Agent J (album)

Agent J is the ninth studio album by Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai. It was released on September 21, 2007, by EMI and Mars.

It was produced by Lars Quang, Nik Quang, RnG, Adia, Paul Lee, Michael Lin, Paula Ma, and Jamie Hsueh. It was released alongside the film of the same name, which was directed by Jeff Chang, Marlboro Lai, and Kuang Sheng, and stars Kim Jae-won, Stephen Fung, and Carl Ng.

The album received generally unfavorable reviews from music critics, who commented that, while it retained Tsai's diverse musical styles, it lacked freshness and melodicity. A commercial success, the record sold more than 3 million copies in Asia. In Taiwan, it sold more than 200,000 copies, becoming the year's highest-selling album. Producer Adia won a Golden Melody Award for Best Single Producer for "Agent J", while Andrew Chen won a Golden Melody Award for Best Music Arrangement for the same track.

Background and development
On May 12, 2006, Tsai released her eighth studio album, Dancing Diva, which sold more than 2.5 million copies in Asia. In Taiwan, it sold more than 300,000 copies, becoming the year's highest-selling album. It received nominations at the Golden Melody Award, namely Best Mandarin Album, Best Female Mandarin Singer and Best Single Producer for Adia on "Dancing Diva". Eventually, Tsai won the Best Female Mandarin Singer and Favorite Female Singer/Group. Additionally, "Marry Me Today," which was a collaboration with David Tao, won Song of the Year.

On December 12, 2006, Tsai announced that she would begin to prepare for her new album in January 2007. On January 13, 2007, she traveled to London, England to attend a three-week long voice and dance course. On May 22, 2007, she went to Helsingør, Denmark for a week of recording session for the album. Meanwhile, it was announced that the album would be released in August or September 2007. Also, Lars Quang, who worked with Tsai on Dancing Diva, wrote another three songs for the album Agent J. On June 2, 2007, it was revealed that she had finished recording the album and was residing in London in order to attend a ten-day long dance course. On June 8, 2007, she performed "Let's Move It" at a promotional event for Toyota, with the song later being included on the album. Meanwhile, Toyota announced that they would hold a dance competition on July 15, 2007, where the winner would appear in a music video for the album.

On July 9, 2007, it was revealed that Tsai and Kim Jae-won filmed a music video for the album in Paris, France. EMI spent a total of NT$50 million to film an 80-minute film of the same name. The film was divided into three chapters, which were filmed in Paris, London, and Bangkok with Kim Jae-won, Stephen Fung and Carl Ng respectively. On September 4, 2007, it was revealed that the album would feature four songs written by Malaysian musicians—"Agent J", "Alone", "Ideal State", and "Priceless".

On September 11, 2007, all of the songs from the album were leaked. Sam Chen, the general manager of EMI Greater China, said: "The IFPI has invited the police to handle the case. Once found, any uploading, downloading, exchanging, the IFPI will follow the principle of pursuing legal responsibility, and will not be reconciled." Tsai stated: "I spent more than a year on this album, and I've worked so hard, but I can't make people respect the intellectual property rights, which makes me feel very sad."

Writing and recording
"Agent J" is a heavily rhythmic dance song. "Bravo Lover" is the Chinese version of Infernal's "Keen on Disco", and it is a house music song. The mandolin sound at the beginning of "Alone" highlights the atmosphere of loneliness. "Sun Will Never Set" is a sunshine pop song featuring synthesizers and drum programming, and is a Chinese cover song of BWO's "Sunshine in the Rain." "Tacit Violence" is a song with slithering up-tempo R&B edge and sensual vocals, with the lyrics talking about how to use psychological violence against controlling boys. "Priceless" is a R&B song with strong urban contemporary music element.

"Ideal State" is a light mid-tempo song. "Let's Move It" shows boundless music power based on bass drum. "Fear-Free" is a swing 3/4 ballad, the clear and pure piano sound leads the audience slowly into the warm mood of missing. The lyrics of "Metronome" was written by Tsai and reflect a strong and competitive heart, while the piano and chords show a slightly sad mood. "Golden Triangle" combined wind and percussion, leading the audience to explore the mystery and weirdness of love.

Title and artwork
The cover art for the album's standard edition was designed by renowned Japanese stylist Natsuko Kawabe, who has worked with many Japanese starlets such as Mika Nakashima and Hikaru Utada. The cover features Tsai wearing a black low-cut leather jacket and boots, while also sporting a side-parted short hairstyle.

Release and promotion
On August 12, 2007, EMI released a trailer of the album. On August 29, 2007, the album was made available for pre-order at all 7-Eleven stores in Taiwan. On September 5, 2007, it was made available for pre-order on the Taiwanese online shopping website PChome eBay. On September 7, 2007, it was made available for pre-order at all record stores in Taiwan. On September 15, 2007, EMI announced that more than 80,000 copies had been pre-ordered in Taiwan within the first week. On September 28, 2007, the album topped the weekly album sales charts of G-Music and Five Music. On October 2, 2007, EMI announced that the album had sold more than 150,000 copies in Taiwan. On October 21, 2007, Tsai held a concert to promote Agent J in Tamsui, Taiwan.

On October 26, 2007, EMI released the champion special edition of the album, which included 10 music videos, 4 dance videos, and one remixed version of "Bravo Lover". On December 7, 2007, EMI released the special celebration edition of the album. This edition additionally includes the video of the Agent J Concert and the music video of "Let's Move It". On January 4, 2008, Five Music announced that the album topped the year-end album sales chart of 2007. On January 11, 2008, G-Music announced that it topped the year-end album sales chart of 2007.

Live performances
On September 24, 2007, Tsai participated in the Hito Mid-Autumn Concert and performed "Bravo Lover" and "Fear-Free". On October 24, 2007, she attended the opening ceremony of the 16th Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival and performed "Agent J". On December 26, 2007, she participated in the 2007 Metro Radio Hits Music Awards and performed "Agent J" and "Fear-Free". On December 31, 2007, she participated in a New Year's Eve Concert in Taichung, Taiwan, where she performed "Agent J", "Alone", and "Sun Will Never Set". On the same day, she participated in a New Year's Eve Concert in Taipei, Taiwan and performed "Tacit Violence", "Fear-Free", and "Sun Will Never Set". On January 9, 2008, she participated in the Zhejiang TV television show Sing 2008, where she performed "Bravo Lover". On January 10, 2008, she participated in the Southeast TV television show Love from the Strait and performed "Agent J", "Alone", "Ideal State", "Sun Will Never Set", "Fear-Free", and "Bravo Lover".

On January 11, 2008, she attended the M Conference, where she performed "Sun Will Never Set" and "Agent J". On January 13, 2008, she participated in the 2nd Migu Music Awards and performed "Agent J" and "Bravo Lover". On January 23, 2008, she participated in the 2007 Beijing Pop Music Awards and performed "Agent J". On March 1, 2008, she attended the 2008 Hito Music Awards and performed "Agent J", "Bravo Lover", and "Sun Will Never Set". On April 7, 2008, she participated in the 2007 Music Radio China Top Chart Awards and performed "Agent J". On April 8, 2008, she participated in the CCTV television show The Same Song and performed "Agent J" and "Sun Will Never Set". On April 28, 2008, she participated in the opening ceremony of the 4th China International Cartoon & Animation Festival and performed "Sun Will Never Set". Since then, Tsai has participated in various events and performed songs from the album.

Singles and music videos
On August 29, 2007, Tsai released the single, "Agent J." On September 3, 2007, she released the music video for "Agent J", which was directed by Jeff Chang. In the music video, she performed an aerial silk and pole dance. On September 15, 2007, she released the music video for "Fear-Free", which was directed by Jeff Chang. On September 17, 2007, she released the music video for "Bravo Lover," which was directed by Marlboro Lai. On October 1, 2007, she released the music video for "Alone," which was directed by Jeff Chang.

On October 10, 2007, she released the music video for "Sun Will Never Set," which was directed by Marlboro Lai. On October 24, 2007, she released the music video for "Tacit Violence," which was directed by Kuang Sheng. On November 5, 2007, she released the music video for "Priceless," which was directed by Kuang Sheng. On November 29, 2007, she released the music video of "Ideal State", which was directed by Marlboro Lai, the music video for "Golden Triangle," which was directed by Kuang Sheng, and the music video of "Metronome", which was directed by Marlboro Lai. On December 6, 2007, she released the music video for "Let's Move It," which was directed by Marlboro Lai. "Agent J" reached number 14 on the 2007 Hit FM Top 100 Singles of the Year chart, and "Sun Will Never Set" and "Bravo Lover" reached number one and number 41 on the chart, respectively.

Critical reception
Agent J received generally unfavorable reviews from music critics. Stephen Lee from Sina Music noted that the record's experimentation with a variety of musical styles and elements, and felt that the quality of the songs were satisfactory and aligned with the tastes of Taiwanese fans. Although he did not consider it Tsai's best album in recent years, he acknowledged its merits and believed that it was nevertheless worth noting. Editors from MTV Mandarin observed that the ballads on Agent J outshined the dance songs, pointing out that the latter seemed to focus more on visual presentation rather than musicality. The publication also commented on the contrast between the cool agent image and the softer, moving ballads. DJ Luo Yi of ERC Chinese Top Ten drew parallels between the album and Tsai's previous record, Dancing Diva. He observed that the tracks on Agent J maintained a comparable style, combining both contemporary and retro elements. However, Luo expressed that the album did not mark a musical progression from Dancing Diva, particularly noting a decline in melodicity and lyrical quality.

Chinese musician Qu Shicong appreciated the album's overall music production, highlighting the promotional song "Let’s Move It". However, he also felt that it did not match the quality of her previous album. Keith Chan commented on noted a lack of mid-tempo tracks and other types of songs in Agent J, and felt that it made the structure a bit monotonous. Shuwa from Tencent Entertainment noted that while the dance songs did not match the depth of those on Dancing Diva, he acknowledged the improvement in the production quality and musical arrangement. DJ Li Xin from ERC Chinese Top Ten praised Tsai's performance, particularly in the music videos. However, he likewise felt the songs were average and lacked the memorable melodies found in her previous songs such as "The Spirit of Knight", "Magic", and "Dancing Diva".

DJ Zhu Yun from Global Chinese Music Chart described the album as vibrant and lively, but felt the songs were relatively average. KeEr Qinfu from Sina Entertainment acknowledged the high production cost of the album, but personally preferred the ballads over the dance tracks. He commended Tsai's attempt to independently write the lyrics for "Metronome", but nevertheless felt the overall freshness of the songs were weak and found the lyrical content of the dance tracks mostly uninteresting. Similarly, Sina Entertainment observed that while the record was visually impressive, it lacked freshness and contained relatively weak and dull melodies compared to her previous works. The publication suggested that while her musical direction may be commercially successful, it may not be sustainable in the long term and that a breakthrough would require more than just hard work.

Accolades
On December 16, 2007, the music video of "Agent J" won a TVB8 Mandarin Music On Demand Award for Best Music Video Performance. On December 26, she won Metro Radio Hits Music Awards for Best Asian Female Singer and Favorite Singer, and "Agent J" won Top Songs (Mandarin). On January 12, 2008, she won Baidu Boiling Point Awards for Most Searched Female Singer and Top 3 Favorite Female Singers. On January 13, 2008, Tsai won a Migu Music Award for Top Selling Female Singer. On January 14, "Sun Will Never Set" won a Canadian Chinese Pop Music Chart Award for Top 10 Songs (Mandarin). On January 23, she won a Beijing Pop Music Award for Favorite Female Singer (Hong Kong/Taiwan), and "Sun Will Never Set" won Top Songs. On January 31, she won KKBox Music Awards for Best Female Singer and Top 10 Singers. On February 28, she won Family Music Awards for Top 10 Singers and Best Dance Song Performance, and the album won Top 10 Albums. On March 1, she won a Hito Music Award for Best Female Singer, the album won Most Weeks on Chart Album, and "Sun Will Never Set" won Top 10 Songs and Favorite Song.

On March 11, 2008, she won a Music Pioneer Award for Favorite Female Singer. On April 8, the music video of "Agent J" won a Top Chinese Music Award for Best Music Video. On April 12, 2008, she won Music Radio China Top Chart Awards for Top Selling Female Singer and Best All-Round Artist (Hong Kong/Taiwan), and "Agent J" won Top Songs (Hong Kong/Taiwan). On June 14, she was nominated an MTV Asia Award for Favorite Artist Taiwan. On July 5, Adia won a Golden Melody Award for Best Single Producer for "Agent J", and Andrew Chen won Best Music Arrangement for the same track. On October 25, she won a Singapore Hits Award for Asia Media Award (Female). On October 30, she won Global Chinese Music Awards for Favorite Female Singer, Top 5 Favorite Female Singers, Best Stage Performance, and Top Singer (Taiwan), and "Sun Will Never Set" won Top 20 Songs. On November 16, she won a CCTV-MTV Music Award for Favorite Female Singer (Taiwan). On December 15, she won a Tencent Stars Award for Top Female Singer (Hong Kong/Taiwan).