IU de-thrones Busker Busker with ‘Modern Times’

Twenty-year-old K-pop starlet IU has swept the charts with her latest studio album “Modern Times,” knocking off Busker Busker, which had been dominating the local real-time music charts since the release of its second album on Sept. 25.

The single “The Red Shoes,” the lead track from IU’s third album, topped more than nine major online music charts including Melon, Naver, Mnet and Daum, upon its release on Tuesday.

Similar to Busker Busker’s explosive follow-up album comeback, many other songs from IU’s 13-track album ranked high on the singles charts ― with up to nine tracks taking over the Top 10 spots on some online charts.

The artist, who was well known for her innocent, cutesy pop-like teen tracks, decided to shift gears with her new release. “Modern Times” includes a wide variety of genres that IU fans are not used to hearing from her including swing, jazz, bossa nova and even Latin pop. The album also features two tracks, “Voice Mail” and “A Day I Hate,” which the singer composed herself.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)