As we move past the Lunar New Year holiday (Happy Lunar New Year to those who celebrate it!), we are now starting to see some new releases pop up. One of them is CHA EUN WOO’s solo debut with the single STAY and his first mini-album Entity, which officially dropped today. For those who may not know, in addition to being a successful actor, CHA EUN WOO is also a member of the male group ASTRO, who debuted back in 2016.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting with STAY and the idea of CHA EUN WOO’s solo debut. But what we do get sounds very nice. It may not be the most prolific song out there presently, nor does STAY really rock the boat. But it has its charms. I particularly really like the acoustic guitar in the instrumentation. It makes for a nice and pleasant background for this track, but there is enough heft in it to give STAY some bite and substance. Similarly, CHA EUN WOO does a great job at expressing his emotions and bringing that to the forefront. In a way, he made the song stilling and captivating with his vocals, which by my standards means it is a successful and strong solo debut. I did wish there was a bit more to the song, just to give it more of that memorable factor. But honestly, STAY was a very well executed and I enjoyed the release with the limited listens I have provided the song thus far.

Mistaken for a date at first, the music video features CHA EUN WOO and India Eisley. The video sees the CHA EUN WOO’s character struggling post break up with India Eisley’s character, becoming floored and unsure what to do once he crossed path with her again. The song’s lyrics expresses the desire for someone who has parted way with you to stay, and what I described above that we see in the video fits the brief quite well. The constant repeats of the same scene suggests his inability to move on due to these feelings, and he is only able to progress with his life once he acts on those feelings and desires. The horrible traffic jam also appears to be another visual representation of that. Honestly, a well put together video and a strong concept for this solo debut.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.4/10 [Updated on 3 March 2024 due to calculation error]