Chae Young is officially the fourth member of girl group TWICE to embark on a solo career. On Sept. 12, she released a full-length album called “Lil Fantasy, Vol. 1,” which is led by the title track “Shoot (Firecracker).”
Chae Young has written many songs for TWICE, so it only makes sense that “Lil Fantasy, Vol. 1” has her fingerprints all over it. She, in fact, did write the lyrics for all ten tracks (one of which is a hidden song only accessible via the physical CD) and was even credited as a composer and arranger for most of them.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Chae Young shared that she put a lot of thought into this album.
“I physically sat down to work on this album about a year ago,” Chae Young says. “But overall, it took about two to three years to complete it. The first two years, I was committed to thinking, ‘What do I want to do with this album? What kind of music do I want to make?’ I spent a lot of time getting my ideas together before it was time to execute my decisions.”
Fans can definitely feel the authenticity in Chae Young’s music as many of the songs talk about personal things she has experienced. For example, “BF” is a track that describes her feeling of loneliness as an introvert who has lost friends over the years. Meanwhile, “Shadow Puppet” is about the need to hide her face when going out and about as a famous person.
“I try to make all of my songs meaningful, because you never know who will be impacted by them,” she told Rolling Stone.
Also included in the tracklist for “Lil Fantasy, Vol. 1” is “My Guitar,” which is a song she previously debuted to audiences around the world on Twice’s “Ready to Be” tour in 2023 and 2024.
Chaeyoung’s solo debut came at the heels of TWICE's recent musical success thanks to the movie “KPop Demon Hunters.” The group released the song “Takedown” (sung by Chaeyoung alongside members Jeongyeon and Jihyo) as a lead single for the soundtrack. Both the song and the album quickly rose up music charts in numerous countries.
Meanwhile, TWICE are currently on their fourth world tour, “This Is For.” The group is also celebrating their 10th anniversary in October with the release of a documentary called “Twice: One in a Million.”
