After the release of her 2016 album Seoulite with former recording label YG Entertainment, Lee Hi is back to bless K-pop fans with her newest and long-awaited third studio album 4 ONLY.

Released September 9, the South Korean solo artist demonstrates the growing creative freedom in her career throughout the album, having transitioned to record label AOMG.

In an interview with fashion magazine Marie Claire, Lee said 4 ONLY has given her an opportunity to “contact artists that [she] wants to work with and enjoy a more natural production process”.

Exploring a wide variety of music styles with fresh tunes beyond her soul roots, 4 ONLY solidifies Lee Hi’s position as one of Korea's finest artists through showcasing her vast and immaculate vocal range.

The 10 track album bounces between a range of different emotions, featuring tracks such as Waterride and Safety Zone.

The artist sets the tone of the album with a coffee shop vibe in her first track Saviour, which incorporates a groovy yet laid back and minimally layered instrumental, complementing the richness of her vocals.

This track highlights the emotional drawbacks of falling in love, particularly the inevitability of getting hurt in a relationship.

This is shown in the translated lyrics, “is there such a thing as love without despair” followed by “I could tell from the moment I met you, that you are the saviour that has come to ruin me”.

Saviour’s music video encapsulates this idea through Lee’s nose bleed scene which symbolises her worries and insecurities whilst the action of B.I smearing the blood on his face shows that he is still willing to stay with her.

The second track on the album, Intentions, captures elements of blues and vintage acoustic instrumentals, allowing the artist’s raspy yet powerful vocals to effortlessly shine through.

Lee switches things up with tracks Bye and Red Lipstick featuring American-born South Korean rapper Yoon Mirae, indulging in a mix of funk and pop instrumentals that are truly reminiscent of a classic 90s disco.

The sixth track of the album H.S.K.T is a sensual and groovy artistic interpretation of the famous childhood nursery rhyme Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes through which Lee sings of how lovers should admire every aspect of their partner from head to toe.

Rapper Wonstein makes an appearance with a riff-heavy rap verse halfway, which beautifully weaves in with the artist’s lower register vocals until the end – presenting listeners with a dreamy harmony.

What is Love dives back into the slow jam and mid-tempo tune, a style that the Breathe singer is all too familiar with in her career thus far.

Frequent collaborator and long time friend Code Kunst played a part in composing What is Love, which explains why fans have viewed this song as a mini tribute to her 2016 Seoulite era, where the duo worked together to compose FXXK WIT US.

“Code Kunst and I like the same music, so we can communicate well,” Lee said in her Marie Claire interview. “When I work with him, I think I can make music that is the most like myself.”

The album meets a perfect gentle finish with the title track ONLY, originally released on August 27, which resembles a romantic lullaby to conclude yet another era for Lee Hi.

This unplugged ballad takes a different approach to love and analyses the strength of everlasting love with her ‘only one’. This is shown through her lyrics “a love like this would make even the most immature dream come true” followed by “be my only love”.

The entirety of 4 ONLY provides listeners with a deep insight into Lee as a creative individual and her ability to explore a range of styles - with some fans comparing the album’s genre to Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia album.

Fans both new and old will love to experience the dazzling and different artistic sides of Lee throughout this album. An exciting rollercoaster of songs that draw attention to her uniquely raspy yet tender vocals and versatile range, 4 ONLY will not leave you disappointed.