Music
Korean pop singer Chung Ha released her first full-length album, Querencia, on February 15. Querencia, Spanish for “a place where one finds peace of mind,” is the fruit of months of work, having been delayed a January release due to the pandemic.
Chung Ha rose to fame after participating in the first season of Produce 101 and debuting in the resulting girl group I.O.I. After promotions with I.O.I ended, she has been solo since 2017 and has built up a repertoire of music of different genres and sounds. Querencia highlights that perfectly.
The album is loaded, to say the least. With 21 total songs split by interludes into four sections or sides, Querencia includes four pre-released singles that came out in 2020—namely “Stay Tonight,” “Play,” “X,” and “Dream of You.”
A mix of Latin dancehall rhythms, Caribbean reggaeton melodies, synth-pop, and EDM flow throughout the album. A few indie-pop and acoustic ballads towards the end of the album are exceptions to this rule. Querencia challenges the boundaries of what audiences associate with the K-Pop genre by bringing much of the world into one album.
A clear sign of that is the lead single “Bicycle.” It is a heavy pop-trap sound that is meant to mimic the excitement and thrill of stepping on a gas pedal. “Bicycle’s” powerful vocals and choreography are coupled by her rapping, which has stunned fans and cemented her as a triple threat. The lyrics are more suggestive than any of her previous singles, but match with the more mature image the 26-year-old powerhouse has adopted.
Querencia has Chung Ha flexing her versatility working with different collaborations, especially after signing with 88rising. She worked with Korean musicians in songs like “Play” featuring rapper Changmo and Lemon with producer-singer Colde. Taking the album a step further, the seductively alluring “Dream of You” was written by Moroccan-Dutch DJ R3HAB, and “Demente” with Guaynaa is the first collaboration of any female Korean soloist with a Latin rapper.
Keeping with the global theme, Chung Ha doesn’t shy away from showing off her linguistic prowess with songs in English and even Spanish. “Demente” is almost entirely in Spanish save for a few lines in Korean, while “Flying on Faith” and “Dream of You” are sung in English, Chung Ha’s second language.
What also keeps Querencia interesting is Chung Ha’s vocal color. Her voice goes from powerful and passionate in “Masquerade,” to sexy and sultry in “Lemon,” to calm and comforting in “BYULHARANG (160504 + 170607),” an ode to her fans. Listeners would be amiss to forget that apart from Chung Ha’s powerful performances and dancing, her singing range is among the best of the industry, capable of playing in the lows and highs.
With Querencia, Chung Ha proves that she is a force to be reckoned with—not only for her talent but for her grit as well. The debut album marks Chung Ha’s first comeback since recovering from COVID-19. It also allows her to show off other skills like rapping and songwriting.
In her pursuit to bring in various musicalities into one album, Chung Ha continues to defy expectations. She sets the bar for rising stars not only in the Korean music scene but internationally as well. Querencia leaves no stone unturned and sets Chung Ha up for a very successful year ahead.
