The Red (album)

Background and release

S.M. Entertainment announced that Red Velvet would be returning with their first full album in early September. On September 3, a series of image teasers were revealed on the group's official Instagram account, along with the album's ten-song track list. On September 4, the company announced that the full album would be released at midnight on September 9, with "Dumb Dumb" as the title track.

Following the group's concept of promoting with both "Red" and "Velvet" images, The Red will focus on their vivid and strong "Red" image. While talking about the album at a press conference on September 8, the members and the company also hinted at the The Velvet album that will follow The Red, although an S.M. Entertainment representative explained that nothing has been scheduled in particular yet. However, it means that SM has something in mind for the near future when they say "nothing is scheduled yet" or "nothing is scheduled in particular." Moreover, Wendy later confirmed on an interview that the album is "coming after" The Red.

The title track "Dumb Dumb" is an uptempo pop dance track with a groovy beat and addictive hook. The lyrics describe the feelings of a girl who feels like she can't help but act awkwardly around the person she likes. The music video for "Dumb Dumb" was released on September 8 while the full album was released on September 9.

Promotions

The group held a "comeback showcase" where they performed "Dumb Dumb." They also appeared on a 5-episode live broadcast through the Naver V-Live app called 오방만족! (Satisfying five senses!) Red vs Velvet where they discussed the various concepts of their new album. The first episode was broadcast on September 7. The 2nd episode was broadcast on September 8, with SHINee's Key as the MC.

The group made their 'comeback stage' on M! Countdown on September 10, followed by performances on Music Bank, Show! Music Core and Inkigayo. Besides "Dumb Dumb," they also performed "Huff 'n' Puff" on the shows.

Composition

"Dumb Dumb" is described as an uptempo dance track with an infectious hook and groovy beat. It is composed by British producers LDN Noise, who have previously written songs for fellow S.M. Entertainment artists SHINee and TVXQ.The lyrics describes a girl's awkwardness in front of the object of her affection, comparing herself to a mannequin. "Huff 'n' Puff" is described as a pop dance song that sings about waking up from a dream and coming back to reality, like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. "Campfire" is described as an R&B pop song that has an ear-catching rhythmical guitar intro.

"Red Dress" where a girl wears a red dress and clumsily but slyly tempts a man who treats her only as a child, "Oh Boy" which is a soulful R&B pop song genuinely presenting the singing ability of the members, and "Lady's Room," which is an R&B based pop song rendering the sisterhood between girls and the happy moments they share.

The album also presents "Time Slip" which is a hip-hop based R&B song with the lyric that describes the tightness and listlessness that one feels while going back and forth between dream and reality in the lazy morning; "Don't U Wait No More" which tells an interesting story where a girl hits on a clever idea to get closer to her boyfriend; "Day 1" which describes the feeling of love that has just begun by combining bass and piano with the sweet vocals of the members; and "Cool World" which is the synth-pop song with the hopeful lyric that tells listeners to love their uniqueness as it is rendered in members’ refreshing vocals, and all 10 songs covering various genres represent the Red”-ness of the group.

Music video

Set in a doll factory in which they are being "manufactured," the girls are dressed in various bright outfits, dancing to a unique choreography that features a mannequin dance which allude to the lyrics of the song in which a girl becomes awkward in front of the person she likes.

Reception and commercial performance

The Red topped Billboard's World Albums Chart, their highest to date, and peaked at number twenty-four on its Heatseekers Albums chart. "Dumb Dumb" also peaked at number three on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart, making it the best-selling K-pop song in America of the week. The album debuted at number one on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart, with "Dumb Dumb" at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart. The other nine tracks from the album also charted. As of January 2016, the album has sold 46,571 copies in South Korea and 1,364 copies in Japan.

The music video for "Dumb Dumb" debuted at #1 on YinYueTai's V-Chart Korea. It is also the most viewed k-pop video in America and worldwide for the month of September. Dazed Digital named "Dumb Dumb" their top K-pop track of 2015. In December, "Dumb Dumb" was included in Rolling Stone's '10 Best Music Videos of 2015'.

Billboard's Jeff Benjamin called The Red "an impressive, solid debut album" and stated that it "indicates big things for the act that needs to follow in the footsteps of their beloved female label mates Girls' Generation and f(x)." while Noisey stated that it's "perhaps the strongest top-to-bottom K-pop album to date," praising its "daredevil song forms, harmonies richer and smarter than anything on western dials in a quarter-century, and nonstop virtuoso songsmith hooks—without so much as a single English inflection out of place." Billboard also included it in their '10 Best K-Pop Albums of 2015' and called it "one of the year's most enjoyable and experimental pop LPs."

Dumb Dumb had already sold 1,2 million digital copies, becoming the first Red Velvet single to achieve that brand and the group's best-seller so far.