If you know a thing or two about bands, you may know a few that have members who made music as solo artists. For example, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr all made solo music despite their names being known from The Beatles, just as Beyoncé broke away from Destiny’s Child. After their solo debuts in 2018 as LOONA’s pre-debut project, the members of K-pop group ARTMS have all released their solo comebacks. After seven years for Jeon Heejin and eight years for Cho Haseul, Jeong Jinsoul, Kim Lip and Choerry, are their new songs worth listening to compared to their debuts?
Heejin made her solo debut with LOONA, a now-disbanded K-pop group, in 2016 with “ViViD,” which is a very upbeat song. The music video starts as black and white and gains color as soon as the music starts, signifying the cheery tone of the song. The only time the song slows down is during the short bridge towards the end of the song. The story of the song is about a girl who lives in a grayscale world who has a dream of color being brought into her life, other than that, the sound of the song is joyful, the meaning just doesn’t match that.
After debuting in ARTMS, MODHAUS, her company, gave Heejin a solo comeback on Oct. 31, 2023. The “Algorithm” music video starts off seeming traditional to Korean culture, showing Heejin in a hanbok and at a palace. The music in the beginning is very light and soft sounding but soon changes to upbeat, very similar to how “ViViD” starts. Heejin dances on social media throughout the beginning of the music video and watches videos of idols, which happen to be ARTMS’ sub group ODD EYE CIRCLE (Jeong Jinsoul, Kim Lip, Choerry). Heejin yearns to be an idol instead of a princess. Whenever the chorus of the song starts, she’s hanging out with ODD EYE CIRCLE, showing she’s escaped being a princess, and she’s living the true life she wants to live. Listening to the music instead of focusing on the music video, during the pre-chorus, copying what she did in “ViViD,” she vocalizes, which also just so happens to be the same vocalizing in ARTMS’ song “Flower Rhythm’s” pre-chorus, just a bit slowed down. Her vocalizing may seem like a small detail, but it is significant when thinking about the similarities between her 2016 music and her music in 2023. “Algorithm” is a very lively and energetic song with a humorous storyline to follow. The song sounds like something out of LOONA instead of a new concept, which any LOONA fan can appreciate. It’s easy to hear how much her voice has matured and how she’s become an even stronger vocalist than she was before, considering she was already very skilled.
“ViViD” and “Algorithm” definitely have their similarities, returning to the fact that they both have vocalizing pre-choruses and similar introductions. Listeners can tell that with “Algorithm,” MODHAUS was trying to keep that same LOONA sound while incorporating their own original sound into it as well. If the listener is looking for something cheerful and upbeat, both of these songs are great choices.
Cho Haseul debuted on Dec. 15, 2016 with “Let Me In,” which starts off as a ballad, very calm and slow with the instrumental and the lyrics. The music video is set in Iceland, switching between showing Haseul in an icy, snow-filled area and a grassy plain. During the chorus, the song gets a bit more upbeat, its tone changing significantly. The music video shows two different versions of Haseul meeting. One version has her long, natural, brunette hair, while the other version has a short blonde bob, and she is covered in a feathery outfit, meant to represent a bird. (Fun fact: Haseul has a fear of birds.) The song is very beautiful, and it transitions from the slow ballad to the more upbeat tune very smoothly.
Haseul had a comeback, “Plastic Candy,” on Oct. 26, 2023, but the song never got an official music video. The song brings a different tone than her debut. “Plastic Candy” is a city pop song, which is perfect for Haseul, whose voice fits the genre beautifully. It’s very light on the ears, a song to listen to for relaxing. It’s a very pleasant change from “Let Me In.” Both of these songs showcase how her vocals fit best with slower types of songs instead of large, energetic songs Heejin performs.
Haseul had yet another comeback titled “Fragile Eyes” on Dec. 9, 2024. This song also wasn’t given an official music video. It’s also a City Pop song, which shows that Haseul has found her style. K-pop has evolved over five “generations” from mostly Korean lyrics to following more into American pop since gaining more American listeners. This song is reminiscent of the second-generation K-pop. Second-gen has more Korean than English lyrics, which is hard to find in fifth-generation songs like this one. Haseul’s heavenly voice allows her to sing this song with such elegance and emotion that it’s another song to listen to for relaxation.
Haseul released her final comeback, the City Pop “Love Poison,” on Sept. 18 when she was 28 years old. This song definitely has more English lyrics than her other songs, but they all sound very similar despite the amount of Korean or English lyrics. She has more repetition in this song, using the word “love” a lot; considering it’s called “Love Poison,” that makes sense. This song’s music video seems like a lost media video, looking like it was filmed on an old camera. It mainly shows Haseul in a forest and not much else. She’s seen holding the bottle that’s supposed to be the love poison, which is a great added detail. Haseul’s visuals are very beautiful in this music video. My only complaint with this song is towards the middle and end they have, what I think is, a flute in the instrumental, which I’m not a huge fan of. Other than that, “Love Poison” is another beautiful song from Haseul.
Comparing all three, Haseul’s genre of music doesn’t make much of a shift at all. She sticks to what she sounds best with, which are the slow songs. It’s amazing seeing her get so many solos, especially since LOONA’s debut song, “Hi High,” gave Haseul a singular line. Happily, she’s been given this opportunity, and the stage performances show how excited she is to perform. All of her songs are worth a listen.
The third member, Kim Lip, debuted on May 17, 2017, with “Eclipse,” which is more of an R&B song, a change from the songs from the other LOONA members who debuted before hers. The music video starts with the sound of chirping birds and Kim Lip walking to an empty, circular building in her ODD EYE CIRCLE uniform, which is a short-sleeved button up shirt with a red pleated skirt and a red ribbon on the collar. The building has a red platform in the middle of it, which she approaches and mounts. She treats the red platform as if it’s a stage, dancing on it while singing. The music video feels like a dance practice video due to its not having much of anything else other than her dancing. Lip has a couple of outfit and lighting changes, and she has a few background dancers at some point, but the video doesn’t have a clear story like other LOONA music videos do. Moving on from the music video, the song itself has a very different vibe than “ViViD” and “Let Me In.” “Eclipse” is upbeat, fun and very catchy. There’s nothing bad to say about it. If fans enjoy older R&B music, this might be a song they enjoy, considering it was inspired by the ’80s.
When with ARTMS, Lip had a comeback titled “Can You Entertain?” released on Oct. 16, 2025. The music video has a few small similarities to her debut with lots of dancing and mostly empty areas with either only her background dancers or just herself. It’s a fun music video with a lot going on with fast-changing frames of Lip in different places. Focusing on the song, it has more English lyrics than her debut song. The English lyrics don’t exactly make sense, which may throw listeners off a bit, but, nonetheless, it’s very catchy. One of the lyrics has what seems to be a play on her name, it says “Give me that lip,” which is such a cool addition to the song. It’s very nice to have a song that isn’t like classic cutesy K-Pop.
The music videos are similar to the style of the songs, and this style fits Lip well. If fans like one of the songs, they’d definitely like the other. They’re both extremely worth listening to.
The fourth member, Jeong Jinsoul, debuted on June 26, 2017, with “Singing in the Rain.” The music video is extremely centered around the color blue. It starts with Jinsoul in an empty space holding a blue betta fish. It keeps switching between this scene and another scene with her in the rain. Similar to “Eclipse,” the video has a lot of dancing and emptiness. Jinsoul appears many times with fish and in or around water. This is another music video that’s hard to tell the story from just looking at it; if anything, it’s a bit confusing. The song is in the dance-pop genre with a secondary R&B genre. The fun and catchy video starts off with Jinsoul speaking before it gets into the actual song. The chorus doesn’t have much other than repeating the title and being instrumental, but Jinsoul’s vocals are beautiful, and this song fits her voice perfectly.
In ARTMS, Jinsoul had a comeback on Oct. 23, 2025 titled “Ring of Chaos.” The music video is very similar to Lip’s “Can You Entertain?” with Jinsoul being in mostly empty areas with only a few people. There’s not too much official choreography in this music video. She looks like she’s in some of the same places Lip was in during her music video. The song itself is somewhat similar to her debut song. It has more lyrics than instrumentals, but the genre of the song is very similar. “Ring of Chaos” is energetic and captivating, another song that fits Jinsoul’s vocals very well.
The “Singing in the Rain” and “Ring of Chaos” music videos have barely any similarities, but the songs definitely do in their genres and the repetition of the choruses. Jinsoul said “Kill my chaos” instead of the title, while in her debut song, she says the title straight up. These two songs are great to listen to if listeners enjoy Lip’s songs. Listen to “Singing in the Rain” for nostalgia of the vibes of 2016-2017 and listen to “Ring of Chaos” for newer music.
The last member, Choi Yerim, who goes by Choerry, debuted on July 28, 2017, at 16 years old with “Love Cherry Motion.” The music video starts off with Choerry alone but eventually shows her showing up to LOONA members Park Chaewon and Ha Sooyoung’s house to have a slumber party. They give her a matching outfit. Later, LOONA members Im Yeojin, Son Hyeju, Jinsoul and Lip are there, too. Similar to Jinsoul and Lip, her music video is centered around one color as well–purple. It has a lot of choreography as well, but more of a story is shown here. The song sounds cute up until the chorus, where it has a darker vibe. It’s a surprising switch, but it sounds good and goes great with the song. This song is great for Choerry’s voice, fitting her extremely well.
With ARTMS, then 24-year-old Choerry had a comeback on Oct. 30, 2025, titled “Pressure.” This music video seems like it has references to ARTMS’s songs “Virtual Angel” and “Icarus” since she’s wearing wings, which they do in both music videos. The video has lots of computers and shows what seems like a video call with Choerry at some points. The music video is kind of random with a lot going on at all times. It has bright colors, mainly pink, and some flashing imagery. The song is great; it’s cute, but it doesn’t fit Choerry. This song would’ve fit Heejin better.
Comparing the two, “Love Cherry Motion” beats “Pressure” any day. Choerry’s debut is a classic; it fits her perfectly, the music video isn’t intense to watch, it includes the other LOONA members, and if fans know anything about the lore of the group, it makes a lot of sense to them. “Pressure” is a great song; it just isn’t a great song for Choerry. It may be someone’s style, but listening to her debut instead of her comeback is a better choice.
ARTMS is an extremely creative group when it comes to producing songs that aren’t like classic, cutesy K-pop. They always tend to bring a new and interesting sound to the table. If anyone enjoys any of ARTMS’s solos, he or she should 100 percent listen to the entire group’s music. These solos are worth listeners’ time. People could find new songs to add to their playlist.
