Love & Letter
Love & Letter, also known as First Love & Letter, is the debut studio album by South Korean boy group Seventeen. It was released on April 25, 2016 through Pledis Entertainment. The album is a follow-up to the group's first two EPs, 17 Carat and Boys Be.
Background and release
Love & Letter includes 10 tracks and focuses on themes such as the experience of a first love. The group's members largely created the album, writing or co-writing every track, and composing or co-composing almost every track. "Pretty U" was chosen to be the title track of the album and was performed on multiple music shows by the group throughout the following two and a half months. During this period, the group earned their first two consecutive wins on Show Champion. Their first win was on May 4, 2016, followed by a second win on May 11, 2016.
Commercial performance
The album charted at number three on Billboard World Albums chart and at number five on the Heatseekers Albums chart. The album's promotional single "Pretty U" charted at number three on the World Digital Songs chart, which marked their highest ranking on the chart to date.
Reception
On June 24, 2016, Seventeen performed at KCON in New York. Commenting on the group's first American appearance, Monique Menendez of Billboard K-Town wrote, "Seventeen bring the sugar with its latest single, 'Pretty U', a bright love song with choreography reminiscent of West Side Story."
Reissue
On July 4, 2016, a repackaged edition of Love & Letter, titled Love & Letter Repackage Album, was released with five new tracks, including the title track "Very Nice". The accompanying music video for the song was released on Naver V App on the same day and received over a million "hearts".