New Music Friday - the best new Korean music (Nov 2025)
Zanryupa - Dream, dream, dream
Chosen by Christian 이수 Mata (@chris_isu_m)
The closing track for Zanrypa’s latest EP, Dream, is a nearly 7-minute dynamic shoegaze trip that invites the listeners down the corridors of a long dream in 3 movements. Foisee’s haunting vocals give a melancholic sweetness with the repeated refrain of “dream” echoing into the ether. In between the anchor of the word “dream” throughout, there are lyrics with a tinge of regret about words that feel left unsaid. Midway through, the drums open into a groove with a jangle guitar cutting through the echoing, haunting quality for movement with a deceptively strong, intricate bass luring in listeners. In the closing 3rd act, distorted guitar and full drums transform the track into a heavier post-rock slant, and the song seems to become more about defeat: there’s no more talk about silence, but instead just an inevitable long sleep repeated between each chant of “dream.” The track closes with one reverse and echo-laced whimper of a dream. It’s a mesmerising track that would feel at home in The Roadhouse from Twin Peaks.
The Vastards(더 바스타즈) - LETO
Chosen by Jess Howell
While not an ode to Jared, LETO comprises everything that makes The Vastards one of Busan's most distinctly proprietary rock bands. A simple, crisp rift leads the groove-filled charge with an energy that's equal parts concentrated and contained. That energy underscores solos that riddle the track with vexation while managing to keep
it self-contained and on course. It elicits a raw reaction that stands at odds with vibrant reprisals concealed under a veil of quiet noise. Whether you’re sitting in the back of the bar bopping your head with a drink or trying to see how long you can keep your feet off the floor, The Vastards have you covered. Busan's music scene continues to deliver, and we'll always be here ready to sign for the next package.
Airy - Stéphanie Stéphane
Chosen by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)
It’s kind of crazy that we’ve never had an Airy album before this week. The multi-award-winning artist has always put out short EPs or just sporadically released singles when the time was right. But here B,U.D, her first full-length, and FULL it is. Sixteen tracks long and clocking in at over an hour, this album feels like a firm response to people pushing her for new music. While the kind of earth trip hop that she is probably best known for takes centre stage, it’s a dark and deep pastiche of electronic ideas. There are nods to techno, industrial, R&B and house, the latter being the driving force of album highlight and lead single Stéphanie Stéphane.
Okkyung Lee - let’s walk down to the swamp together
Chosen by Christian 이수 Mata (@chris_isu_m)
Renowned cellist, composer, and improviser Okkyung Lee’s latest album leaves the cello in its case and instead embraces experimentalism through electronics. A prolific figure in experimental music, it’s never a surprise that she offers something that pushes the boundary, but the leap from cello to a keyboard and computer is daring. The album’s concept is writ plainly as just like any other day (어느날): background music for your mundane activities, but that’s deceptive: no matter how mundane any given day could be, people (the listener), all have their own vision, thoughts, and context that paints the ordinary differently. “let’s walk down to the swamp together” begins coyly enough but soars emotively as the walk continues.
It’s a slightly unnerving piece. The melodic lines feel like a pair of people walking along, but each track that gets added on feels like a thought drawing attention away from the walk. Uneven ground, eerie fog, veil of reeds, it’s all a swamp’s lack of clarity. Though it has minimalist elements, the pieces throughout are meticulously layered in feats of engineering. The careful mixing helps give the track a mysterious air between the synths and chimes. It’s a haunting track: not exactly sadness, but uneasiness that seeps in slowly. The underlying feeling from the track is that there is something that wants to be confessed through the journey.
OBSG 오방神과 - Sangsadiya 상사디야
Chosen by Marie Joncquez (@mariejoncquez)
The unclassifiable singer Lee Hee-moon and his group Obangshingwa treat us to a new album that continues to explore traditional “minyo” songs, re-orchestrated with instruments, sounds, and rhythms from pop music. All the tracks are very beautiful, but suddenly Sangsadiya bursts forth—its fresh, danceable music colliding with the infinite melancholy of the singing. This seemingly joyful and bucolic melody abruptly seizes the soul at its deepest core through its subtle accents of despair. It starts like a western, with a warm guitar and a tense, energetic, and driving drumbeat—when suddenly Lee Hee-moon’s heart-wrenching voice rises. Every aspect of human existence is summoned in this song: joy and melancholy, day and night, celebration and sorrow, past and future, community and solitude, lightness and crushing weight, fervour and exhaustion… A pure gem of Korean culture.
Guinneissik - Oct 25th, Explain Birth
Chosen by Ethan Kim (@count.kim)
In Korea's digital hardcore scene, Guinneissik (기나이직) stands out with his mysterious melodies and passionate screams. His single “Oct 25th, Explain Birth” resonates with a tightly constructed rhythm that intertwines with his intense vocal outbursts over pounding drums. On top of this lie dreamy soundscapes and a feast of synthesisers that create a tension that never quite lets go, drawing the listener in like a magnet.
summercomesagain - black star
Chosen by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)
2025 is undeniably the year of shoegaze. At least here in Korea, where there are currently more shoegaze bands than there are stars in the universe. It’s actually pretty incredible that some bands are still finding something new to mine out of that sound. summercomesagain’s first album leaned heavily into the hazey-phasey MBV-style shoegaze. On their excellent new three-track EP, though, they’ve gone more for that beachy, almost punky kind. Opening track black star hits like Seaweed Mustache covering Say Sue Me - super fuzzy, super fun, super hooky, super good.
Dizzymunzzy- mirage
Chosen by Christian 이수 Mata (@chris_isu_m)
Something about this track from Dizzymunzzy’s new album has a certain flavour from the 2000s. There is an air of listlessness about the song. The theme confronts uncertainty with a hazy voice, but this uncertainty is a throughline for Dizzymunzzy’s debut album Somewhere We’ll Be. The guitar has some sparkle with overly peppy drums and a descending bassline backing it up, keeping the song at a brisk pace. It feels like the listener is joining the song in its chase for meaning. During the chorus, the textures get simplified, and the song gets some breadth with arena rock-esque toms carrying the song beneath a simplified guitar line. “Mirage” is a dynamic and colourful introduction to the band.
썬 타운 걸즈 (Sun Town Girls) - Confession
Chosen by Sam Dougherty
Don’t let the calm baritone fool you; this song is a triumphant release. The final track on Sun Town Girls' debut EP is its best, and it hits on the first listen. Confession is full of the echo, fuzz and shimmering guitars that one expects from shoegaze, and they all serve the purpose of the song here. There’s grace and sadness in these vocals, with lyrics about something or someone that’s ’gone without a trace’, but at the end of the day, it’s a soaring rock song, and they know how to land it.
Platform Stereo - Belief
Chosen by Christian 이수 Mata (@chris_isu_m)
Breakups happen. It’s (probably) not your fault, but when you have that special brand of despair, it can really muddy up everything. Luckily, Belief is not just a song about a broken heart. Busan-based Platform Stereo returns with a high-energy EP that blends rock and pop, and Belief manages to offer some sadness and triumph. Opening up with a muted, sombre riff before being attacked by a high-energy, but still painful, guitar backed by the full band. It makes sense that the lead guitar throughout is so beaten down, as the song speaks on betrayal and heartache. But where other break-up songs might linger in the anger or pain, this track takes a different approach. Instead, the song very directly gives gratitude to the people who supported them through a tough time. In the end, people help us, and we can move on and be better. If you are in the middle of a breakup, this is probably the song you need for support: it doesn’t wallow, but instead, it shows growth.
Herhums - Common Eyes
Chosen by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)
Folk music singer-songwriter Herhums recently returned with a new album. “This album is very quiet,” she explains, “Please turn up the volume!” While this is undeniably true, Binding Chimes feels bigger than her previous album, if only relatively so. The more expansive-sounding production and increased instrumentation (percussion and bass, which were entirely absent before) add to the intensity of this album without compromising on any of Herhums’ rawness. Common Eyes is a great example of this. Backed by Honnip, Herhum channels the angrier end of Nick Drake’s music into a haunting, almost tribal-sounding track.
Electron Sheep (전자양) - Kids Return (경주)
Chosen by Ethan Kim (@count.kim)
Electron Sheep is back with a new song after a long hiatus. “경주 (Kids Return)” feels like the guitar, drums, vocals, and keyboard are racing down the same track. While the pop melody retains the epic and comforting feel of Electron Sheep's previous works, this song has a more lively and youthful energy. Like the lyrics, the song races towards its goal at full speed, but there is always a sense of hopeful reward at the end of the journey. With this new release, the band shows a more accessible and familiar side as they enter a new active chapter.
Aho - Midnight dancer
Chosen by Christian 이수 Mata (@chris_isu_m)
A charming, confessional love song. With a twinkling piano and some relaxed guitar strums, singer-songwriter Aho waxes poetic about a romantic night spent dancing. The choral background and ending synth lead give it a quaint sensibility. It’s a sincere and sweet song, with the backup singing bringing out a 60s pop influence. Aho is off to an interesting start, so let’s see where she goes next.
Room306 - Backfiring
Chosen by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)
It’s always great to have new music Room306. Ten years after the release of their first song, the band are still producing sophisticated and clever indie rock. Backfiring is the first track from the band’s forthcoming EP, out later this month. That track is a typically lush affair, for them, though it stands out for its bluesy opening riff and menacing, Radiohead-esque climax.
Jo Dong Hyun (조동현) - Running (달리기 )
Chosen by Christian 이수 Mata (@chris_isu_m)
The whole album is a gleaming little slacker rock gem with some neo-psychedelic influences buried inside it, but Running is a brighter track that leans more to pop. It dresses up its message of existential crisis with a non-lexical chorus. Time presses on without a care, we chase things that don’t matter, and we know we could live simply for the better, but we don’t. These musings all come packaged with winding guitar over dampened drums and “바바바” (like “La La La”). The track bobs along, but the guitar gets to shine near the close.
Xinner - Endgame
Chosen by Christian 이수 Mata (@chris_isu_m)
Opening with an upbeat electronic segment before an absolute roar of “Fuck” ripping through, “Endgame” is an explosive entry. The new Nu Metalcore outfit Xinner jumps into the scene swinging, with visceral lyrics, dynamic segments, and the section that includes “Break it down/Burn it down/Tear it down/Shut it down” is bound to drive the pits wild. The screaming is powerful, the breakdowns are tight, and the group offers something interesting on each track of their debut EP. Between growls and blast beats, the band also blends in other interesting touches with piano and production. Korea is always in need of some fresh new blood in the hardcore sector, and Xinner delivers. The weather is getting colder, we should be thrashing and headbanging in underground clubs more.
Funkyswat - FREEZE!
Chosen by Christian 이수 Mata (@chris_isu_m)
The band's name alone lets the listener know everything they need to: there exists an elite tactical team tasked with bringing absolute funk to the world whenever necessary.. Dig it or not, there is no subtext. The guitar is loaded with wah and gets some peak solos in, the organs back up the guitar, the drums go in hot and provide cover, while the bass is the shotcaller that keeps the groove rolling. It’s all fun and funk. Despite the titular action, the group is actually forcing you to move.