Can You Hear Me (EP)

Background and development

IU made her Japanese debut under EMI Music Japan in March 2012, with the single "Good Day." Since then, she had been active in both South Korea and Japan. In South Korea, she released the extended play Spring of a Twenty Year Old and collaborated with Korean girl group Fiestar for the song "Sea of Moonlight." In July, she released a Japanese version of her 2011 single "You & I," and held her first Japanese concert, IU Friendship Special Concert: Autumn2012, on September 17, 2012. In October 2012, IU released two cover songs digitally, "Friend" by Japanese rock band Anzen Chitai and "Aishiteru" (愛してる, "I Love You") by Callin', one of the ending theme songs for the anime Natsume's Book of Friends. Both of these were recorded at her first Japanese concert.

In support of the French musical Notre-Dame de Paris performed at the Tokyu Theatre Orb in Shibuya in February and March, IU covered a song from the English version of the musical, "The Age of the Cathedrals." This was released as a cellphone download on February 6, 2013, and later as a PC download on February 13. This rendition was added to Can You Hear Me? as a bonus track.

The album was officially announced on January 25, 2013.

Writing and production

The album was mostly recorded at DCH Studio, Tokyo, and Loen Studio in Seoul. Additional instrumental recording was recorded at Flyte Tyme Studios in Santa Monica, California and Jackson's Lyric Studio in Birmingham, Alabama. An orchestral sequence in the song "Beautiful Dancer" was performed by the China National Symphony Orchestra, which was recorded at Middle Chorus Studio in Beijing.

The extended play features IU's first original Japanese songs. American R&B production team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were enlisted to write two songs for the project, "Beautiful Dancer" and "Truth." "Beautiful Dancer" was the first time for IU to sing an R&B song. Hiro of the Japanese hip-hop unit LGYankees also served as a vocal producer for the album, and wrote lyrics to three songs on the album.

The song "Voice-mail" was written and composed by IU, then translated into Japanese. This is the fourth self-penned song by IU, after "Take My Hand" from the The Greatest Love soundtrack (2011), "A Stray Puppy" from Last Fantasy (2011) and "Peach" (2012). IU composed the song on her acoustic guitar, and completed it in two to three hours.

The Korean version of the song was later put onto IU's third Korean-language studio album Modern Times as a bonus track.

Promotion and release

The first single released from the album was "New World," which was released digitally on February 20, 2013. "Beautiful Dancer" was chosen as the leading track from the extended play. It was used as the March ending theme song for the Nippon TV music show Happy Music. The music video was released on March 8, 2013, and was show over two days in Thailand.

A week after the album on March 27, 2013, IU held her first fan meeting event, IU: The First Fan Meeting in Japan at the Tokyo International Forum. IU was featured in magazines to promote the album, was as Haruhana, CanCam, Soup, Rolling Stone Japan and Mini.

Chart reception

The album debuted at number 23 on Oricon's albums chart, selling 6,000 copies. After charting for three weeks in the top 300 albums, the extended play sold a total of 8,000 copies. This was less than her previous Japanese extended play, I□U, a compilation album of Korean songs released before her debut in 2011, and significantly less than her two Japanese singles, "Good Day" and "You & I," which were both top 10 releases.

The first single "New World" reached a peak of 76 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, and the lead single "Beautiful Dancer" reached number 66.

Personnel

Personnel details were sourced from Can You Hear Me?'s liner notes booklet.

Managerial

Performance credits

Visuals and imagery

Technical and production