Reflection (Fifth Harmony album)

Untitled

Reflection is the debut studio album by American girl group Fifth Harmony. It was released on January 30, 2015, by Syco Music and Epic Records. Lyrically, the album discusses themes of female-empowerment, romance, heartbreak, and confidence. This album describes as the pop album, which showcases the synth-pop, grungy hip-hop and R&B with guest appearances from American rappers Kid Ink and Tyga, and collaborations with several producers such as Ori Kaplan, Dr. Luke and StarGate.

Reflection entered the US Billboard 200 at number 5, with 80,000 equivalent units (with 62,000 of that coming from traditional album sales) and became their highest charting release on the Billboard 200. The album also performed moderately in other countries, becoming the group's first top 20 entry in the United Kingdom after peaking at number 18 and charting within the top 30 of ten additional countries. To further promote the album, the group embarked on their first headlining tour, the Reflection Tour, visiting the United States, Mexico and Europe.

Reflection was supported by three singles. The album's lead single, "Boss" was released on July 7, 2014, and peaked at number 43 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The album's second single, "Sledgehammer" premiered on October 28, 2014, and peaked at number 40 on the Hot 100. The album's third single, "Worth It" featuring Kid Ink, was released on March 3, 2015, which it performed strongly worldwide by peaking at number 12 on the Hot 100 and reaching the top twenty in fifteen additional countries. Both "Boss" and "Sledgehammer" achieved Platinum certification in the United States, with "Worth It" being certified triple platinum in the country.

Background

After finishing in third place on the second season of The X Factor and releasing their debut EP titled Better Together, Fifth Harmony announced they would be releasing a full-length album in the Spring of 2014. The album features production contributions from executive multiplatinum producer-songwriter Julian Bunetta, Stargate, and Dr. Luke, and was released by Syco Music and Epic Records. During the recording sessions, Fifth Harmony stated that the album will signal a more mature sound for the group, with the lyrical content and production said to be less pop than Better Together, their debut EP. During the voting stages of the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards where Fifth Harmony was nominated in the Artist to Watch category, fans were asked to vote for the group a certain number of times to help unlock the cover art for the album. The title and the cover of the album were unveiled on Fifth Harmony's official website on August 12, 2014. After receiving negative feedback from fans, the group revealed a new album cover on August 23, 2014.

The album's release date was delayed a number of times during the last quarter of 2014 and early 2015. The album was ultimately released on February 3, 2015 in the US.

Singles

"Boss" was released, as the album's lead single on July 7, 2014, with the music video released a day later on Vevo. The song debuted at number 43 on the US Billboard Hot 100, with first-week sales of 75,000 copies.

"Sledgehammer" was released, as the album's second single on October 28, 2014. Its music video was released on November 25, 2014 on Vevo. The song peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the group's highest-charting single in the United States at the time.

"Worth It" featuring Kid Ink, was sent to radio in the United States, as the album's third single on March 3, 2015. The song has since peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Both singles; "Boss" and "Sledgehammer" has achieved a platinum certification, while "Worth It" has achieved a triple platinum certification in the United States.

Promotion

After releasing "Boss", the group released another song from the album, "We Know", during sessions for Idolator and Billboard. They performed several songs from the album before its release during Austin Mahone's tour in the summer of 2014. The new songs performed include "Reflection", "We Know" and "Going Nowhere". Fifth Harmony announced a headlining 23-date tour, The Reflection Tour, commencing on February 27, 2015. Opening acts are Jacob Whitesides, Jasmine V and Mahogany LOX. Upon the release of Reflection, MTV aired on February 6, 2015, the "Fifth Harmony Album Release Party Presented By COVERGIRL" at New York's Webster Hall, where the group took the stage for a private performance, which was filmed by fans in attendance and turned into a music video, followed by an interview. Fifth Harmony appeared as guests on VH1's Big Morning Buzz Live for the entire week of February 16, 2015, doing interviews and performing on the show.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Billboard
The New York Times	8/10
Pitchfork Media	7.2/10
Rolling Stone
Spin	7/10

Reflection received mostly positive reviews from music critics and ended up at many mid year and end of the year lists. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 78, which indicates "generally favorable reviews" from six critics. Writing for TIME, Jamieson Cox states in a positive review that the group is "agile, and have intuitive understanding of how their differences in vocal texture and range can impact their songs by introducing surprise and tension." He continues to say that, "Reflection is certainly enjoyable on a purely musical level, but Fifth Harmony's perspective and positivity is often even more exciting." Matt Collar, from AllMusic, gave the album four out of five stars saying that it "is a slick production showcasing the group's multi voiced approach to contemporary R&B." He notes the diversity of musical genres, "from electronic-infused dance music to synthy, rhythmically bumptious hip-hop, to retro-'90s R&B," although adding that "it is very much a savvy pop product of the moment." Rick Fiorino, from Artistdirect, gave the album five out of five, saying that each song feels "massive" and has potential to be "blaring out of radios for years to come." He also adds how each of the group's "dynamic voices" fuse into "one focused pop roller coast". Fiorino ends his review by saying that Reflection establishes the group as "21st century's pop music's premier powerhouse."

Brittany Spanos, from Rolling Stone, gave the album three and a half stars out of five, calling the lyrics "infectious" and the track "Like Mariah" a standout. Jason Lipshutz, from Billboard, gave the album four out of five stars saying that "most of the songs work." He adds that the group shows "that they are capable of slick synth-pop, grungy hip-hop and fluttering R&B, the latter clearly indebted to the girl groups of the '90s." Lipshutz also compares the group's message to Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, and Katy Perry's, noting that "the back half of Reflection is basically a misandrist constitution, with the 5H ladies brushing off lazy dudes on "Suga Mama," game-players on "We Know" and the flight-before-fight bros on "Going Nowhere." Writing for Spin, Brennan Carley gives a rating of seven out of ten, calling the album "cohesive and modern," and "self-aware fun." He highlights Meghan Trainor's work by saying that "her feel-good songwriting and female empowerment jams provide some of Reflection's highest peaks." Glenn Gamboa, from Newsday, gives the album a grade of a B (the highest being an A+), highlighting how the track "Brave, Honest, Beautiful" could be an "anthem for the group." He also complements the extended time that the album took to make, as this allowed the group "time to grow" and "plenty of resources." Gamboa finishes his review by raving on the many pop culture icon references in the album, and how the group offers a "particular brand of multicultural girl power."

Writing for Idolator, Christina Lee gives the album three and a half stars out of five, saying that Fifth Harmony "nails every song with absolute precision, as if its members had known each other for far longer than just three years since The X Factor." She also predicted that the group is "bound to move on to the next round in this pop game" with a "No. 1 single, at the very least." Rebecca Mattina, from ANDPOP, gave the album three and a half stars out of five, saying that "the lyrics are fun, strong and full of swagger, and their vocals are always on-point. If they can really hone in on their sound, it won’t be long before they’re dominating the charts." She notes that "Boss" "might just be one of the best female empowerment songs since Destiny’s Child’s “Independent Women"" and calls the lyrics of "Brave Honest Beautiful" "one of the group's most powerful". From Sugarscape, Carl Smith gave the album four out of five stars, calling it "fierce, feisty, and fresh," and complimenting the group for bringing "that injection of girl power in an industry saturated with boybands and dad-rock."

Mid-year lists

Publication	Rank	List
Complex	21	The Best 50 Albums of 2015 (So Far)
fuse	22	27 Best Albums We've Heard in 2015...So Far
Rolling Stone	*	The 45 Best Albums Of 2015 So Far
Spin	33	The Best 50 Albums of 2015 So Far

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 chart with 80,000 equivalent album units, becoming their second album to debut inside the top-ten since their first EP, Better Together.

Track listing

Reflection – Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"She's My Girl"	Linnéa Deb Joy Deb Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad Maurice Simmonds	The Family	3:40
2.	"Reaching Out for Stars"	Eric Frederic Joe Spargur Daniel Kyriakides Gamal Lewis Jacob Hindlin Taylor Parks	Ricky Reed Joe London Daylight Parks[b]	2:51
3.	"Heartbroken"	Jonas Jeberg Meghan Trainor Sean Douglas	Jeberg Harvey Mason, Jr.[b]	3:50
4.	"Live for a While" (featuring Kid Ink)	Priscilla Hamilton Mikkel Storleer Eriksen Tor Erik Hermansen Ori Kaplan	Stargate Kaplan[a]	3:44
5.	"Our Time to Shine"	Lukasz Gottwald Theron Thomas Henry Walter	Dr. Luke Cirkut Tommy Parker[b]	4:32
6.	"Catching Feelings"	Victoria Monét Shane Stevens	Tommy Brown Travis Sayles	3:04
7.	"Plastic Surgery" (featuring Tyga)	Jonathan Rotem Raja Kumari Justin Tranter Michael Nguyen-Stevenson Mariah Carey Jermaine Dupri Manuel Seal, Jr.	J.R. Rotem Dupri	3:28
8.	"It's Gonna Be a Long Night"	James Abrahart Monét Tinashé Sibanda Emily Warren Brit Burton	T-Collar Monét[b]	2:42
9.	"Loving You Is Easy"	Julian Bunetta Hindlin Monét	Monét[b]	3:08
10.	"Boys Got Game"	Trainor Chris Aparri	Flict	3:39
11.	"Feel the Rhythm"	Monét Kyle Stewart II	Brown Monét	2:57
Total length:				37:35

Reflection – Deluxe edition (bonus tracks)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"Hold Us Right Now"	Andre Merritt Breana Marin Hamilton Aparri	Flict Merritt[b] Marin[b] Hamilton[b] Parks[b]	3:34
13.	"Between Love & Life"	Harmony Samuels Thomas John DeNicola Donald Markowitz Franke Previte	H-Money	4:03
14.	"Whole New Color" (featuring Meghan Trainor)	Trainor	Flict Trainor[b] Parks[b]	3:28
Total length:				48:40

Reflection - Google Play Exclusive

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"I'm in Love with a Monster"	Harmony David Samuels Carmen Reece Sarah Mancuso Edgar Etienne Ericka Coulter		3:31
16.	"Worth It (Dame Esta Noche)"	Priscilla Renea Hamilton Mikkel S. Eriksen Tor Erik Hermansen Ori Kaplan	Stargate Ori Kaplan	3:43
Total length:				55:54

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer.
• ^{^[b]} signifies a vocal producer.
• "Boss" is stylized as "Bo$$".

Sample credits

• "Like Mariah" contains a portion of the composition "Always Be My Baby", written by Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri and Manuel Seal Jr., performed by Mariah Carey.
• "We Know" contains a portion of the composition "A Dream", written by Jordan Etterlene, performed by DeBarge.
• "Body Rock" contains a portion of the composition "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", written by John DeNicola, Donald Markowitz and Franke Previte, performed by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes.

Personnel and credits

Credits for Reflection adapted from AllMusic.

• James Abrahart – Composer
• Nate Alford – Engineer
• Mike Anderson – Engineer
• Henrique Andrade – Assistant
• Chris "Flict" Aparri – Composer, Producer
• Joey Arbagey – A&R
• Tim Blacksmith – Executive Producer
• Tommy Brown – Producer
• Tommy "TBHITS" Brown – Producer
• Julian Bunetta – Composer, Engineer, Mixing, Musician, Programming, Vocals (Background)
• Britt Burton – Composer
• Mariah Carey – Composer
• Maddox Chhim – Assistant
• Fuko Chubachi – Art Direction, Design
• Cirkut – Instrumentation, Producer, Programming
• Ben Cope – Photography
• Danny D. – Executive Producer
• Daylight – Engineer, Producer, Programming
• Joy Deb – Composer
• Linnéa Deb – Composer
• DJ Camper – Keyboards
• Sean Douglas – Composer
• Dr. Luke – Instrumentation, Producer, Programming
• Jermaine Dupri – Composer
• Mikkel S. Eriksen – Composer, Engineer, Instrumentation
• The Family – Producer
• Fifth Harmony – Primary Artist, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
• Rachael Findlen – Assistant
• Eric Frederic – Composer
• Serban Ghenea – Mixing
• Clint Gibbs – Engineer
• Dalia Glickman – A&R
• Lukasz Gottwald – Composer
• John Hanes – Mixing
• Tor Erik Hermansen – Composer, Instrumentation
• Andrew Hey – Engineer
• Jean-Marie Horvat – Mixing
• J-Kash – Composer
• Jaycen Joshua – Mixing
• Jonas Jeberg – Composer, Engineer, Instrumentation, Producer, Vocal Producer
• JP Robinson – Art Direction, Creative Director
• Samuel Kalandjian – Engineer, Mixing
• Ori Kaplan – Composer, Producer, Saxophone
• Ryan Kaul – Assistant
• Kid Ink – Featured Artist
• Michael Klein – A&R
• Raja Kumari – Composer
• Daniel Kyriakides – Composer, Engineer, Horn
• Matt Larson – Assistant
• Aldo Lehman – Engineer
• Gamal "Lunchmoney" Lewis – Composer
• Joe London – Engineer, Producer, Programming
• Harvey Mason, Jr. – Vocal Producer
• Tim McClain – Assistant
• Victoria Monet – Composer, Vocal Producer
• Cameron Montgomery – Assistant
• Michael Ray Nguyen-Stevenson – Composer
• Tommy Parker – Vocal Producer
• Taylor Parks – Composer, Vocal Producer
• Jermaine Pegues – A&R
• Ricky Reed – Engineer, Producer, Programming
• Priscilla Rene – Composer
• Benjamin Rice – Engineer
• Irene Richter – Production Coordination
• Fatima Robinson – Art Direction, Creative Director
• J.R. Rotem – Composer, Producer
• Travis Sayles – Producer
• Manuel Seal, Jr. – Composer
• Anton Malmberg Hård Af Segerstad – Composer
• Tinashe Sibanda – Composer
• Maurice Simmonds – Composer
• Bradford H. Smith – Assistant
• Joe Spargur – Composer
• Stargate – Producer
• Shane Stevens – Composer
• Kyle Stewart – Composer
• T-Collar – Engineer, Producer
• Theron Thomas – Composer
• Kyle Townsend – Piano
• Meghan Trainor – Composer, Vocals (Background), Featured Artist
• Justin Tranter – Composer
• Christopher Trujillo – Engineer
• Tyga – Featured Artist
• Miles Walker – Engineer
• Henry Walter – Composer
• Emily Warren – Composer
• Brandon Wood – Assistant
• Daniel Zaidenstadt – Engineer
• Deon Sanders— Producer, Composer

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	16
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	53
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)	124
Brazilian Albums (ABPD)	7
Canadian Albums (Billboard)	8
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	28
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)	45
French Albums (SNEP)	111
Irish Albums (IRMA)	23
Mexican Albums (AMPROFON)	29
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)	8
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)	24
Portuguese Albums (AFP)	30
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)	9
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	26
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	69
UK Albums (OCC)	18
US Billboard 200	5

Year-end charts

Chart (2015)	Position
US Billboard 200	48

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)	Gold	20,000*
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

List of release dates, showing region, release format, and label

Region	Date	Format	Label	Edition	Ref
Netherlands	January 30, 2015 (2015-01-30)	CD digital download	Epic Syco Sony	Standard deluxe
Canada	February 3, 2015 (2015-02-03)
United States
United Kingdom	July 10, 2015 (2015-07-10)