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Face the Sun
Digital cover
Studio album by Seventeen
Released	May 27, 2022 (2022-05-27)
Recorded	December 2021 – April 2022
Genre	K-pop
Length	29:03
Language	Korean English
Label	Pledis YG Plus
Seventeen chronology
Attacca (2021) Face the Sun (2022) Dream (2022)
Singles from Face the Sun
"Darl+ing" Released: April 15, 2022 "Hot" Released: May 27, 2022
Sector 17 cover
Digital cover
Singles from Sector 17
"Cheers (SVT Leaders)" Released: July 7, 2022 "_World" Released: July 18, 2022

Face the Sun is the fourth studio album by South Korean boy band Seventeen. It was released on May 27, 2022, by Pledis Entertainment through YG Plus. The album contains nine tracks, with "Hot" serving as lead single. The first track, "Darl+ing", was pre-released on April 15, 2022. The repackaged version of the album, titled Sector 17, released on July 18 alongside its lead single "World". The fourth track, "Cheers", was pre-released on July 7, 2022.

Background

In March, seven months after the release of the commercially successful EP Attacca, Pledis Entertainment announced that Seventeen would be releasing a studio album, their first since An Ode (2019), in May. Following the release of the group's first-ever English single "Darling" on April 15, the label confirmed that Seventeen would return on May 27 with a fourth studio album titled Face the Sun. Starting on April 26, the group released "Inner Shadows", a 13-part trailer on YouTube to tease the new album. Described by band member Hoshi as marking the "shedding former image and becoming more mature", the album greatly contrasts with their earlier, more cheerful concepts.

Release and promotion

Pre-orders for Face the Sun opened on April 22. On May 23, a highlight medley was released, as a preview of the 9 tracks of the album. The album will be supported by the Be The Sun World Tour, their first tour after the Ode to You Tour, which ended prematurely in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Be the Sun tour began in Seoul, followed by stops in North America and Asia.

Seventeen released a trailer for the reissue of the album, titled Sector 17, at their concert in Seoul. Sector 17 was released on July 18, 2022.

Commercial performance

Face the Sun

Face the Sun surpassed 1.74 million pre-orders in one week, exceeding Seventeen's previous career high of 1.41 million pre-orders for Attacca. On May 20, it was reported that the album had recorded two million pre-orders. According to the Gaon Music Chart, the album sold 2,239,351 copies in the month of May. Face the Sun debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, earning 44,000 album-equivalent units, including 42,000 pure album sales, in its first week. It is Seventeen's highest-charting and first top-ten album on the chart, having previously reached the top 20 twice in 2021 with their EPs Your Choice and Attacca.

Sector 17

According to Hanteo, Sector 17 sold 1,126,104 copies in its first week. Later it was reported that the EP sold 2 million copies in its first week, making Seventeen the second K-pop group to sell over 2 million copies in the first week of release.

Critical reception

Professional ratings for Face the Sun

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Clash	7/10
NME

Both Face the Sun and Sector 17 were met with generally positive reviews. In a positive review for Teen Vogue, Sara Delgado praised Face the Sun for its "sonic versatility." For NME, Abby Webster gave Face the Sun four out of five stars, and wrote that the album's singles paled in comparison to the album's "familiar yet sublimely inventive B-sides." Abbie Aitken for Clash wrote that "Face the Sun is a testament of Seventeen's influence as a key group within K-pop." AllMusic's Neil Z. Yeung gave both Face the Sun and Sector 17 four out of five stars, praising Face the Sun's use of various genres, writing that the album was an "excellent mix of party-starting anthems".

Sarina Bhutani of MTV named Face the Sun one of the albums of the year, saying that "with the release of this album, created their most sonically settled, emotionally confident record yet". Time Magazine named Sector 17 as one of the best K-pop albums of 2022, describing Face the Sun as an "artistic feat", though writing that the repackaged album, Sector 17 is "superior".

Accolades

Track listing

Notes

• "'Bout You" is stylized as "'bout you"
• "_World" is stylized as "_WORLD"
• "Cheers" is stylized in all caps

Charts

Certifications

References

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19. "SEVENTEEN Light a New Path With 4th Studio Album "Face the Sun"". Teen Vogue. June 1, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
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21. Bhutani, Sarina (December 6, 2022). "Albums Of The Year: Seventeen Find Their Light On 'Face The Sun'". MTV. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
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25. An, Tae-hyun (February 18, 2023). "'써클차트뮤직어워즈' BTS 5관왕…(여자)아이들, 앨범 제작상(종합)" ['Circle Chart Music Awards' BTS wins 5 crowns... (G)I-DLE, Album Production Award (Overall)]. News1 (in Korean). Retrieved August 12, 2023.
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27. Yoon, Jun-ho (January 8, 2023). "세븐틴, '제37회 골든디스크'서 3관왕…태국 수놓은 역대급 퍼포먼스" [SEVENTEEN wins 3 awards at the '37th Golden Disc Awards'... All-time performance embroidered in Thailand]. 10 Asia (in Korean). Retrieved August 12, 2023 – via Naver News.
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33. Peak position in Croatian International Albums:
    • "Face the Sun (Ep.5 Pioneer ver.) - Week 24, 2022" (in Croatian). HDU. June 21, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
    • "Face the Sun (Carat ver.) - Week 29, 2022" (in Croatian). HDU. July 25, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
    • "Sector 17 - Week 31, 2022" (in Croatian). HDU. August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
34. "Dutchcharts.nl – Seventeen – Face the Sun - 4th Album" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
35. "Seventeen: Seventeen 4th Album Face the Sun" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
36. "Lescharts.com – Seventeen – Face the Sun - 4th Album". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
37. "Offiziellecharts.de – Seventeen – Face the Sun - 4th Album" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
38. "Offiziellecharts.de – Seventeen – Sector 17" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
39. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2022. 36. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
40. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2022-06-20" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
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47. Woo-bin (July 28, 2022). 트와이스 나연 'POP!', 3주 연속 써클차트 글로벌 K팝 부문 1위 [TWICE's Nayeon's 'POP!' tops the global K-pop category on the Circle Chart for 3 weeks in a row]. Ten Asia (in Korean). Retrieved July 28, 2022.
48. "Spanishcharts.com – Seventeen – Face the Sun - 4th Album". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
49. "Top 100 Albums Weekly". Promusicae. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
50. Peak position in Swedish Physical Albums:
    • "Veckolista Album Fysiskt, vecka 23" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
    • "Veckolista Album Fysiskt, vecka 30" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
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52. "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
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56. "Seventeen Chart History (World Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
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58. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2022-07". Oricon. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
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60. "Circle Album Chart – July 2022". Circle Chart. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
61. "2022: La production musicale française toujours au top" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
62. 2022 Oricon year-end chart entries:
    • Face the Sun: 年間 アルバムランキング 2022年度 [Annual Album Ranking 2022] (in Japanese). Oricon. p. 1. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
    • Sector 17: 年間 アルバムランキング 2022年度 [Annual Album Ranking 2022] (in Japanese). Oricon. p. 2. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
63. "Billboard Japan Hot Albums Year-End 2022". Billboard Japan. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
64. ^ "Album Chart 2022". Circle Chart. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
65. 年間 アルバムランキング 2023年度 [Annual Album Ranking 2023] (in Japanese). Oricon. p. 9. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
66. "Album Chart 2023". Circle Chart. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
67. "South Korean album certifications – Seventeen – Face the Sun" (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association (KMCA). Retrieved August 9, 2024.
68. "South Korean album certifications – Seventeen – Face the Sun (Weverse)" (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association (KMCA). Retrieved March 8, 2023.
69. "South Korean album certifications – Seventeen – Sector 17" (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association (KMCA). Retrieved August 12, 2023.
70. "South Korean album certifications – Seventeen – Sector 17 (Weverse)" (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association (KMCA). Retrieved August 12, 2023.

• 2022 albums
• 2020s Korean-language albums
• Seventeen (South Korean band) albums
• Hybe Corporation albums