Kriesha Chu starts January race with mini-album release
Kriesha Chu performs “Like Paradise” at a presser Wednesday held in Seoul to introduce her first mini-album “Dream of Paradise.” / Yonhap
Filipina-American releases mini-album Jan. 4, followed by Sunmi, Suzy
By Kim Ji-soo
Kriesha Chu, a popular contestant from the audition program “K-Pop Star” season 6, released her first mini-album this week. The Filipina-American singer, a runner-up on the show, this week released her mini-album “Dream of Paradise” less than a year after her first single “Trouble.”
The four-song album includes “Like Paradise,” “Sunset Dream” (Korean version), “Sunset Dream” (English version) and “Falling Star.” The title song “Like Paradise,” was created by the popular producer Flow Blow with lyrics written by Hui, a member of the boy band Pentagon. Chu, whose Korean language skills have improved, said she was excited to receive the song from such stellar writers. On “Trouble,” she worked with Yong Jun-hyung of the boy band Highlight.
“I’ve felt I could demonstrate myself well with Like Paradise,” said Chu, 19, speaking after performing a few songs on stage at a showcase held Wednesday.
Indeed, in the soft-EDM song with sounds of tropical pop, Chu’s dancing illustrated charisma, akin to the K-pop star BoA.
Lyricist Hui who appeared in a showcase broadcast via Naver’s V-App “Chu’s Story Will Begin” said it was the first time he wrote a song for a female singer. “I saw Kriesha’s videos from her K-Pop Star audition and thought she was an attractive entertainer. I could not refuse the offer to write a song for her,” he said. Hui added that he wanted to pull out a BoA-like performance from Chu, and according to Chu’s performance he succeeded.
The four songs align with her cute visage as well as the strong vocals and energetic dances moves she was noticed for in the SBS audition program that ran late 2016 to April 2017. Chu said she mostly tried to portray an upgraded image rather than a new one of herself with the mini-album. To that end, she exercised nearly four hours a day, and lost 5 kilograms.
“I was dancing, singing and exercising the whole day while preparing for the mini-album,” she said. “It feels amazing and fun to sing the song that I have been practicing in practice sessions all along,” she said.
She also took part in writing the song “Sunset Dream,” as a path to further upgrade herself as an artist, Chu said.
For “Falling Star,” a sweet-sounding ballad, she performs with Minjoo, a trainee at her agency, Urban Works ENT. On top of the music work, she has worked on her Korean, studying at a language institute and memorizing the Korean lyrics to her songs.
Chu is among the first of female solo singers releasing music in the first month of 2018. Singer Sunmi of YG Entertainment has worked with producer Teddy again, set to release a new song Jan. 18 titled “Juingong (or “Heroine”). Chungha will release an album on Jan. 17 carrying works of hit-maker Black Eyed Pilseung, whose songs include TWICE’s “TT,” and “LIKEY.” Then, Suzy, singer and former member of the now disbanded girl group missA is scheduled to release her solo EP on Jan. 29. Suzy reportedly is in Los Angeles, filming music video for four songs.
“I am glad to see these outstanding seniors grace the stage at this time. It means I can learn from their performance, and will be energized to work harder too,” Chu said. Her goal with the new mini-album is a small desire that fans will remember her name, Kriesha Chu. If her mini-album makes it to the charts, she pledged to buy coffee for her agency staff and her fans.