New Music Friday - April 2025
The latest in our "New Music Friday" series is live. Our writers have scoured all the best new tunes coming out of Korea's indie scene and picked their faves.
OHELEN - Second Daughter
Chosen by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)
Some may know OHELEN from her incredible collaborations with Choi Sol. Some may know her from her visual art. Some may even know her from her Music Truck project. However you came across her, Ohelen’s new EP, Show Window Project, is extraordinary. Recorded live as part of an outdoor art project in Incheon, SWP is an ever-bending barrage of ideas. Drawing on jazz, funk, Latin, dub, avant-garde… Honestly, I could keep going, but I’d just be listing genres all day. Her voice has also never sounded so powerful as she channels her inner Bjork. I’ve chosen Second Daughter, but honestly, the whole thing is worth checking out.
Yaeji – Pondeggi (feat. E Wata)
Chosen by Marie Joncquez (@mariejoncquez)
The murmur of a street, conversations on the sidewalk, children chanting "pondeggi, pondeggi"... The noise of everyday life imperceptibly transforms into music for Yaeji, a Korean-American artist who hears musicality in the most common sounds. She creates minimalist electro where the music seems reduced to its simplest expression, stripped of all excess. Yet the piece continually varies rhythms and sound textures with great inventiveness, as if seeking the boundary between noise and music, between music and silence.
Simple Pages(심플페이지) - Giraffe(기린)
Chosen by Jess Howell
Before listening to this song, I didn't know what 기린 meant in Korean. Now, I'm afraid that no matter where I go, people will either think I'm crazy, think there's an enormous giraffe nearby, or both. A lot of songs put too much faith in the listener's deduction skills to draw a connection between the title and what lies underneath. Much to their name, however, Simple Pages has indeed kept things simple. This song grabs your hand and leads you through a fever dream featuring our favorite long-necked friend. An upbeat garage rock rhythm envelops the double-syllable melody that promises to glue itself to your head for days to come.
Narotic - Forgive Us
Chosen by Charity Lynn (@_charitylynn_)
Among all of the songs on Narotic’s new album, AT LAST, Forgive Us particularly moved me with such heavy emotion. The opening keyboard and ethereal vocals are evocative of a chapel choir, but one that sings of the misplaced blame and forgiveness. Although the message is quite dark, the ending instrumentals have a sparkling, somewhat hopeful tone, as if we are being led into a light. The whole album recounts a tale of a post-apocalyptic world, and I think this song is quite fitting to the tragic undertones present in it. I hope listeners can appreciate the story and its central themes concerning world issues.
Oh Heejung - Forest & Horns
Chosen by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)
What’s so special about Oh Heejung’s new EP is how her glitchy blip-bleep-blop electronica sounds so natural. On one hand, this makes sense; it’s an EP about nature and was born out of Oh Heejung’s desire to grow horns and live in the forest. But Oh Heejung’s ability to so successfully create the tone of living in a forest with her electronic instruments is really impressive. It’s a really beautiful release, and the title track, Forest & Horns, is the highlight. The video is mad fun, too.
몰라시스템 (molar system) - GREENROOM
Chosen By Mica (@mishckah)
Maybe it’s just the mood I’m in today, but Molar System’s track GREENROOM just landed with a heavy thud right in my chest. Let’s start off with the vocals and lyrics, which are breathy sighs of disillusionment, carrying the unspoken grief of watching friendships drift and the future deviate from the carefully laid plans of youth. Then there are the guitars. They don’t rage against any injustice; instead, they groan under the weight of… well, everything. It’s not the sound of fighting back, but the sound of quiet resignation. This isn't a song about dramatic heartbreak or explosive anger. It’s something far more insidious and relatable: the slow-burn ache of watching connections fade, the realisation that paths diverge, and the quiet acceptance that life rarely adheres to the script we wrote in our heads.
USEDBOY - The World We Shared
Chosen by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)
Gyojung frontfella and chillest man in music, Lee Gihak, aka USEDBOY, recently dropped a new EP. On this, he tries to connect his slow-grove style to his love of the 60s and the 90s. This lush six-track release of sun-dried bedroom pop closes on Bosa Nova surf jam The World We Shared.
Moon Night & Stars - Angry Melodic
Chosen by Charity Lynn (@_charitylynn_)
I know that Loo pop was the most anticipated new release from Moon Night & Stars. However, Angry Melodic ended up being my favorite track off the single. Mostly because it's the song I enjoy hearing them play live the most. It has a slow and emotional buildup, with dreamy accompanying guitars and languid drums. Suddenly, it shifts into a more powerful tone, followed by an entrancing guitar melody. The vocals in the end harmonise perfectly with the instrumentals, adding an almost cathartic element to the song.
92euce - Neuroticism
Chosen by Connor Cass (@aminorcharacter)
Daegu-based MC 92euce, who is the self-described “Kratos of rap”, cuts a commanding presence with his deep voice. Neuroticism begins with a voiceover describing the dictionary definition of neuroticism and a hook that's both biting and funny. These tricks quickly reveal the track’s mission statement - 92euce is taking you on a trip through his paranoid mind. The spacey beat and grimey guitars also add an element of dread and bleakness. The verses though, loaded with wit and self-examination, really create a vivid picture of his inner turmoil. Neuroticism is both a triumph in showing 92euce’s rap chops and a cathartic exploration of self-doubt we’re all too familiar with.
GGCP (공공카펫) - Shattering (난반사)
Chosen by Charity Lynn (@_charitylynn_)
Shattering by GGCP takes you cruising through the stars with its synthy instrumentals and spacey background vocals. The song emphasises beauty in the path we have followed in life, and it is a comforting anthem to those who might be uncertain of the choices they have made to get there. This is the kind of song that is best listened to with your eyes closed and heart open.
Kim Il Du, Kyungju Tak - RIVER TAIL
Chosen by Sam Dougherty
Equal parts restless and at peace, folk rocker Kim Il Du seems to reflect on his 30s with RIVER TAIL. It’s an ode that’s simple in arrangement and engaging for every second, in large part due to Kim’s voice. His baritone is simply lovely and carries each line with warmth and melancholy, almost without a pause for the whole four minutes. There’s something special about a songwriter baring their mind with such clarity as this, and in RIVER TAIL, you feel every bit of the weight and joy Kim has for ‘the 30s that I loved.’
Zero Zero - For Sal
Chosen by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)
Yesterday, Ulsan’s favourite indie lads, Zero Zero, released a new track, and it’s got us in the summer mood. This upbeat guitar number is catchy, sweet, and feels entirely sincere. The lyrics are based on a poem written by Bonnie Parker (of Bonnie and Clyde fame), and it’s a semi-autobiographical retelling of a young country girl seduced by a charismatic man into a life of crime.
Verycoybunny - End Credits (feat Nah)
Chosen by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)
2025 promises to be a big year for pop-rock rabbit Verycoybunny. Her first release of the year is this collaboration with Nah Sanghyun from Band Nah. Bunny has moved away from the darker tone of her 2023 EP and towards the sunny, 90s-inspired guitar pop of her most famous songs. It’s this hooky, singalong pop where she shines brightest.