Tag: Hwang Chi Yeul

Making his second comeback of the year so far is Hwang Chi Yeul. His first release of 2018 is My Only Star, which was unveiled back in April. The soloist returned on Tuesday of this week with Learn To Love, his first digital single release.

Learn To Love no doubt takes on what the soloist does best, ballads. And like the rest of his title tracks, Learn To Love is another typical ballad. It has a nice orchestral-like instrumental, which is rather standard of ballads. It was definitely quite nice sounding though, so I am not too much troubled by the typical nature of the song. Hwang Chi Yeul brings his raspy vocals into play, which I quite like. His voice captivates you, which is definitely a selling point of any ballad. I did like how his vocals pushed higher and felt more emotionally influenced during the chorus, allowing the song to be boosted in appeal. The song peaked wonderfully during the bridge, with the combination of his vocals and the instrumental, reaching up higher than before. I do want to see him go into different areas of ballads or music one day, as his stages on Immortal Song proves his potential. But this is still quite nice.

The song sounds quite sad but when you inspect the lyrics and the video, there really isn’t a hint of sadness (at least how I am interpreting them). The lyrics seemed to be a commitment to love at the start of a relationship. He sings “I did not know that that I was the only one learning to love”, which seems to show that the two are starting their love life afresh with each other. The music video shows that through scenes of the two getting to know each other and slowing things down. A few times they seem to go in for a kiss but they hold back (most likely in their own past relationships, they rushed things). I did think the dullness of the colours/filter was a little too dark, which made me think the song was a sad one at first. But other than that, it was a good video.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Overall Rating – 7.6/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2mqc2KEwB4

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

 

A definite rising star in the industry. That is just one of the few phrases that can accurately describe Hwang Chi Yeul. He debuted in 2007 and basically received no recognition. It wasn’t until 2015 until he started receiving his well-deserved recognition for his vocals through his many appearances on Korean TV shows like I Can See Your Voice and Immortal Song 2. He reached new heights through his appearances on the Chinese version of I Am A Singer, which provided a boost in his popularity.

A Daily Song is your typical ballad and that is all I can say about the song. It has a very generic sound and does have a bit of dryness to it. It does make me want to sway along, but it doesn’t have much to make me go back to it. Despite that though, the instrumental is good. But it is his vocals that hit the ball out of the park for me. Through those TV show appearances, we know what Hwang Chi Yeul is capable of. Listening to this song, those skills and techniques that we hear from the solo artist seemed to be missing. Now, I am not expecting long or extreme high notes. But the song lacks colour in its sounds and felt monotone throughout. Despite that though, his raspy voice does shine in the song and probably is the main highlight of the song. I know I sound disappointed with the song. It is just some of his other songs sound a lot better and are more of the type of songs that bring out his vocals and skills more.

I just want to point out that Hwang Chi Yeul is 34 years old (according to Wikipedia) and here in this video, he plays the role of the rebellious school kid. He has a crush (even though he tried to play it cool at the start) on the girl (who coincidently has a crush on him as well). After she makes a move on him, he turns from the rebellious school kid into the lovey-dovey boyfriend. Turns out that it was all in his head, as he is somehow brought back to reality, where the girl has a family of her own and barely knows he exists. Yet he carries the one thing that he probably did steal from her (as I am assuming that part is true) and that is her cassette tape. Pairing the video with the song, the emotional side of the song is brought out more. Furthermore, even though I am not a romantic K-Drama type of person, the video felt like a mini drama or movie.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 7/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSQmYh-kpHY