K-pop queens Solar of Mamamoo, Ha:tfelt of Wonder Girls and Chungha release new music to chase away the coronavirus blues
Three high-profile female K-pop solo artists have unleashed new music this spring, as the global music industry attempts to recover from the coronavirus fallout.
First off the bat was Solar, from roaring girl band Mamamoo, and Ha:tfelt, better known as Park Ye-eun, from Wonder Girls, who both raised the curtain on new tunes on April 23.
The best new K-pop releases to look forward to this month
Solar is the latest of the four Mamamoo members to find success striking out alone with the single Spill it Out. Deviating from Mamamoo's music style, Solar packed the track with her unconventional vocals and bold fashion style as well as her strong musical passion. “The song has a repetition of a line, ‘spit it out with your burning lips’, which means the outburst of my passion. I poured all my passion into this album,” the Mamamoo leader said.
The same day, Ha:tfelt also dropped 1719, the first full-length solo album of Park’s 14-year K-pop career. The autobiographical album is meditative and heavy with emotions, cementing Ha:tfelt's singular musical universe away from Wonder Girls' trendy dance music. The album is named after the time period from 2017-2019, during which Park experienced dramatic changes in her personal and professional life.
BTS blazed a trail for K-pop fans of SuperM, NCT 127 and NCT Dream
The K-pop scene has also seen the recent return of another K-pop queen, Chungha, a former member of project girl band I.O.I whose new single Stay Tonight dropped on Monday (April 27) – a glamorous song musically and visually. Since launching her solo career in 2017, Chungha has made a hit out of every song she has released, quickly climbing to the top of the K-pop ladder with tracks including Why Don't You Know, Roller Coaster, Love U and Gotta Go. Last month, she also signed a contract with ICM Partners, a major American talent agency, as she gears up for a US debut.
The comeback of K-pop queens makes a welcome splash following a series of male idol artists, including Kang Daniel, Max Changmin of TVXQ and Exo leader Suho, who all released new music in March and April, bringing the virus-hit music scene out of the fallout of the pandemic.
Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter .
This article originally appeared on Korea Times.
Help us understand what you are interested in so that we can improve SCMP and provide a better experience for you. We would like to invite you to take this five-minute survey on how you engage with SCMP and the news.
Male solo acts Kang Daniel, Max Changmin of TVXQ and Exo leader Suho gave us our lockdown soundtrack – but the K-pop queens are set to sing us into freedom and fresh air