Good & Great is the second Korean extended play (EP) by South Korean singer Key. It was released on September 11, 2023, through SM Entertainment. The EP features an office theme, and contains six songs from various genres, including the title track as the lead single.

Good & Great
EP by
ReleasedSeptember 11, 2023
GenreK-pop
Length19:26
Language
  • Korean
  • English
LabelSM
Key chronology
Gasoline
(2022)
Good & Great
(2023)
Pleasure Shop
(2024)
Singles from Good & Great
  1. "Good & Great"
    Released: September 11, 2023
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
NME[1]

Background

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In May 2023, Key's agency, SM Entertainment, released an earnings report revealing that he was scheduled to release a new EP in the third quarter of the year.[2] The EP follows his "retro trilogy" series, consisting of Bad Love (2021), Gasoline (2022) and Gasoline's reissue Killer (2023).[3]

Composition

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The EP consists of six songs from various genres.[3] Lead single "Good & Great" is a dance-pop song with a rhythmic piano melody. The song is aimed at office workers, and contains lyrics about Key taking pride in his work.[4] "Can't Say Goodbye" is a retro pop song that combines guitar, synths, slap bass and drums to create a "funky" mood. The lyrics are about being unable to say goodbye to someone.[5] The third track, "Intoxicating", is an uptempo house-pop song about falling in love.[6] It features rhythmic synth beats, strong 808 bass and "dynamic" vocal melodies composed of alternating low and high notes. "Live Without You" is a dance-pop song containing funk guitar and repetitive bass riffs. It compares trying to erase memories of an ex-partner to drinking alcohol.[5] "CoolAs" is an English song belonging to the electro-dance genre, containing a low-pitched bassline and synths.[6] Finally, R&B track "Mirror Mirror" features guitar riffs, whistling sounds and soft synth bell arpeggios. The lyrics, penned by Key, are about his feelings when looking in the mirror.[7]

Release and promotion

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Good & Great was announced on August 21, 2023, through the release of a teaser image showing an employee ID badge.[8] Pre-orders began the same day.[3] A schedule for promotional content was revealed using the productivity application Notion, fitting the office theme.[8] Key released a series of teaser videos titled "Work Week", depicting him as a tired employee working in an office.[9] He launched a website where users could have their own virtual desk and leave each other messages.[10] The EP was released on September 11,[11] and Key held a live broadcast to commemorate its release through Shinee's social media accounts.[12]

Track listing

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Good & Great track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Good & Great"Kenzie
  • Will Leong
  • James "Boy Matthews" Norton
  • Ferras
Leong3:19
2."Can't Say Goodbye"Park Tae-won
PhD3:23
3."Intoxicating"Kenzie
  • Adrian McKinnon
  • Timothy "Bos" Bullock
  • Kenzie
Bullock3:11
4."Live Without You"Jo Yoon-kyung
  • Margolis
  • DonnyBravo
  • Lawrence
3:24
5."CoolAs"Tony Ferrari
  • Dwilly
  • Meshorer
2:58
6."Mirror, Mirror"Key
  • Manifest
  • Jackson Morgan
  • Jonathan Hoskins
  • MZMC
  • Hoskins
  • MZMC
3:11
Total length:19:26

Personnel

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  • Key – vocals, background vocals
  • minGtion – vocal directing (tracks 1, 4)
  • Junny – background vocals (tracks 1, 3–4, 6)
  • Lee Min-gyu – recording (tracks 1, 3–6), digital editing (tracks 1, 6), engineering for mix (track 6), mixing (track 6)
  • Jeong Yu-ra – recording (tracks 1–4), digital editing (tracks 3–4), mixing (track 3)
  • Nam Gung-jin – mixing (track 1)
  • 1Take (Newtype) – vocal directing (tracks 2, 6), background vocals (track 2), recording (track 2)
  • Iain James – background vocals (track 2)
  • Lee Ji-hong – digital editing (track 2), engineering for mix (track 2), mixing (track 2)
  • Kenzie – vocal directing (track 3)
  • Adrian McKinnon – background vocals (track 3)
  • No Min-ji – digital editing (track 3)
  • Koda – background vocals (track 4)
  • Kim Cheol-sun – mixing (track 4)
  • Young Chance – vocal directing (track 5)
  • Dewain Whitmore Jr. – background vocals (track 5)
  • Patrick "J. Que" Smith – background vocals (track 5)
  • Jeong Eui-seok – digital editing (track 5), mixing (track 5)
  • Manifest – background vocals (track 6)
  • Jackson Morgan – background vocals (track 6)
  • Jang Woo-young – recording (track 6)
  • Chris Gehringer – mastering

Charts

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References

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  1. ^ Herman, Tamar (September 15, 2023). "Key – 'Good & Great' review: exactly what it says on the tin". NME. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  2. ^ Ziwei, Puah (May 11, 2023). "Members of Shinee, Red Velvet, Exo and more to release new music in 2023". NME. Archived from the original on July 11, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Cho, Yong-jun (August 21, 2023). "Shinee's Key to drop second EP 'Good & Great' on Sept. 11". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  4. ^ Moon, Ye-bin (August 29, 2023). 샤이니 키, '굿 앤 그레이트' 내달 발매…직장인 위한 팝 댄스곡 [Shinee's Key to release 'Good and Great' next month... Pop dance song for office workers]. Newsis (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 10, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023 – via Naver.
  5. ^ a b Hwang, Hye-jin (September 1, 2023). '컴백' 샤이니 키, 다채롭게 즐기는 '만능 치트키' 앨범 [Shinee Key's comeback: album of 'all-round cheat Key' that can be enjoyed in various ways]. Newsen (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 10, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023 – via Naver.
  6. ^ a b Kim, No-eul (August 30, 2023). 샤이니 키, 보컬도 매력도 'Good & Great' [Shinee's Key shows charming vocals on 'Good & Great']. Star News (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 10, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023 – via Naver.
  7. ^ Choi, Hye-jin (August 31, 2023). 샤이니 키, 새 앨범 수록곡 직접 작사..거울에 비친 '나'의 이야기 [Shinee's Key wrote the lyrics for B-side songs on his new album... The story of 'me' reflected in the mirror]. Star News (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 10, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023 – via Naver.
  8. ^ a b Seon, Mi-kyung (August 22, 2023). 샤이니 키, 'Good & Great' 컴백 스케줄 공개..유니크함 더했다 [Shinee's Key reveals comeback schedule for 'Good & Great'.. added uniqueness]. Osen (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 10, 2023. Retrieved August 23, 2023 – via Naver.
  9. ^ Martin, Annie (August 28, 2023). "Shinee's Key works hard in 'Good & Great' teaser". UPI. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  10. ^ Lee, Min-ji (September 8, 2023). 샤이니 키, 새 앨범으로 증명한 콘셉트 마스터키 [Shinee's Key: concept master key proven with new album]. Newsen (in Korean). Retrieved September 10, 2023 – via Naver.
  11. ^ Ziwei, Puah (August 21, 2023). "Here's when Shinee's Key will release his solo mini-album 'Good & Great'". NME. Archived from the original on August 26, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  12. ^ Choi, Hye-jin (September 6, 2023). 샤이니 키, 'Good & Great' 발매 기념 라이브..인턴 DJ의 보이는 라디오 [Shinee's Key will hold a livestream to celebrate the release of 'Good & Great'... Intern DJ's visible radio]. Xports News (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 10, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023 – via Naver.
  13. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2023-10-16/p/4" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  14. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Combined Albums: 2023-09-25" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  15. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums – Week of September 20, 2023". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  16. ^ "Circle Album Chart – Week 37, 2023". Circle Chart (in Korean). Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  17. ^ "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  18. ^ "Circle Album Chart – September 2023". Circle Chart (in Korean). Retrieved October 12, 2023.