The Red Summer is the first special extended play and the by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. Marketed as the group's first "special summer" release, the five-track EP was released digitally on July 9, 2017, and physically the following day by SM Entertainment. Primarily a dance-pop and EDM record, it is the second major release from Red Velvet to focus solely on their "red" concept, following their debut studio album The Red (2015). It was later proceeded by Summer Magic as both the second "special summer" extended play and the third major "red" release. The Red Summer received positive reviews from music critics, who complimented its showcasing of the group's "bright and vivid" side. It was a commercial success, becoming the group's sixth consecutive Gaon Album Chart topper and their third to debut atop the Billboard World Albums chart, thus setting the record for the most number-one albums among K-pop girl groups at the time. The EP spawned the single "Red Flavor", and has since become one of the group's signature songs. Background and release After concluding music show promotion for their fourth extended play Rookie in February, Red Velvet released the digital single "Would U" as the first release for the second season of the label project SM Station. On June 23, 2017, S.M. Entertainment announced that Red Velvet would be releasing an album in July for a summer comeback (a first for the group) and had recently finished filming the music video. At around midnight on June 30, the first set of teaser images were released through the company's official website, the group's official Instagram, and the group's promotional Twitter account, which was created the same month. Later that day, they posted another set of teasers which revealed the album title and the full track list which includes the title track, "Red Flavor". The album was officially released digitally on July 9 and physically on July 10, and was distributed by Genie Music. The physical album was released in two formats: a CD version and Kihno kit. Composition The Red Summer consists of five songs that incorporate genres like dance-pop and EDM. The lead single "Red Flavor" was described by writer Tamar Herman of Billboard magazine as an electropop song with "dramatic synths and a percussive melody." Originally produced by production team Caesar & Loui, the track features background vocals from songwriter Ylva Dimberg and a distorted