Summer Magic is the second special extended play and the by South Korean girl group Red Velvet, marketed as their special "summer" EP following The Red Summer, which was released in July 2017. The EP is also the group's third major release to focus on their "Red" concept, following The Red Summer and the group's debut studio album The Red (2015). Released on August 6, 2018, the EP contains seven tracks, including the lead single "Power Up" and the English version of "Bad Boy" as a bonus track, making it their first song to be released in English.
The EP was a commercial success domestically and internationally, topping South Korea's Gaon chart's Album Chart, Single Chart and Download Chart. Elsewhere, it debuted at number three on the US Billboard World Albums chart. It also charted on the website's Heatseekers Albums chart at number 3, the Digital Albums at number 21, and became the group's first release to enter the Top Album Sales chart at number 91. The lead single "Power Up" also debuted at number 6 on its World Digital Songs chart. In France, the album charted at number 42 on the French Album Downloads Chart. The EP is also the group's first release to chart in the UK and Australia, debuting at number 38 on the UK Album Downloads Chart and at 31 on the Australian Top 50 Digital Albums Chart.
Background
After the release of their first Japanese extended play #Cookie Jar, the group's company SM Entertainment announced in July that Red Velvet would release their new "summer mini album" in August. Osen reported that the members finished filming the music video for the single "Power Up" in Gyeonggi Province on July 19 and days later, SM Entertainment revealed that the EP would be released on August 6 and was titled Summer Magic. Member Yeri stated they were also doing concerts amidst preparations for the album, which put them on a really tight schedule.
Composition
The lead single "Power Up" is described by PopCrush as an upbeat song with a "melody reminiscent of 8-bit-style video games" with lyrics that express a "work hard, play harder" theme; it is the group's second summer single after "Red Flavor". During the press conference for their second solo concert 'REDMARE' at the Olympic Park's handball arena in southeastern Seoul on August 5, member Yeri likened the melody to the tune of a Tetris game, stating that she "thought it's exactly the song you should listen to in summer" since it is "energizing and can play in the background for driving". Meanwhile, member Wendy compared it to their first summer single "Red Flavor" which was released in 2017 and admitted she "wasn't very impressed at first" but added "the more I listened to the song, the more energy of a different sort it gave me". The EP contains six other tracks, including an English version of "Bad Boy" which the group previously performed for the first time at KCON 2018 in New York in June of the same year. The song marks the group's first English-language release.
Claire Chung of Haps Magazine characterized the second track "With You" as an R&B song underlaid by trendy reggae synth pluck sounds with a moombahton rhythm. The third song "Mr.E", which is a play on the word 'mystery', "creates the illusion of being on a jungle safari" with its colorful animal and conga sounds. "Mosquito" is a new-style swing genre embedded with strong hip hop grooves. Chung also stated that the fifth track "Hit that Drum" is an "energetic song reminiscent of a South American samba festival" with its samba percussion instruments, cool brass sounds and heartbeat-like bass lines. "Blue Lemonade" is an urban pop dance song featuring a rhythmic synth base and bubbly background sounds.
Release and promotion
To promote the EP, a series of image teasers were released on July 29, 2018, through the group's official social media accounts. SM Entertainment also launched an interactive game on their official site. Before its official release, the group performed the new songs from the album during their second concert 'REDMARE' on August 5, 2018, revealing them to the public for the first time.