South Korean classical quartet Forestella go K-pop style as they target US and local Korean markets
Half of Forestella’s debut album Evolution features tracks closer to K-pop style than the classical crossover music that made them famous, in an attempt to widen their appeal. But what will the hard-core crossover fans think?
Male quartet Forestella, winner of South Korea’s classical crossover audition programme Phantom Singer Season 2 last year, have released their debut album, Evolution.
While the four singers initially rose to fame performing classical numbers, the album finds them moving in a more K-pop direction, thanks to production work by the same team that has worked with South Korean idols such as BTS and Twice.
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At a press conference held to announce the release, the four singers shared their excitement about their career and their ambitions to hit the Billboard charts in the US.
“I think this is just our first step toward Billboard,” said tenor and group leader Cho Min-gyu.
The quartet consists of two professional opera singers (Cho and bass Ko Woo-rim), one pop singer (Bae Doo-hoon) and one amateur singer, former chemist Kang Hyung-ho, who used to work at a research lab.
The album consists of remixes of songs that were performed during the audition show as well as new songs specially composed for the group. The song You Are My Star was composed by renowned production team ZigZag Note, which has worked with big-name K-pop acts such as BTS, B1A4, Twice, BoA and Apink.