Electric Shock (EP)

Composition

The EP's single and title track, "Electric Shock", is an electropop and dance-pop song. The lyrics starting each line with the word, "전기충격" ("jeongichunggyeok", meaning "electric shock" in English). It was written and arranged by Willem Laseroms, Maarten Ten-Hove and Joachim Vermeulen-Windsant, and produced by Future Presidents. The music video was released on June 11, 2012, and was choreographed by Jillian Meyers.

The track "Jet" is composed by SM Entertainment's songwriter Kenzie, the track has hip-hop rhythms and electronic-dance compositions over a pop structure; Amber co-wrote the rap.

The track "Zig Zag" was especially produced to focus on the "youthful and refreshing blend of vocals" of five f(x) members which adds to the urban electronic sound created by the use of electric guitars and drum beats. The track was composed and written by music producer Hitchhiker. The lyrics were penned by Kim Bumin who often works closely with Hitchhiker.

The track "Beautiful Stranger" features Amber, Luna and Krystal only, and has an urban and hip-hop feel. The vocals and high notes are provided by Luna and Krystal, while Amber raps. The piece has a heavy drum beat synth and percussion performed through electric guitars. The chorus has groove bass lines. The song was composed by a team of music producers that included Aminata 'Amy' Kabba, Jason Gill, and songwriter Mich Hansen ("Cutfather").

Promotion

On June 10, 2012, the Electric Shock EP was released digitally in Korea and globally. f(x) began promotions for the title track, "Electric Shock", on M.net's M! Countdown on June 14 and also performed "Jet" as part of a special performance. They went on to perform "Electric Shock" on programs such as Music Bank, Show! Music Core, Inkigayo and M! Countdown. "Electric Shock" won a total of 9 first-place trophies on these shows.

Critical reception

On January 22, 2013, the song "Electric Shock" was voted by Korean music industry professionals as number 4 song on a list of the top 10 songs domestic songs of 2012., and the Electric Shock EP as 8th in the top 10 domestic albums of the year.

Accolades

At the press conference for 10th Annual Korean Music Awards on January 29, 2013, it was announced that the songs "Electric Shock" and "Jet" were both nominated for Best Dance and Electronic Song. In regards to two songs by the same artist being nominated in the same category, a representative of the KMAs stated, "This is due to the corresponding songs having excellent music reviews and rather than disregarding them because they are from the same artist, we chose to recognize their excellence". "Electric Shock" won the award.

Chart performance

The Electric Shock EP topped the Gaon Album Chart in its first week of release. The title track debuted at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart, selling 630,510 copies in its first week. It then fell to number three selling 285,501 copies the following week. By the end of 2012, the record had sold 74,694 copies, and the title track 2,150,840 digital copies.