Bran New Kiss (Korean브랜드 뉴 키스) is the fifth extended play released by South Korean boy band U-KISS. It is the first EP to feature new members Hoon and AJ.

Bran New Kiss
Korean edition and Japanese CD only cover
EP by
ReleasedMarch 30, 2011 (2011-03-30)
Recorded2011
GenreK-pop, electropop
Length18:16
LabelNH Media, LOEN Entertainment (South Korea)
L200000844
Avex Trax (Japan)
U-KISS chronology
Break Time
(2010)
Bran New Kiss
(2011)
Neverland
(2011)
Alternative Cover
Alternative cover
Singles from Bran New Kiss
  1. "0330"
    Released: March 30, 2011

Background and release

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In November 2010, the band's management announced that U-KISS had been recording new tracks for an upcoming EP. On March 30, 2011, the group released their fifth EP, Bran New Kiss with the lead single "0330". This was the first single that featured the two new band members, AJ and Hoon.[citation needed] The music video for the EP's single, "0330" was released March 29, the same day as the digital download, via YouTube. An alternate version of the music video for "0330", noted as a "Drama Version", was released on April 1 via Mnet. Some lines of the song were composed by new band member, AJ who is fluent in English and has a background in song writing.[citation needed] According to AJ in an interview, "r squared pi is the circle that we're inside together...the place where we are, like the memories that we made...so don't deny our r squared pi is like 'don't deny our circle'...our hidden circle we made together".[1]

The song's music video is tells the story of the main character pretending that his girlfriend is still alive after she died at 03:30 hours. Shin Dongho is the main actor for the music video. It starts with a piano in the middle of the forest with a clock switching to 03:30. Romantic scenes follow as the song goes on, but in the middle of the video, a short flash back shows that Dongho is just pretending or dreaming or remembering that he is with the girl. He doesn't want to accept her death so he lives on, pretending that she is still with him. His friends go along with it, knowing that it is hard for him, but they don't want to see their friend suffer. They try to teach Dongho to move on and begin a new life. He then accepts that she is gone and faces the reality. At the climax of the song, U-KISS is standing on the roof top of a building in the autumn and the video ends with a dream, with Dongho teaching the girl in white how to play the piano.[2] A different version of the video was released on April 3, 2011 which focuses more on the drama of the story. However, there are no major differences noted between the two videos.[3]

The digital version of the album was released on March 30, 2011 and the physical on April 1 in South Korea. The song was first performed on Mnet's M-Countdown on March 31, and on other shows such as Music Core and Music Bank.[4] On April 15, 2011, U-KISS performed "0330" on KBS's Yoo Hee-yeol's Sketchbook.[5] Bran New Kiss made it to number 2 on South Korea's Gaon Weekly Albums Chart[6] and "0330" landed at number 27 on Gaon's Weekly Digital Songs Chart.[7]

A Japanese version of the EP was released on August 24, 2011 in 3 versions: 2 CD+DVD versions and one CD-only. The CD-only edition comes with a Japanese version of the single "0330". The album debuted on the Japanese Oricon chart at number 5 on the first day of release, climbing to number 3 the following day.[8] On August 3, 2011, U-KISS performed the Japanese version of "0330" on a Japanese show, Bomber-E.[9]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."It's Time (Intro)"1:31
2."0330"3:29
3."내게 아픈 말은..." (Words That Hurt Me...)3:28
4."Every Day"3:27
5."I Don't Understand"3:16
6."Miracle"3:08
Total length:18:16
Japanese single – CD Only
No.TitleLength
7."0330" (Japanese version)3:30
Total length:22:04
DVD – Japanese Version (Type A)
No.TitleLength
1."U-KISS Visit to Japan" (Offshoot Movie) 
DVD – Taiwan and Japanese Version (Type B)
No.TitleLength
1."0330" (Music video – Korean version) 

Charts

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Chart Peak
position
South Korea Gaon Weekly album chart[6] 2
South Korea Gaon Monthly album chart[10] 9
Japan Oricon Daily albums chart 3
Japan Oricon Weekly albums chart[11] 7
Japan Oricon Monthly albums chart 39

Sales and certifications

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Chart Amount
Gaon physical sales 20,216
Oricon physical sales 13,012

Release history

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Country Date Format Label
South Korea March 30, 2011 Digital download NH Media
LOEN Entertainment
April 1, 2011 CD
Japan August 24, 2011 CD, Digital download Avex Trax
Thailand September 5, 2011 CD Sony Music
Philippines October 22, 2011 Sony Ivory
Taiwan September 8, 2011 CD+DVD Alpha Music

References

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  1. ^ U-KISS "Bran New Kiss" Press Conference, KL Malaysia – Part 3 on YouTube
  2. ^ "U-KISS's 0330 True MV meaning ='( ~ Hivihazan's Blog". Hivihazan.blogspot.com. 2011-05-11. Archived from the original on 2011-08-17. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  3. ^ "Drama Version of 0330 has been released". Dkpopnews.net. 2011-04-02. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  4. ^ "U-KISS release new teaser and Kevin reveals the song's meaning". hellokpop. 2011-03-29. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  5. ^ "U-KISS performs on "Yoo Hee Yeol's Sketchbook"". Allkpop. 2011-04-16. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  6. ^ a b "2011년 15주차 Album Chart". Gaon (in Korean). Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  7. ^ "2011년 17주차 Digital Chart". Gaon (in Korean). Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  8. ^ "유키스는 지난 25일자 오리콘 데일리 앨범 차트에서 한국앨범 '브랜드 뉴 키스'로 3위에 올랐다. YUKI와 SMAP에 이은 순위다". August 27, 2011. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  9. ^ "U-KISS performs 0330 Japanese Version in a Japanese Show". August 5, 2011.
  10. ^ "Gaon Album Chart 2011년 3월". Gaon. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  11. ^ "週間 CDアルバムランキング 2011年09月05日付". Oricon (in Japanese).
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