One Fine Day (Jung Yong-hwa Album)

''One Fine Day'' () is the debut solo studio album by South Korean musician Jung Yong-hwa of CNBLUE. It was released on January 20, 2015, by FNC Entertainment and distributed by CJ E&M. As CNBLUE's promotions for their mini-album '' Can't Stop'' (2014) came to a close, the label announced plans for Jung to release a solo album within the year. Since the album's inception, he sought to distance himself from the band's sound and include various musical styles on the record. Ultimately, he conceived a collaborative album with an array of musicians.

By late 2014, the album was scheduled to be released in early 2015. Teasers revealing the musicians Jung collaborated with were released one-by-one the following January, which included rapper Verbal Jint, rock musician Yoon Do-hyun, and Singaporean singer JJ Lin. The album was preceded by " Mileage" on January 9, a collaboriation with actor and rapper Yang Dong-geun (YDG). After a series of photo and video teasers thereafter, the album and lead single " One Fine Day" were concurrently released. Jung began promoting the album by performing "One Fine Day" and the collaboration tracks on music chart programs across various television networks. The single ultimately led him to win a total of four music show trophies, including two consecutive wins on Korean Broadcasting System's (KBS) ''Music Bank''.

''One Fine Day'' received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who noted his growth as a singer-songwriter, but also cited the familiarity with CNBLUE's music. The album went on to top the Gaon Album Chart for two non-consecutive weeks. In March, a Japanese edition titled was released, which peaked at number four on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart. Jung embarked on his first series of solo concerts across Asia; select shows were recorded and released as live and video albums. By the end of 2015, ''One Fine Day'' sold over 115,000 copies domestically.

Background and development

With CNBLUE's domestic promotions for its fifth mini-album '' Can't Stop'' coming to an end in March 2014, it was announced that Jung was expected to be releasing a solo album during the second half of the year. During the May 3 press conference for the band's 2014 Can't Stop Tour in Bangkok, Thailand, Jung revealed that he expected to collaborate with other musicians for the record. He completed recording half of the album by the following month. During this time, he contacted a range of musicians to collaborate with. Jung subsequently began filming TVN's television series ''The Three Musketeers'', which stalled the development of the album. The album's release date was pushed back to January 2015.

In crafting ''One Fine Day'', Jung set out to produce a diverse album with a mix of various music styles, leading him to deliberately "pace out the recordings" of the tracks. He wanted to make an album that would "be loved by people of the whole world". While discussing the contrast from his solo work and CNBLUE's music, Jung acknowledged that there would not be a "180-degree" difference between the two. He explained that, with CNBLUE's music, he had to take into account the taste of his bandmates. With his solo material, he "paid more care in terms of arrangement and mixing" of his music rather than "changing something inorganically". It allowed him more musical freedom, which in turn put him under more pressure. He described his desire to create songs with "angry and rebellious emotions", but he avoided "intentionally writing that kind of music". He aspired to "show listeners the positive side of things... to give out positive and optimistic messages". He spent two years thinking of recording the album, and just over one to record it.

Writing and recording

In midst of filming TVN's television series ''The Three Musketeers'', Jung was inspired by YDG's conveyance of endearment to his family on set to write the melody for " Mileage". After listening to the recording, YDG immediately wrote his rap. He felt that Jung was a "musician who has overcome genres". In wanting to work with Verbal Jint, Jung expressed his admiration in the rapper's ability to craft acoustic hip-hop songs with sensible lyrics. Verbal Jint proposed the song "Energy" to him, where the rapper strayed from his musical roots for only the second time in his career. In suggesting the song title, Verbal Jint felt that it "would be applicable to all those whose shoulders are lagging from fatigue"; Jung "found it interesting and accepted it right away". After receiving the beat, Verbal Jint wrote the first verse and chorus to the song, and Jung completed the second verse. During recording, Jung contributed additional lyrics to the chorus. Following a series of impromptus, and consuming pizza and coffee, they completed the song after an all-nighter.

While writing "Cruel Memories", Jung envisioned Yoon Do-hyun of rock band YB singing the song. Yoon expressed his desire to see CNBLUE flourish into a "true band" and decided that "it'd be great to give him unga hand". In conceiving "Cruel Memories...", the pair sought to "create a boom among Korean men so that they go to karaokes in duos and sing their hearts out with this song, facing each other". Jung first met JJ Lin in 2014 when he attended a CNBLUE concert in Taiwan. After meeting, they began to listen to each other's music and "felt good about it"; they promised to collaborate. Jung invited him to collaborate, which Lin agreed upon. The two wrote "Checkmate" together, but recorded the song independently from one another.

Five months prior to meeting Jung, blues musician Peter Malick

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