End Theory

End Theory contains stories about different kinds of "end",{{Cite web |date=November 17, 2021 |title=윤하 정규 6집 END THEORY 타이틀곡 별의 조각 음원 차트 1위성공적 컴백 신호탄 |url=https://www.wowtv.co.kr/NewsCenter/News/Read?articleId=A202111170099 |access-date=August 21, 2022 |language=ko}} like the end of the Earth, of a relationship, or of the universe,{{Cite web |date=March 23, 2022 |title=윤하 "지나다 보면 지나져요" |url=https://www.esquirekorea.co.kr/article/64877 |access-date=August 21, 2022 |language=ko}} and conveys the singer's messages through metaphors related to the cosmos.{{Cite web |date=November 6, 2021 |title=윤하, 신보 'END THEORY' 마지막 콘셉트 포토 공개…인형미모 '눈길' |url=http://enter.etoday.co.kr/view/news_view.php?varAtcId=214429 |access-date=August 21, 2022 |language=ko}} It took eleven months to complete it,{{Cite web |last=Baroli |first=Marianna |date=December 20, 2021 |title=YOUNHA's magic voice is back |url=https://www.panorama.it/younha-interview |access-date=August 21, 2022 |language=en}} as Younha started working on it at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with Esquire Korea, the singer explained that she thought of using the end as a theme when she started thinking she needed to make an album to comfort people who couldn't meet and were waiting for it to end, "like singing a song about peace when war breaks out. To do that, you need to know what's at the end. [...] There should always be hope."

Younha wrote the lyrics, and sometimes the music, for most of the 11 songs;{{Cite web |last=Yoo |first=Jung-min |date=November 16, 2021 |title=윤하, 새 정규앨범 'END THEORY'로 컴백...전곡이 타이틀감 |url=https://www.hankyung.com/entertainment/article/2021111610614 |access-date=August 21, 2022 |language=ko}} among them, the selection of the title track fell on pop ballad "Stardust", as she thought it showed the preciousness and the importance of the process from a beginning to an end better than the others. The song, which talks about the precious beings met on planet Earth{{Cite web |title=[오늘노래] '역대급 명반' 자신한, 윤하의 'END THEORY' |url=http://digitalchosun.dizzo.com/site/data/html_dir/2021/11/16/2021111680104.html |access-date=August 21, 2022 |language=ko}} and what true love is,{{Cite web |date=December 8, 2021 |title=로 돌아온 윤하의 작은 방 |url=https://www.smlounge.co.kr/living/article/49726 |access-date=August 21, 2022 |language=ko}} was composed by her best friend and member of composition team Urban Zakapa Kwon Sun-il, with Younha penning the lyrics, and started from the question "What kind of useful person am I?"{{Cite web |date=November 20, 2021 |title=윤하, 에픽하이와 콜라보→신곡 '별의 조각'…명불허전 라이브 여신 (스케치북) |url=https://www.xportsnews.com/article/1502552 |access-date=August 21, 2022 |language=ko}} "P.R.R.W." stands for Process, Result and Reason Why.{{Cite web |date=November 19, 2021 |title=윤하, 다큐멘터리 '스타더스트 미션' 두 번째 이야기 공개…정규 6집 'END THEORY' 위한 '송캠프' 시작 |url=https://www.topstarnews.net/14650730 |access-date=August 23, 2022 |language=ko}}

Aside from Younha and Kwon, the producing team includes Jewno and James Son; the latter joined after appealing, through Kwon, to participate, leading Younha to ask him for a demo out of curiosity.{{Cite web |date=November 17, 2021 |title=윤하, 신보 'END THEORY' 작업기 담은 다큐멘터리 오픈…진정한 협업에 대한 이야기 |url=http://enter.etoday.co.kr/view/news_view.php?varAtcId=215084 |access-date=August 23, 2022 |language=ko}} The collaboration with Sarah Kang on "Tik-Tok" was born at the suggestion of Younha after seeing an acoustic live performance of Kang playing the guitar outdoors, and they worked on the song through video calls.{{Cite news |title=윤하, 제임스 슬럼프 탈출→사라 강 협업..'END THEORY' 탄생 과정 |language=ko |url=https://news.v.daum.net/v/kMB7apLRW1 |access-date=August 23, 2022}} The Korean title, which translates to "6 years and 230 days", refers to the days left to the destruction of the Earth.

On March 30, 2022, End Theory was repackaged as End Theory: Final Edition adding three additional songs, "C/2022YH", "Event Horizon" and "Black Hole", based on rock music. "C/2022YH", whose Korean title means "comet", is a pop rock fast tempo song with a 16-bit piano riff;{{Cite web |title='30일 컴백' 윤하, 'END THEORY'로 선보일 완벽 세계관 |url=https://www.inews24.com/view/1463384 |access-date=August 21, 2022 |language=ko}} "Event Horizon" is the name of the outer boundary of a black hole, a completely uncharted territory that Younha compared to a breakup, when no one knows what will happen next; "Black Hole" is a future bass pop song where she tells a black hole she will never forget the moment it was a star. Younha took charge of the lyrics and composition of all three songs.

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = IZM

| rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}

}}

Son Gi-ho from IZM gave the album 4 out of 5 stars; he called it "intense" from the first track, stating: "All the songs in the album are sincere to capture both the person who rescued her and the music," and concluding "The light reached after countless attempts and failures gives Younha a chance to grow on her own and becomes a medium in the name of hope that will unite her and the public again. In that way, a solid galaxy that will not be shaken by any adversity is born."{{Cite web |last=Son |first=Gi-ho |title=Younha 6th Album 'End Theory' |url=http://www.izm.co.kr/contentRead.asp?idx=31051&bigcateidx=1&subcateidx=3&view_tp=1 |access-date=August 23, 2022 |language=ko}}

Art Insight wrote: "Younha's End Theory doesn't erase the existence of sadness and failure from life, but looks straight ahead. [...] It contains confidence for tomorrow and gives support and comfort with a trustworthy message of 'I will be by your side'."{{Cite web |title=[Opinion] 무한한 우주를 여행하는 '나'의 동반자, '나' - 윤하 6집 'End Theory' [음악] |url=http://www.artinsight.co.kr/news/view.php?no=56980 |access-date=August 23, 2022 |language=ko}}

End Theory was featured on Time's list of the best K-pop songs and albums of 2021,{{Cite web |date=December 8, 2021 |title=The Best K-Pop Songs and Albums of 2021 |url=https://time.com/6126709/best-kpop-2021/ |access-date=August 23, 2022 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=December 10, 2021 |title=윤하 'END THEORY', 美 타임지 '베스트 케이팝 앨범' 선정 |url=https://www.inews24.com/view/1431424 |access-date=August 23, 2022 |language=ko}} while Billboard chose "Stardust" as the 13th best K-pop song of 2021 for its simplicity made of "simple, beautiful chord progression that grows naturally within the song's orchestral production."{{Cite magazine |date=December 18, 2021 |title=25 Best K-Pop Songs of 2021: Critics' Picks |magazine=Billboard |url=https://www.billboard.com/lists/best-kpop-songs-2021-year-end/ |access-date=August 23, 2022 |language=en-US}}

{{Track listing

| headline = End Theory track listing

| extra_column = Arrangement

| total_length = 39:36

| title1 = P.R.R.W.

| lyrics1 = {{hlist|Younha|James Son}}

| music1 = {{hlist|Younha|Jewno}}

| extra1 = Jewno

| length1 = 3:14

| title2 = Big Picture

| note2 = {{lang|ko|나는 계획이 있다}}

| lyrics2 = {{hlist|Kim Su-ji (Lalala Studio)}}

| music2 = {{hlist|Younha|Jewno}}

| extra2 = Jewno

| length2 = 3:20

| title3 = Oort Cloud

| note3 = {{lang|ko|오르트구름}}

| lyrics3 = Danke (Lalala Studio)

| music3 = {{hlist|Jewno|KZ|Hoff}}

| extra3 = Jewno

| length3 = 3:26

| title4 = Wish

| note4 = {{lang|ko|물의 여행}}

| lyrics4 = Danke

| music4 = {{hlist|Younha|Jewno}}

| extra4 = Jewno

| length4 = 2:54

| title5 = How U Doing

| note5 = {{lang|ko|잘 지내}}

| lyrics5 = Younha

| music5 = Younha

| extra5 = Jewno

| length5 = 4:05

| title6 = Highlight

| note6 = {{lang|ko|반짝, 빛을 내}}

| lyrics6 = {{hlist|Younha|Danke}}

| music6 = {{hlist|Younha|Jewno|Jade}}

| extra6 = Jewno

| length6 = 3:29

| title7 = Tik-Tok

| note7 = {{lang|ko|6년 230일}}

| lyrics7 = Younha

| music7 = Sarah Kang

| extra7 = {{hlist|Patrick Hizon|Jewno|Lee Ha-eun}}

| length7 = 3:28

| title8 = Truly

| lyrics8 = Younha

| music8 = Younha

| extra8 = Jewno

| length8 = 3:35

| title9 = Stardust

| note9 = {{lang|ko|별의 조각}}

| lyrics9 = Younha

| music9 = Kwon Sun-il

| extra9 = Jewno

| length9 = 3:50

| title10 = Here

| note10 = {{lang|ko|하나의 달}}

| lyrics10 = Younha

| music10 = {{hlist|Younha|James Son}}

| extra10 = {{hlist|Kim Dong-min|Shaun}}

| length10 = 4:41

| title11 = Savior

| lyrics11 = {{hlist|Younha|James Son}}

| music11 = James Son

| extra11 = Shaun

| length11 = 3:34

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = End Theory: Final Edition track listing

| extra_column = Arrangement

| total_length = 50:59

| title1 = Oort Cloud

| note1 = {{lang|ko|오르트구름}}

| length1 = 3:26

| title2 = C/2022YH

| note2 = {{lang|ko|살별}}

| lyrics2 = Younha

| music2 = {{hlist|Younha|Jewno}}

| extra2 = Jewno

| length2 = 3:15

| title3 = Wish

| note3 = {{lang|ko|물의 여행}}

| length3 = 2:54

| title4 = Highlight

| note4 = {{lang|ko|반짝, 빛을 내}}

| length4 = 3:29

| title5 = Tik-Tok

| note5 = {{lang|ko|6년 230일}}

| length5 = 3:28

| title6 = P.R.R.W.

| length6 = 3:14

| title7 = Big Picture

| note7 = {{lang|ko|나는 계획이 있다}}

| length7 = 3:20

| title8 = Truly

| length8 = 3:35

| title9 = Stardust

| note9 = {{lang|ko|별의 조각}}

| length9 = 3:50

| title10 = Here

| note10 = {{lang|ko|하나의 달}}

| length10 = 4:41

| title11 = Event Horizon

| note11 = {{lang|ko|사건의 지평선}}

| lyrics11 = Younha

| music11 = {{hlist|Younha|Jewno}}

| extra11 = {{hlist|Jewno|Shaun}}

| length11 = 5:00

| title12 = Black Hole

| lyrics12 = Younha

| music12 = {{hlist|Younha|Jewno|Shaun|Samin|Hardy}}

| extra12 = {{hlist|Jewno|Shaun}}

| length12 = 3:08

| title13 = Savior

| length13 = 3:34

| title14 = How U Doing

| note14 = {{lang|ko|잘 지내}}

| length14 = 4:05

}}

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{{Reflist}}

• {{AllMusic}}
• {{Discogs release}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.maniadb.com/album/920683|title=End Theory}} at ManiaDB
• {{cite web|url=http://www.maniadb.com/album/929419|title=End Theory: Final Edition}} at ManiaDB
• {{MusicBrainz release group}}

{{Younha}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2021 albums

Category:2020s Korean-language albums

Category:Younha albums