New Music Friday - our writers pick their favourite new tracks (Fri 24.01)
In the first of a series called “New Music Friday”, our writers will pick their favourite of all the recent singles coming out of the Korean indie music scene.
Jay Marie - Fill it Up
Chosen by Mica (@mishckah)
Fill It Up evokes the essence of the iconic 80s synth-pop but with a melancholic, elegant edge to it. Which makes this song just as glamorous as it is haunting. Jay Marie's ethereal voice seems to reverberate through your body, along with the heavy bass line that thrums with your heartbeat. The synth, bass, and lyrics to Fill It Up are beautifully aligned with the mania of a hot fever dream—especially with all that is happening in the world. With that said, Jay Marie is definitely a slept-on artist that needs more recognition. Her causal lyrics and empyrean voice remind me so much of Chappell Roan that I couldn’t help but draw on their similarities. If you need a song to hit you with nostalgia, longing, and a good ugly-cry in your room, look no further.
Asian Glow - Jitnunkebi (Winter's Song)
Chosen by Connor Cass (@aminorcharacter)
Perhaps the butt of every shoegaze joke is the often indecipherable lyrics. Truth is though, artists that dwell within hazy walls of noise are experts at screaming out feelings with their instrument alone. It’s what allows Parannoul and Asian Glow to have an international appeal that transcends language barriers. The latter’s latest record ‘11100011’ is full of the kind of euphoric highs found among the hallmarks of the genre, and its centrepiece is ‘Jitnunkebi (Winter's Song)’. The track first teases itself a breather moment with its lightly patted drums and a sleepy guitar riff, yet it quickly builds into a more punishing razor-ilike guitar wall. Exceeding 7 minutes, this quiet/loud back and forth demands investment and doesn’t waste a second. Asian Glow has you on his hook before dropping everything, making way for one of his most gorgeous melodies. These moments of exhilaration will continue to haunt you, making it all the easier for Asian Glow to steer you right to the finale.
Listening to Us is Your Duty(듣는건너의책임) - Listening to Us is Your Duty(듣는 건 너의 책임)
Chosen by Jess Howell
I felt like kicking 2025 off with a precedent of pure bliss, and what better way to do it than with 듣는건너의책임. It has all the goodness of a Disney song without the infantilization. This song is a low-pressure, soft-sell on happiness that reminds you to live day by day. They put fun and simplicity ahead of convoluted layers of evocation, and that’s a breath of fresh air we can all use from time to time. Not to mention we all have a duty to fulfill.
TINOone - Wing of Wind
Chosen by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)
For me, TINOone might be the most criminally overlooked new band of last year. They have 13 followers on Instagram and 16 plays on Spotify. But they just keep producing these really offbeat songs with loads of atmosphere. Wing of Wind is a meta-cute track that takes their DIY sound to its logical conclusion. The roughly recorded piano has pure 2000s indie movie soundtrack vibes. The lyrics are about nostalgia for your childhood, and the music perfectly reflects that. Lovely stuff.
MXNX SLXXP - You Can Break My Heart Whenever
Chosen by Charity Lynn (@_charitylynn_)
Do you ever have those days where you just need to lay on your bedroom floor and stare at your ceiling for a few hours? This song by MXNX SLXXP has the perfect shoegazey vibe for that. I’m always one to pay the most attention to the feeling I get from a song rather than lyrics — which works out in this case because, well, it’s shoegaze and you’re not supposed to understand the lyrics, right? You Can Break My Heart Whenever is pleasantly ethereal and dreamy and leaves you feeling deeply moved. I hope to hear a lot more from them this year!
SyntaPunk - Marking
Chosen by Sam Dougherty (@samtdougherty)
The heart of Marking is in a keyboard riff that feels like it should go on for hours after the track ends. It’s meditative and melancholy but keeps finding its next step, which is all SyntaPunk needs to take the song to outer space. Syntapunk songs are easy on the ears, with singing that’s emotionally clear and urgent, even as deep layers of sound build. That continues here with Marking, an excellent addition to the SyntaPunk catalogue that leaves me curious to hear what’s coming next.
Quenchi - Eternity
Chosen by Marie Joncquez (@mariejoncquez)
Quenchi, who has so far released only four songs, consistently delivers a remarkable sense of melody—catchy and unapologetically lyrical. On this new track with its mesmerizing ternary rhythm, we find ourselves swept away in a musical current that carries us to a land of overwhelming emotions. And the song’s ending leaves us in suspense, much like the unexpected twists life itself can offer.
Hyangni - Already Here
Chosen by Cam (@bigbabyclam)
I’ve always thought of Hyangni as a coin with two distinct sides. On one, the crisp, bass-driven dance grooves of tracks like Hot Sauce or Playing Dumb, and the spaced-out neo-psychedelia of songs such as Obey Addiction or Anxiety Hell on the other. Hyangni’s latest, Already Here, is firmly rooted in the latter, using a sort of circular repetition in both the lyrics & instrumentation as a meditation on what’s lost.
This track is filled with everything I love about Hyangni: the world’s crunchiest and most heavily saturated drums, a solid bassline, and some sparkling, wobbly synths. However, there’s something about this song, particularly through its nearly-whispered vocals, that makes it feel more personal than Hyangni singles of the past. Already Here is an exceptional track.
GoryMurgy(꼬리물기) - For Screening
Chosen by Seungjae (@HavveGo1ucky)
It’s the return of GoryMurgy, the self-proclaimed “lo-est-fi band in South Korea”. After restructuring into a duo act last September, the band awoke from a brief winter nap to drop a long-awaited new release. Yet this time, with their lo-fi sound comes the catchy chorus and somewhat jangly guitar, as if they are venturing a bit further mainstream.
But make no mistake – this doesn’t mean they’ve lost their characteristic edge and rawness. Much like the “처음 먹던 사탕의 비린내 (fishy smell of the first candy)” frontperson Kim Kimin sings about, it’s a mix of approachable and addictive sweetness – with a lingering aftertaste of raw ‘fishiness’ catering to those with a more unique taste.
And speaking of taste, this is merely a tantalizing taste of GoryMurgy’s upcoming album Canopy Serpentine. Scheduled for a February 6 release, this is their very first full-length album since their first Bandcamp release on May 1, 2017. Judging from this track alone, it’s safe to say that the album rightfully demands more hype and attention.
Noise Between the Lines - Nevermind
Chosen by Wonjae (@sallythefreeman)
“막연하게 길을 잃은 듯, 결국 길을 찾고 몽롱함에 비벼지는 듯 만들어내는 또렷한 색채”
The “웅크림” of Noise Between the Lines has finally come to an end. Nevermind utilizes the essence of a psychedelic spin that creates its own distinct sound, which has been a favourite of their live sets for a long time. It has a distinguished synthesizer and guitar that jump on its chewy rhythm (especially the section from 03:20). Whether I am listening through my headphones in the cafe, or hearing it live, it always conveys the melancholic emotions that drift me off into another dimension. It’s the perfect song to console you on the bus ride home after a hard day at work.
PCR - Losing my Legs
There’s something going on in the Korean music scene where the DIY sound is starting to actually be a thing. Not just a thing but an actual thing. PCR is a brand spanking new band that grabs the DIY aesthetic by the scruff of its Velvet Underground T-shirt. It’s a song about dealing with loss, both significant and blase. “What if I lose my legs, what if I lose my heart, what if I lose my house, what if I lose my iPhone…” they sing before concluding, “it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter.” Right on.
Blue Turtle Land - Blue Mean
The Big Blue Turtle Lads are back with an absolute banger of a psychedelic slice. This band often make tunes infused with dancey elements - especially trance and house. Blue Mean, though, is the kind of pure psych-rock bliss that is so good, The Beatles would cut their hair and get proper jobs.
baan - 씩씩한노래를불러라1
baan released a two-track EP last week, and honestly, either of the songs would have been worth including. I’ve gone for this because the intro sounds like Sonic Youth. What I love about baan (a kind of off-shoot of Seaweed Mustache) is how formless everything is. The structure is all over the place, and it never completely settles into one thing. Also, it’s noisy as shit, with noise-rock, shoegaze, and just the tiniest helping of emo all referenced.