I, like most fans of female soloists in Kpop, was super excited about a Chungha comeback. Like a full EP or album comeback. She released a few songs last year, “Algorithm” being my favorite of the bunch. But I was really craving more songs. So I got my wish andddd I have some thoughts. Let’s get into it!
Monotree, Jam Factory, Chungha writing the lyrics on half of the songs on here. I love that for us. However, I wasn’t vibing with this album as much as I had hoped. I feel like if you enjoyed EENIE MEENIE, you’ll enjoy this album as a whole more than I. But let’s look at this track by track, starting with my favorite song on Alivio, “Creepin'”.
I love R&B Chungha. I didn’t realize I needed her. I would love more like this. My only complaint about it is that it’s too short. Really, all these songs except for three of them ate under three minutes. This is the shortest song on the album at 2:17. But it’s fantastic.
“Salty” with Sunmi is fine. It’s almost four minutes, and it feels like it goes on longer than it should, lol. That’s probably my biggest complaint with Alivio. You either have songs that feel too repetitive and not much going on with it. So it’s purposely dragging on just because. Or it’s too short and feels like it could use another verse and chorus.
“Salty” isn’t a song I have saved to listen to later, but if it came on in a store, or I heard it on the radio, I’d be fine with it. I like that it is more of a downtempo track. They both sound great on it. But I just don’t have any desire to go back to it.
My second favorite song off the album. “Loyal” slaps but is also painfully short, but it works. I get why they stopped it when they did. And similar to “Creepin'”, Chungha didn’t write on this one. So I hate that for us. The beat on this track is killer. Shout out to Albin Clern and ILIRA. Chungha in her Deep House bag was another genre I wasn’t expecting, but I love it. I want more of it.
“Stress” is great. I guess all the house tracks are my faves, lol. I love Querenica so much because of how House and club heavy it was. I see some of that in Alivio. But Stress” is more Madonna “Vogue” house versus the other House sounds Chungha’s done before. Much more retro. I saw someone mashup Ariana Grande “Yes, and?” with “Stress” and they very much sit at the same table.
Styling wise, my favorite look is the thumbnail, I love this take on dancer outfits. I love the office siren look, especially the eye makeup going on there. And the deep wine red look was absolutely gorgeous. Chungha did participate in writing on this one, so yay! But after this point, I wasn’t thrilled with the remainder of the album.
“Beat of My Heart” isn’t bad, but it feels too repetitive, we don’t have enough going on here for this song to be this long. And it’s not even that long of a song. It’s struggling to get to that 2:41 mark. “Even Steven (Happy Ending)” is a cute name but eh. It doesn’t feel like it drags, but it doesn’t hook me either. I do love her delivery of “f*cked up story”. She was so smooth with that. And again, the instrumentals are great. Idk maybe this one will grow on me. There’s potential here.
“Thanks for the Memories” has the most potential of the songs I’m not crazy about on here. I like the lyrics, but I think it’s the music itself on this one. I’m not feeling the instrumentals. Perhaps if it was striped down a bit. Or had more of a live band sound going on. I think a full on rock version of this would eat. Okay, last song. “Still a Rose (Still a Rose)” is fine. Not sure why we needed the title repeated in parentheses, lmao. I expected more MonoTree, lol. Something is missing here too, but I can’t put my finger on it.
Overall, the album is my least favorite Chungha album to date. There are some gems, but I don’t think this one will have the same longevity for me as her previous projects, which is fine. I know I’m going to have the songs I immediately loved on repeat. While writing, I’ve already listened to “Creepin'” three times, lol. It’s easily one of my favorite songs released this year. I’m happier that she’s back, and I’m seeing her all over my feed. So let’s hope this means my girl will be booked and busy this year.
What are y’alls thoughts on Alivio and “Stress”. Tell me everything in the comments. I think Jisoo’s solo will be the next QT/article on the blog. But we’ll see. Check back on the blog or follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Threads, & BlueSky for updates. I’ll see ya next post!
Take care,
Ash💫