Here are my credentials (again): I’d consider myself a casual fan of Chung Ha, who I know mainly through her friend Sunmi. I’ve heard a decent amount of her title tracks, and a few b-sides, but I’m looking forward to hearing more of her songs and forming a more accurate opinion of her work as a whole.

(Part ONE)

Single #3: Demente

Demente is shockingly all in Spanish. It’s not unusual for K-pop idols to release songs with Latin pop inspired beats, or even in different languages, but this is definitely a rarity. Demente (which means “crazy” in Spanish), is honestly a really solid, catchy pop song, and (though Spanish isn’t my first language) if I didn’t know that she wasn’t fluent in it, I wouldn’t have guessed. As I’ve mentioned on my blog before, I’m a linguistics major, so this was a delight to listen to. Genuinely, kudos to Chung Ha, and to Guaynaa, the featured artist, who has the distinction of having a rap that I thought really added to the song.

Album Side #3: Unknown

Play is the third single, and embraces a more playful and upbeat sound that harkens back to Why Don’t You Know, Love U, and Cherry Kisses. Though the subject isn’t that different from the other two, the genuine fun that its chorus is when it explodes and the excellent interpolation of reggaeton (in both the beat and the choreo) and brass makes this one something special. The chorus here absolutely delivers, with several parts all coming together to form a very satisfying payoff. Definitely my favorite single so far.

From Side C {Unknown}, my hidden gem was the acoustic guitar and piano led, comfortingly slow, Byulharang.

Album Side #4: Pleasures

X is the final single from Querencia, and is a more emotional, stripped-back performance that Chung Ha dedicates to her mother and the work that they both put in to achieve her dreams of becoming an idol. Filmed entirely in black and white and featuring an enormous, Godzilla-like Chung Ha wandering through a tiny, closed-off city fighting against her, it’s a great example of why soloists should write their own tracks. It’s imbued with a lovely sense of pathos and feels like a fitting way to end a magnum opus of an album.

From Side D {Pleasures}, I liked the restful album closers in Everybody Has’ traditional ballad structure, the calmly catchy Comes N Goes, and the instrumental Querencia.

Single #2: Killing Me

Killing Me is another single, and while it’s similar to Gotta Go, it feels sleeker and more streamlined, focused on achieving the goal that is its chorus. Because of this, it’s quite short–under three minutes–and, though it’s not the best of her singles, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Another perfectly fine track that I wouldn’t skip but wouldn’t search out.

EP #5: Bare And Rare, Part 1

Sparkling feels more like Roller Coaster than anything from Querencia, which had me excited right away. It has, well, unsurprisingly, a sparkling quality to its instrumentals, and would be right at home on a dance floor. It’s delightfully bubbly, tip toeing and tap dancing all over the place with delight, and that energy is infectious. As always, I wish it had a more defined chorus, but I really like the lead-in in both the bridge and pre-choruses.

From the EP, Bare & Rare, Good Night My Princess caught my ear immediately with a sense of warmth that’s unusual for a ballad, and I loved it even more when I found out that Chung Ha wrote it as a thank you for all the sacrifices her mother made for her to be able to grow up and pursue her dreams, similarly to X. The song features Chung Ha’s voice at its most lovely, and it made me tear up a little, if we’re being honest. I also enjoyed Bibi’s feature and the excellent sense of drama in Crazy Like You, the celebratory mood in Louder, and especially the crying-on-the-dance-floor vibes of Love Me Out Loud (which gets more addicting with every repeat).

Single #3: Eenie Meenie

Chung Ha’s most recent release, which just came out today, was Eenie Meenie, which features ATEEZ’s Hongjoong, a collaboration I didn’t see coming. The song is very minimalistic from the start, and seems to take itself very seriously, despite the abject unseriousness of “eenie meenie miniee moe”. I do like the verses and Hongjoong’s rap, but I’ve never been a fan of anti-drop choruses, I’m afraid, and this does little to change my opinion.

EP #6: Alivio

Besides aforementioned single Eenie Meenie, Stress arrives almost four years after Chung Ha’s last comeback, and what a wait it’s been. I wasn’t sure what kind of sound she’d go for, but it’s got a chugging beat that reminds me of b-side Love Me Out Loud, what’s long been a favorite of mine. The chorus is a little underwhelming for me, unfortunately, not quite veering into anti-drop territory but coming a bit too close for comfort.

I think that in general, the song is pretty good, and I’m sure that if I wasn’t reviewing it, I’d be happy to just have it on in the background. I like it more every time I listen, that’s for sure. I will also say, I loved both the message and the dancing; it’s very vogue-heavy, in a way that kpop isn’t usually. For both good and bad, it’s a very Chung Ha song, and even if I would’ve done it differently, this is clearly the type of music she wants to make.

From the EP, Alivio, I enjoyed the electronic, light-footed Creepin’, the ethereal Beat Of My Heart, and the dance-floor-ready Even Steven. Side note: I’m a 2000s kid; I immediately thought of the Disney show. My hidden gem, to no one’s surprise, was Salty, with a feature from Sunmi. Not only do I think that their voices work excellently together, especially in a synthy song like this, but I know that they’re good friends, and I’m so glad that they got the chance to work together again.

Verdict: TL;DR

I’m glad I did this! I enjoyed Chung Ha’s work more than I thought I would, although I shouldn’t be surprised as a big fan of Sunmi and synthpop in general. I learned that she writes many of her own songs, and that she speaks some English and a little Spanish, so color me impressed. I found a bunch of songs I enjoyed—mainly b-sides—that I added to my playlists. So I’d say you could consider me at least a fan now!

My Top 5 songs are Play, Love Me Out Loud, Chica, Cherry Kisses, and Flying On Faith, with Good Night My Princess as an honorable mention. Chung Ha gets an 8.25 out of 10 from me, which is about what I expected. I think that where her songs often falter for me are the choruses, which unfortunately is one of the most important parts. When she pulls it off, she’s made some excellent tracks. But more often than not, I find myself loving the buildup but being disappointed by the pay-off. There were very few tracks I didn’t at least enjoy, and this isn’t me saying that I think her work is bad. But with just a few changes and a greater sense of pay-off, she would have a pretty unbeatable discography.

Next time, we’ll be starting a two week series on a pretty huge girl group, and we’ll be having a boy group supplemental next week. Tschüss!