Polaris (Kangta album)

On May 13, 2001, Jang Woo-hyuk, Tony Ahn, and Lee Jae-won of the South Korean boy band H.O.T. held a press conference, announcing that they would end their contracts with SM Entertainment and move to another company. This marked H.O.T.'s de facto disbandment.^[4] While Jang, An, and Lee chose to leave SM Entertainment, Kangta and Moon Hee-jun had renewed their contracts the previous year.^[5] When SM was asked if the remaining members would pursue solo careers, the company stated, "Regardless of the group disbanding, we had originally planned to do a mix of solo and group activities."^[6] In a press conference held on June 27, Kangta and Moon Hee-jun announced that they would release solo albums in August and October respectively.^[7]

Polaris is predominantly a ballad album, featuring a range of genres such as jazz, R&B, and dance.^[2][8] Four of the songs were composed by Kangta, while composers such as Sim Sang-won and Kim Hyeong-seok contributed to the rest of the album.^[9][10] The album opens with "Falling in Love", a swing number about the emotions experienced while in love.^[11] "Polaris", the lead single, is a pop ballad, which Kangta wrote, composed, and arranged over the span of six months. It features orchestral instrumentation and details a man "who wants to be like the North Star, a star that always stays in one place and acts as a guide."^[10][12] "Thanks God" was composed by pianist Chung Won-young and was described as a "jazz ballad". His singing style in the song has been compared to Nat King Cole.^[12][13] "My Life" is the album's only dance-pop song,^[12] with a triplet rhythm and orchestral backing;^[11] the lyrics "express the confidence that young people [Kangta's] age have in the world ahead."^[2] "With Your White Face" is a jazz standard-style remake of a 1987 song by Lee Soo-man, while "Rainy Day" is a cover of a Shin Seung-hun song.^[14]

Polaris was released on August 16, 2001.^[15] A month before the album's release, the title track was used in a commercial for KTF's wireless internet service Magic N, which Kangta starred in.^[2][16] The commercial was directed by Lee Chan, who also produced the music video for "Polaris".^[17] His first solo activity was a guest appearance in an NRG concert on the 17th;^[18][19] the next day, he made his TV debut through an hour-long special in the SBS variety program Saturday Is Fun.^[15]

Several music videos were released to promote the album. The first, "Polaris", was directed by Cha Seok-ho, a commercial director,^[20] and was filmed over the span of four days and three nights.^[16] In the video, a yet to debut Dana appeared alongside Kangta.^[21] Conceptually, it centers around a man reminiscing about the times spent with his ex-lover. In one scene, said to convey "sadness and longing for her that he cannot forget", Kangta dressed as a woman.^[16] A motion control camera was used to film the same scene with Kangta and Dana, allowing for cross-cutting between the two.^[16][22] The second music video released was for "Thanks God", which was first revealed through the singer's official website on November 5, 2001.^[23] The video, released as an act of "fan service",^[23] was shot in Apgujeong-dong and features Kangta playing the piano.^[24]