Modern Times is the third studio album by South Korean singer-songwriter IU. It was released on October 8, 2013, via LOEN Entertainment under its imprint LOEN Tree. Under the theme of "French Black", the album departs from the singer's girlish image which established her as the "Nation's Sweetheart", by attempting various styles of music such as swing, jazz, and bossa nova. Her first full-length record since Last Fantasy (2011), the album contains guest features and collaborations from several artists.
Modern Times contains thirteen tracks, including IU's number-one hit "The Red Shoes" and her self-composed song "Bad Day". It also features the Korean version of "Voice Mail" from IU's Japanese EP Can You Hear Me? (2013) as a bonus track. The album was re-released as Modern Times - Epilogue on December 20, 2013, and contained the single "Friday" as well as the track "Pastel Crayon" from KBS's television series Bel Ami where IU starred as a lead role. The repackaged album contained two DVDs and was limited to 10,000 copies.
Modern Times was met with acclaim from music critics, who praised its musical styles and composition and was ranked the second greatest K-pop album of the 2010s by Billboard. It experienced commercial success in South Korea, with its tracks garnering over three million digital downloads in its opening week. The album has sold more than 70,000 physical copies and ten million digital singles, with "Friday" being one of the best-selling singles in the country.
Composition
Musically, the pop and jazz album incorporates a wide range of genres including bossa nova, folk and Latin pop. Sonically, the album recreates sounds similar to Christina Aguilera's Back to Basic (2006).
Release
The album's title and artwork were revealed on September 17. According to LOEN Entertainment, IU's agency, the singer's third full-length album would be titled Modern Times. It was also announced that her agency would provide an illustrated guide for Modern Times which gives audiences clues about the tracks of the album. From September 23 to October 4, seven video teasers were released for the album through LOEN Entertainment's YouTube channel. The series of teasers introduced some of the tracks from her new album.
Modern Times was released digitally at 12:00 am KST on October 8, 2013. Upon its release, the lead single "The Red Shoes" topped a number of real-time charts in South Korea, achieving an all-kill status, while the rest of the tracks also entered the charts. The album topped the Gaon Albums Chart on the third week of October 2013. The physical album sold 40,360 copies in 2013, making it the 41st best-selling Korean album of that year. , Modern Times has sold 58,145 copies in South Korea, with the sales of its repackaged album combined.
Singles
"The Red Shoes" "The Red Shoes" () the album's lead track, is a song with big band sounds, dramatic developments, and elaborate choruses. The song was inspired from the 1845 fairy tale under the same title written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, and the movie plot for its music video was adapted from the 1948 British film of the same title. Comparing to red shoes, it tells about a woman who begins her journey for the once-brilliant and summer-like days she had with her lost love, counting on her fate.
The single was released on October 8, 2013, along with the whole album, and its music video was officially unveiled at 11:00 am KST on the same day (although it premiered a day earlier on SBS MTV). The video, directed by Hwang Soo-ah, features cameo appearances from Yoo Hee-yeol (also known as the sole member of one-man project band Toy), electronic duo Peppertones, and models Fhi Fan and Jang Ki-yong. A performance-centered music video for "The Red Shoes" was also released via LOEN's official YouTube channel on October 21.
"The Red Shoes" reached number one on both the Gaon Digital Chart and Download Charts in the third week of October 2013. It also topped the K-pop Hot 100 for two consecutive weeks, becoming the singer's third number-one hit on the chart, after "You & I" (2011–12) and "Every End of the Day" (2012). "The Red Shoes" received six music program awards throughout October and was the 42nd biggest selling digital song of 2013 in South Korea.