IU's “Autumn Morning” Surprise Release Tops Korea’s Realtime Charts
IU unveiled a lovely surprise for her fans on Monday morning, making available a pre-release track entitled "Autumn Morning." The song is from IU's forthcoming album "A Flower Bookmark Two," which is scheduled to come out on September 22. It quickly climbed up the real-time charts in Korea.
"Autumn Morning" suddenly popped up on YouTube at 7 a.m. on Monday. The singer's label Fave Entertainment said that the release was timed to celebrate the 9th anniversary of IU's debut as a K-pop artist.
Soompi reports that as of 4:30 a.m. (KST) on September 19, "Autumn Morning" occupied the number one position on the Bugs, Genie, Mnet and Soribada real-time charts. On the Melon and Naver real-time charts, "DNA" by BTS was sitting on the top spot. Several other tracks from the new BTS mini-album "Love Yourself: Her" also took spots on the Korean music charts.
IU's upcoming release "A Flower Bookmark Two" will be a covers album and the track "Autumn Morning" is a remake. The original song was made by singer Yang Hee-eun, known as the Godmother of Korean Folk, and guitarist Lee Byung-woo. "When I was young, I often listened to the album of the two, whom I admire for their musical talents, as I could feel the fresh charm," IU told the Korean Herald. "Autumn Morning" was her favorite track on Yang and Lee's 1991 album.
IU's "Autumn Morning" version features guitarist and YouTube star Jung Sung-ha, who plays guitar on the track. Folk singer-songwriter Hareem was also involved, performing the tin whistle for his part in the arrangement.
Billboard notes that "A Flower Bookmark Two" is the follow-up to IU's first album of covers, "A Flower Bookmark," which came out in 2014. That album produced two hit singles, "My Old Story" and "The Meaning of You."
