 2021 with their EPs Your Choice and Attacca.
Sector 17
According to Hanteo, Sector 17 sold 1,126,104 copies in its first week. Later it was reported that the EP sold 2 million copies in its first week, making Seventeen the second K-pop group to sell over 2 million copies in the first week of release.
Both Face the Sun and Sector 17 were met with generally positive reviews. In a positive review for Teen Vogue, Sara Delgado praised Face the Sun for its "sonic versatility." For NME, Abby Webster gave Face the Sun four out of five stars, and wrote that the album's singles paled in comparison to the album's "familiar yet sublimely inventive B-sides." Abbie Aitken for Clash wrote that "Face the Sun is a testament of Seventeen's influence as a key group within K-pop." AllMusic's Neil Z. Yeung gave both Face the Sun and Sector 17 four out of five stars, praising Face the Sun's use of various genres, writing that the album was an "excellent mix of party-starting anthems".
Sarina Bhutani of MTV named Face the Sun one of the albums of the year, saying that "with the release of this album, created their most sonically settled, emotionally confident record yet". Time Magazine named Sector 17 as one of the best K-pop albums of 2022, describing Face the Sun as an "artistic feat", though writing that the repackaged album, Sector 17 is "superior".
Kim, Jin-seok (June 28, 2022). 세븐틴, 정규 4집 인기 이어 받아 리패키지로 컴백 [Seventeen, following the popularity of the 4th regular album, makes a comeback with a repackage]. JTBC (in Korean). Retrieved November 15, 2022.
Hwang, Mi-hyeon (May 20, 2022). 세븐틴, 정규 4집 선주문량 200만장 돌파…자체 최고 기록 [SEVENTEEN, 4th regular album pre-orders exceed 2 million copies... own best record]. News1 (in Korean). Retrieved May 20, 2022.
Seon, Min-kyung (July 25, 2022). 세븐틴, 'SECTOR 17' 초동 112만 장…리패키지 최초 밀리언셀러 달성 [Seventeen, 'Sector 17' 1.12 million copies in the first week... First Repackage Million Seller]. Osen (in Korean). Retrieved November 15, 2022.
An, Tae-hyun (February 18, 2023). "'써클차트뮤직어워즈' BTS 5관왕…(여자)아이들, 앨범 제작상(종합)" ['Circle Chart Music Awards' BTS wins 5 crowns... (G)I-DLE, Album Production Award (Overall)]. News1 (in Korean). Retrieved August 12, 2023.
"올해의 가수상 앨범부분 Nominees" [Nominees for Album of the Year]. Circle Chart Music Awards. December 17, 2022. Archived from the original on December 17, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
Yoon, Jun-ho (January 8, 2023). "세븐틴, '제37회 골든디스크'서 3관왕…태국 수놓은 역대급 퍼포먼스" [SEVENTEEN wins 3 awards at the '37th Golden Disc Awards'... All-time performance embroidered in Thailand]. 10 Asia (in Korean). Retrieved August 12, 2023 – via Naver News.
Woo-bin (July 28, 2022). 트와이스 나연 'POP!', 3주 연속 써클차트 글로벌 K팝 부문 1위 [TWICE's Nayeon's 'POP!' tops the global K-pop category on the Circle Chart for 3 weeks in a row]. Ten Asia (in Korean). Retrieved July 28, 2022.
Face the Sun: 年間 アルバムランキング 2022年度 [Annual Album Ranking 2022] (in Japanese). Oricon. p. 1. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
Sector 17: 年間 アルバムランキング 2022年度 [Annual Album Ranking 2022] (in Japanese). Oricon. p. 2. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
年間 アルバムランキング 2023年度 [Annual Album Ranking 2023] (in Japanese). Oricon. p. 9. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
Digital cover
Digital cover
