When Yoon San-ha's bandmates first listened to the lead track of his upcoming album, they questioned whether its eclectic combination of hip-hop and country would play well with the singer's established fan base. But the youngest member of boy band Astro knew it was important to slowly, yet surely, build an identity of his own.

“What I learned while preparing for this album is that I first need to be confident about what I’m doing,” Yoon during a roundtable in southern Seoul ahead of the album's Tuesday release. “Only when I feel confident about something will others be able to see the full picture I’ve painted by myself.”

The new album, which comes 11 months after Yoon’s first solo EP, “Dusk,” aims to show a diverse musical range, representing Yoon's dedication to continuously reinventing himself, as the title, “Chameleon,” suggests. There are five songs: lead track “Extra Virgin” and B-sides “Bad Mosquito,” “Aura,” “6PM” and “Love you like fools.”

“Extra Virgin” blends hip-hop rhythms with country-inspired sounds. Though Yoon was initially torn between the song and “Bad Mosquito” as the lead track, he eventually decided to go with the former because “I felt like I could deliver this mischievous energy best at this age.”

Compared to his previous solo album, “Dusk,” Yoon felt noticeably more self-assured.

“Looking back on my first EP, I was quite scared,” Yoon admitted, “especially because my last new release at that time was a subunit album with Moonbin.” Yoon formed the duo Moonbin & Sanha with his late bandmate in September 2020. The duo released the EP “In-Out” that year followed by “Incense” in January 2023; Moonbin died three months later.

“I wasn’t feeling confident, always doubting myself, and thought a lot about Moonbin as well,” Yoon said.

“With the new album, I could pay more attention to the details based on the experience with the previous album,” he added. “I gained more confidence and began to have clearer visions of my own.”

Yoon will soon kick off a tour across Asia and South America, titled “Prism: From Y to A,” with two concerts in Seoul on Aug. 1 and 2, which will be followed by stops in Sao Paulo in Brazil, Santiago in Chile on Aug. 7, Monterrey in Mexico on Aug. 9, Mexico City on Aug. 10, Kobe on Sept. 5 and 6 and Yokohama, also in Japan, on Sept. 23.

This is the first time Yoon has visited South America on tour, both as an Astro member and a solo artist.

“I’m so excited,” Yoon said with a smile. “I really want to make unforgettable memories with my fans.”

But that doesn't mean he's forgotten his bandmates. Cha Eun-woo, JinJin and MJ have “always given me something to learn from and helped me broaden my perspectives in a way I hadn’t even considered before,” the singer said.

When Cha, specifically, was skeptical after hearing demo versions of “Extra Virgin” and “Bad Mosquito,” questioning whether they would fully bring out Yoon's “charms,” Yoon took the feedback seriously and deliberated for a long time, though he ultimately decided to trust his instinct.

Cha's response to the finished product? “He said, ’Wow, it turned out great,’” Yoon recalled with a laugh.







BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]