“This album contains the style of my brother Moonbin, who has led me to this point.”
Yoon Sanha (25) of ASTRO, who is celebrating his 10th debut anniversary, has returned with his second solo album ‘Chameleon’. After capturing the moments of his struggles transitioning from the youngest member of ASTRO to a solo artist in his first solo album, he is determined to showcase his ever-changing charm through ‘Chameleon’.
Ahead of the release of his new album on the 15th, Yoon Sanha expressed his feelings in an interview with Maeil Business Star Today, saying, “I’m happy and excited to return with my second solo album. It’s been 11 months since my last comeback, and it has been a time for me to grow deeper and stronger. Thanks to the support of my fans, I gained the courage to release a new album. I will work hard, so please love it a lot.”
‘Chameleon’ is an album that embodies the ambition to interpret any genre or song in Yoon Sanha's own color, just like a chameleon changes its color according to its surroundings. While the flow of the tracks in his first solo album seemed continuous, this album presents an unpredictable charm by arranging songs with different feelings in line with the theme of ‘change’.
“I had a lot of things I wanted to do while preparing for the new album. In a way, I was quite ambitious. I wanted to incorporate both bright and dark feelings, and after much thought, I decided to just do it all. The company also trusted me. Each track has a different color, so I was a bit worried that fans might feel confused about my identity, but I’m confident I can do it all well. (laughs)”
The title track is ‘Extra Virgin’, which is the track that resembles Yoon Sanha the most. This song is a hybrid pop track that perfectly blends country-style chord progressions with a heavy hip-hop rhythm, embodying Yoon Sanha's confidence to continuously show his changing self by reinterpreting any style in his own color.
“In fact, I struggled a lot between choosing the title track and the second track ‘Bad Mosquito’,” he said. “I wanted to show a good performance, but I thought ‘Extra Virgin’ would be better because it has a seasonal feel and a bright vibe. As I get older, it might be harder to do something bright. I thought it was a concept I could do at my age, so I decided to make it the title track.”
In particular, Yoon Sanha raised curiosity by mentioning that ASTRO member Cha Eun-woo opposed making ‘Extra Virgin’ the title track.
He explained, “Cha Eun-woo gave me a lot of feedback on this album. When I first played him the title track, he said he hoped I wouldn’t make it the title. The reason was that he wanted me to show a more mature image in my music.”
He continued, “I tend to be easily swayed by my brothers’ opinions. Since I’m the youngest in the team, I’ve followed their opinions a lot since the past. But I had ambition and confidence for this title track, so I pushed for it. Later, after watching the music video, Cha Eun-woo said, ‘It turned out well, didn’t it?’”
Yoon Sanha had previously expressed his ambition to “catch up to Cha Eun-woo” during his solo debut showcase last August. When asked how much he thinks he has caught up, he replied, “Now that the album is out and the KBS2 drama ‘My Girlfriend is a Grown Man’ that I filmed is airing, I feel like I’ve gotten a bit closer than before.” He added with a smile, “The brother who is about to enlist joked, saying he hopes I’ll have caught up to him when he comes back.”
Yoon Sanha debuted in the music industry as a member of ASTRO in 2016 and also participated in the ASTRO unit Moonbin & Sanha in 2020. However, the duo Moonbin & Sanha will no longer be seen, as Moonbin suddenly passed away in April 2023. As the youngest member who closely followed his brothers, the absence of the late Moonbin is undoubtedly significant for Yoon Sanha.
“While preparing for my first solo album last year, I thought about him a lot. During the unit activities, I didn’t think about the process of making an album. But while preparing for my solo album, I thought, ‘He was younger than me when he did all of this alone.’ I wanted to incorporate the things I learned from him into this album, so I prepared ‘Chameleon’. Therefore, this album contains not only my style but also the style of my brother Moonbin.”
Having grown under the care of his members, Yoon Sanha has now gained enough influence to hold a solo fan concert. He will hold his 2025 solo fan concert tour ‘PRISM: FROM Y TO A’ in seven cities across Asia and South America, starting in Seoul on August 1 and 2, followed by São Paulo, Santiago, Monterrey, Mexico City, Kobe, and Yokohama.
Yoon Sanha expressed, “I’m really happy to be able to tour in Japan and South America this time. It will be more fun and there will be more to see performance-wise than the first fan concert.” He added, “As a solo artist, I want to give the feeling that ‘this person can truly express his emotions and stories through song.’ So I hope to earn the title of ‘Trustworthy Yoon Sanha’.” He smiled brightly.
[Lee Da-kyum, Star Today Reporter]
