Hwang Chi Yeol’s last comeback, A Daily Song, did extremely well at the time of its release, topping charts and earning him his first music show win. This week he returned with The Only Star, which is the lead title track off his second mini-album, Be Myself.

As expected, The Only Star goes down the ballad route, which is what Hwang Chi Yeul is known for. And boy, does he make it sound so good. His voice is so addictive with its raspy sound being so appealing. While raspy sometimes can be undermining, the soloist somehow glides his way through this song (and the rest of his releases). When we turn to the instrumental, it is a different story. While it does highlight his vocals, it just feels really standard and typical. It takes on a classical feel, which I reckon, was good. The bridge was nice, with the staggered buildup, subtle electric guitar and the high note (being the cherry on top). Overall, it was your typical ballad and once again, his vocals do shine through (being the main focus of the song).

The music video tells a nice romantic story. We see Hwang Chi Yeul go through the stages of love (i.e. confession, dating, marriage) which probably gave viewers some moments of fluttering hearts and smiles. However, the truly beautiful moments of the video is at the start and end. We see an old man (later revealed to Hwang Chi Yeul) crying over his dead lover, who sits behind him in church and ‘goes on’ after shedding a few tears. At the end of the video, we see Hwang Chi Yeol reciting his vows to his dead lover, filmed in a way to match the wedding scene where he first read his vows. While the video isn’t saddening to the point of tears, it was still nice and lovely to watch.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 8/10 
Overall Rating – 7.4/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLpmz17IMEI