2AM's Jinwoon stretches his wings as he goes solo with his first mini-album, "Tried to Talk"...

I've always been amazed at how easy it is in Korea for artists in established idol groups to try their hand at going solo, but still remain part of their group. I think I've mentioned in an earlier post of mine that this isn't something that most people in the Philippines see with our local groups. Once a person decides to go solo, either the group disbands, or the group moves on with a new member in tow.

I was excited to hear that Jinwoon of JYP Entertainment's ballad group 2AM would be trying his hand in going solo. What's even wilder is that Jinwoon isn't going to do ballads... he's doing ROCK! It blew the heck out of me... a member of 2AM doing rock?!?!? Now that was something to look forward to.

The boys of 2AM (L to R): Seulong, Changmin, Jo Kwon,
and Jinwoon

Everyone knows Jinwoon as a member of that crazy foursome of ballads named 2AM. The other half of the monster idol group created by Park Jin Young of JYP Entertainment, "One Day", 2AM is well-known for their soulful ballads... which is entirely surprising why Jinwoon opted to go solo as a rockstar. Based on online articles in Kpop blogs like Allkpop.com and Kpoplive.com, apparently it's been a childhood dream of Jinwoon to do rock, and it looked like he got his chance by organizing a project rock band that debuted with him in the recently concluded Jisan Valley Rock Festival.

I guess JYPE wouldn't miss out the chance to make a killing with Jinwoon's recent solo effort, so his home agency released his new songs as a mini-album titled "Tried to Speak". Eventhough the album is composed of only two songs, both songs were composed by Jinwoon and were produced with some of the industry's best.

The first single off of the album is the track "You Walking Toward Me". One would immediately think based on the title of the song that this would be a love song, but it isn't. The song is a painful description of a love ending... the chorus practically crushed me while I was listening to it. Here are the lyrics of the chorus (in English of course hehehe)...

Your eyes covered me with the blue ocean
And you spit me back out like white cigarette smoke
As if I'm nothing
Just like a sandcastle crumbling with the waves
Just like our memories were never there
You end it like that

Haunting, isn't it? I was amazed... those lyrics came from this guy? I've got to give this guy props for coming out with such a beautiful song. Even earning more respect from him was the way he performed the song... he sounds way better as an indie artist than he does as a balladeer (although I wouldn't want him to leave 2AM just because of that... 2AM wouldn't be the same without Jinwoon).

"You Walking Toward Me" by Jung Jinwoon (MV with English Subtitles)

The second track from the album, "La La La", solidifies Jinwoon's entry into the rock genre. This song is his declaration of freedom, and his ode to being himself. The song denounces routine mediocrity and hypocrisy, and urges people to take ownership of their own lives instead of giving in to the lure of the bandwagon.

Compared to "You Walking Toward Me", the former being a rock ballad more in line with the likes of Dear Cloud , this song has a stronger rock vein. I loved it when Jinwoon would do those falsettos during the chorus --- the gesture shows that he has a little bit of Chris Martin in him (IMHO... and you are welcome to disagree hehehe!).

NOTE: You would have to also agree with me that he also looks like a rocker now too, right? I was surprised to see this picture on the left of him while playing in the Jisan Valley Rock Festival. It's the very anti-thesis of being a Kpop idol. While with 2AM, their looks are very structured and manicured... this time around he let his hair down and really went for the music!

"La La La" by Jung Jinwoon (Audio with English Subtitles)

I absolutely loved Jinwoon's initial foray into Korean rock --- he's definitely made a big splash just by doing that since it's rare for any Kpop idol to make that cross-over to indie rock (well, I know it's a stretch for me to say "indie" rock considering he's backed by JYPE, but he does sound the part). He has that rare sound that makes for a rockstar, and I do hope his album does well... because that would mean we would get to hear more of him doing his thing. I'm sure he's made 2AM mighty proud because of that.