In Korean, the attaching of “ya” at the end of someone’s name is a mark of closeness. It would never be used to refer to new friends and acquaintances, but can be attached to the names of siblings, old friends, and familiar faces.
For Hunjiya, the artist name of singer, producer, and songwriter Alice Kim, it feels fitting. Her modern production and lush vocal layering frames confessional lyrics full of the sort of personal reflections one would expect to hear from a best friend. Her songs spill intimate secrets, buoyed by a lightness in musicality that maintains balance.
“My new album is brimming with themes: Code switching- how you change yourself slightly depending on who you’re with and what is happening. The concept of a chameleon- how the animal changes colors based on what environment they’re in. In this case, I am the chameleon, and my behaviors, feelings, actions, etc. are all changing based on the situation. People give the advice of “being yourself” but they don’t talk about how there’s not just one version of yourself. There’s multiple that add up to who you are.”
stream the LP here: Soundcloud
“People give the advice of “being yourself” but they don’t talk about how there’s not just one version of yourself. There’s multiple that add up to who you are.
As for the title itself, chameleon comes from the Greek word “khamai” meaning “on the ground, earth” and “leon” meaning ‘lion’.” -HUNJIYA
