Hwanhee returns to the spotlight with his first-ever full solo album!

When I was reviewing the list of new albums that came out a week or so ago, I saw the name "Hwanhee", and I told myself that the name sounded so familiar. I googled his name up and gave myself a facepalm for having forgotten that this guy used to be part of a very famous Kpop duo named "Fly To The Sky", where he was teamed up with balladeer Brian Joo. Both these guys are amazing singers, and have gone solo as early as 2009.

Hwanhee's self-titled album is a well-balanced combination of awesome R&B tracks and ballads. I kid you not when I say that this album is so well-produced that I had to ask for second opinions just so that I could finalize the list of tracks that I would be featuring in my article. Hwanhee apparently was set on making this album a success, and it shows in the final result.

For those of you who are a little behind on their Kpop history, "Fly To The Sky" was the group to beat in the last decade --- they were THE R&B group of the millennial decade. What fed their popularity even more was the fact that they were backed up by what was then the most influential talent management agencies in Korea, SM Entertainment - the same group that manages big name groups such as DBSK, Super Junior, SNSD and SHINee. Although they eventually moved away from SME in 2004 and signed up with PFull Entertainment, the duo eventually separated ways in 2009, both artists being highly acclaimed and commercially successful soloists.

Here's a sample of their work when they were at the height of their popularity --- "Condition of My Heart", from "Fly To The Sky"'s 3rd album, "Sea of Love". You'll be amazed at how good the song is... considering this was sung all the way back in 2002.

"Condition of My Heart" by Fly To The Sky (MV Only)

It's surprising to note though that even though Hwanhee has been going solo for the past two years, this is the first time that he's releasing a full studio album. He's released two mini-albums since going solo in 2009, but he's been on a technical hiatus for about a year now. I guess it's been worth the wait since Hwanhee's churned out one heck of an album, providing a good mix of both his strengths --- R&B and ballads.

The launching single in the album, "I Feel Like I'm Going To Die", is a very good example of the vocal power and emotional energy that Hwanhee's voice carries. His vocal style is heavily influenced by R&B, (especially if you notice the way he bridges some of his words and his vocal flairs), but definitely he was made to sing ballads.

The song itself is about a common theme in Kpop --- breaking up. The song deals mostly though with the unresolved feelings of love and regret. The MV capitalizes on the emotional tension and power of the song, and weaves effective images that convey the message of the song. One thing that I noticed though is that the visual theme (flashbacks) seems to mirror the concept that was used for MBLAQ's MV for "Y" (not that it's entirely a bad thing though... I think this MV portrayed the theme better though, IMHO).

"I Feel Like I'm Going to Die" by Hwanhee (MV with English Subtitles)

One of my favorite tracks on this album is the 2nd track, "All Day", a mid-tempo pop ballad. The song is definitely a good example of Hwanhee's R&B chops --- love the way he does his falsetto's here to convey a feeling of desperation, since the song is mostly about moving on after heartbreak.

"All Day" by Hwanhee (Audio with English Subs)

Speeding things up is the 8th track in the album, "T By Tears", an up-tempo R&B track. While listening to this track, I was amazed at how versatile this guy is considering how he could've just stuck with the ballads he sung with the album and still be able to churn a hit with it. It's a solid track that catchy and easy to listen to; hopefully someone decides to take on the task of subbing it so most folks can dig what the song's about (considering the title and the theme of the album, I think it's pretty much about heartbreak too).

"T By Tears" by Hwanhee (Audio Only)

My favorite ballad in the album is "Not Knowing", the 4th track in the album. I like the simplicity of how everything starts off with just Hwanhee and a piano establishing the tone of the song. As soon as the violins kick in, the emotional tension of the song begins to build upwards until it's cut by a dramatic pause to create an anti-climax to fade off to the end of the song.

"Not Knowing" by Hwanhee (Audio Only)

Capping off my review is my favorite song in this entire album... it's a ballad too, but what's great about it is that it's a duet! Although I'm not familiar with May Doni, her voice complements magically with Hwanhee's.

This was apparently a single that was released a few months prior to this album (around late March or April). It has all the elements you would want to have in a hit song are here... great vocalists, a beautiful score, and kick-ass lyrics (I almost cried while I was listening to the song when I found the subbed version... it's an absolutely great love song!). I'm totally in love with this song... it's a shame though that the producers didn't think of making this into a full blown MV.

"Stranger" by Hwanhee feat. May Doni (MV with English Subtitles)
NOTE: If the "CC" function for the subs don't work, you'll have the to open the 
video in YouTube to access the interactive script that contains the subs for the 
MV. Had a little trouble with that myself ^^,

It's very rare for me to be able to enjoy all the tracks in a full album, and I have to honestly say that I loved Hwanhee's album from beginning 'til end. I would run in a heartbeat to buy this album if it sees the light of day in Manila. Definitely worth the time to listen to this album... or even better, make it a part of your Kpop collection!