AKMU "WINTER" (2017)

01/29/21 • 6 min

3 Listeners

An Album a Day is my exploration into the Korean music scene. This podcast will cover mainstream, indie and some underground artists within the scene and provide both factual and opinionated commentary. The biggest benefit to sharing my thoughts this way is that it will hopefully expose you to more great music and exploration of your own.

As seasons go, “WINTER” has come, coincidentally during the winter of 2021, no less. The final part to the two-part series Puberty, from sibling duo AKMU, right after the drop.

You’re tuned into An Album a Day. Show start.

Hey y’all, before we start with the details of today’s album, I’m excited to announce A3Day’s first giveaway! The Staff tiered patrons from my Patreon are spearheading a K-pop merchandise giveaway for listeners within the contingent 48 states that begins tonight, Friday, January 29, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. CT when the second episode of A3Day Sister Show releases. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter at “multifacetedacg” to see the details, terms, and conditions. Good luck in advance!

Today’s album, “Winter,” was released January 3, 2017, and is AKMU’s second studio album. With a listening time of 30 minutes, the duo takes you down a path of reflection with passionate, live instrumentation. Lee Su-hyun vocally performed her butt off on this album, traversing her soprano range up and down the music. This album was most relatable for me, in terms of its context and made the listening experience very personal.

For those who don’t speak the Korean language, looking at the English titles of each song won’t really convey much. Whether they knew this or not, that plays into the wonder of winter, especially in places that experience snow. You don’t know what you’re waking up to from day to day -- it could be unseasonably warm or a genuine blizzard, regardless of what the weather forecast predicted. Titles such as “Play Ugly,” “CHOCOLADY,” and “Reality,” don’t necessarily tell you what you’re about to experience.

Speaking of an experience, if you have a moment, search for a live performance of “Reality” on YouTube and try to resist smiling. While the music is playful, the realities of the lyrics -- struggling to afford a taxi, low bank account balances, and awkward moments in coupledom -- are in juxtaposition. The reality of these universal experiences for so many people warmed my heart. I’m at an age at the time of this recording where I can look back at how difficult some of these things were for me and feel the bittersweet reaction from knowledge. Someone younger or less experienced than me might find a balm to calm the anxiety as they listen to this song.

The album elevated their folk-pop sound, and tap dances its way into jazz-pop, a subgenre I’m a huge fan of. On the reflective track, “Way Back Home,” a piano and shaker come together to accent AKMU’s rapping and singing over a mellow hip-hop beat pattern, but it’s actually jazz. It’s a great display of how music was never meant to be straight and narrow, but to cut lanes and spill into other areas. Music itself is as complex as the winter season. It’s also as simple as the still of winter nights.

K-pop fans on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being essential listening and 1 not worth mentioning, the A3Day rating for this album is a 5. This album reflects maturity both within the Puberty concept and in its composition. Lee Chan-hyuk wrote and produced beautiful pieces with the assistance of a wonderful team. Continue to check out the #A3Day Highlights Playlist on Spotify, as it features tracks from today’s albums and past episode’s artists, and I’ll catch you in the next episode, bye y’all.

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
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As seasons go, “WINTER” has come, coincidentally during the winter of 2021, no less. The final part to the two-part series Puberty, from sibling duo AKMU, right after the drop.

You’re tuned into An Album a Day. Show start.

There’s sponsored ads and social media hashtags but this show is truly supported by the efforts of my MACGoalas, the most amazing fan base a lil’ entertainer could ever have.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Previous Episode

AKMU "SPRING" (2016)

1 Recommendations

AKMU’s “PLAY” set the bar of excellence high. The duo took YG Entertainment down an unknown path of folk music and gained tremendously worthy attention. Were the siblings able to overcome the dreaded sophomore slump? Their May 4, 2016, EP “SPRING,” will tell us, right after the drop.

You’re tuned into An Album a Day. Show start.

Hey y’all, after the success of “PLAY,” Akdong Musician used the time in between to prepare for an ambitious follow-up entitled “SPRING.” The EP would be the first in a two-part series called Puberty. The album’s non-English title is “사춘기 상” (Sachun-gi Sang), which means “adolescent age,” so the youthful theme is the focus of the album. Before they released the EP, however, AKMU tapped into their acoustic folk roots with their single, “Time And Fallen Leaves.” If one were to assume that this was a precursor for what to anticipate with “SPRING,” then they’d be far off the mark.

Their sophomore album took on a greater R&B vibe for its arrangements. While Lee Chan-hyuk continued the standard of writing the album, arrangements were predominantly made by someone named Robin. I cannot find who this Robin is and it’s frustrating to me! The people behind the behind-the-scenes of K-pop simply don’t receive enough fan service in my book. Did Robin receive any of the flowers they deserve from this album? Who knows! No, seriously: who knows because I want to find this person?

Back to the music. While this is an enjoyable EP, it didn’t feel like an AKMU album. I fully acknowledge how premature this sounds from a person who had never listened to a full album of this duo until the previous episode of this show. Performing music that wasn’t fully of the folk genre when I’d set that as the expectation was jarring. Conversely, it makes sense: there is no benefit in forcing oneself to perform one genre. They never presented themselves as solely wanting to be an acoustic guitar, harmonizing duo. This was my assumption for the majority of their sound, and though this isn’t a full detour, “SPRING” allowed them to show more of their unique colors.

The EP has six tracks and is a little over 21 minutes long. Perhaps this isn’t an intentional habit, but they used the middle of the album once again to provide a song that seems as if it’s louder than the others. Maybe they are playing into a smooth ascension towards these robustly-produced tracks? It could simply be my ears doing weird things, I’m not really sure! What I am sure of is how sad I was that the album ended so soon. It feels complete but they came out of the gate with a full studio album for debut. Giving a listener just 21 minutes seems unfair! And maybe they felt the same way, too, as “SPRING” is the only EP in AKMU’s discography.

K-pop fans on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being essential listening and 1 not worth mentioning, the A3Day rating for this album is a 5. It has unexpected flair for new listeners and welcomed variety for invested fans. Continue to check out the #A3Day Highlights Playlist on Spotify, as it features tracks from today’s albums and past episode’s artists, and I’ll catch you in the next episode, bye y’all.

There’s sponsored ads and social media hashtags but this show is truly supported by the efforts of my MACGoalas, the most amazing fan base a lil’ entertainer could ever have.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Next Episode

Akdong Musician: Final Thoughts

Today marks the end of our time with Akdong Musician and I’m sad to see them go. Final Thoughts are rarely scripted but there was no need to extend myself for what has clearly been an enjoyable collection of songs. You likely know what the overall discography ranking is by now. Albums Summer Episode, Sailing and Happening, right after the drop.

You’re tuned into An Album a Day. Show start.

Hey y’all, February is Black History Month and I’m participating in activities the remainder of this month with Black Into K-pop! Black Into K-pop (BKC) is a coalition, cohort, and community of Black K-pop podcasts coming together during the month of February, to collaborate with each other in a variety of ways. You can visit https://blackintokpop.tumblr.com/ to learn more about the members and view our calendar. One upcoming event that you can definitely participate in regardless of ethnicity is the Goodpods app takeover on February 10, 2021.

Goodpod’s mission is simple -- making it easy for people to find great podcasts by following their friends to see what they’re listening to and for podcasters to grow their audiences through word of mouth recommendations. It’s a social media platform exclusively for podcast content. How cool is that? Download the app, follow my profile, Multifacetedacg, and check out some of my favorite podcasts outside of the Hallyu Wave.

Last thing before we get started. BKC wanted to let you know about an awesome giveaway we're doing right now to uplift Black podcasters in the K-Pop fanbase. We're giving a one hundred dollar Amazon gift card to one lucky listener. All you have to do to enter to win is to head to Podchaser and leave a review for any BKC podcast (or an episode of their podcast) in the month of February. We've made it really easy for you with a list of all the BKC podcasts. Just go to podchaser.com/bkc and start leaving reviews to enter. Again that's podchaser.com/bkc and you could win!

Onto the music, onto the music!

In 2017, AKMU released two songs to add to your road trip playlist with their July 20th release, Summer Episode. The two songs, “Dinosaur” and “My Darling” are upbeat and feel like the energy of summer, but I remember “Dinosaur” promotions the most from that year. And for what it’s worth, it was lovely of them to have given their fans and general listeners three seasons of music to enjoy, as hiatus was inevitable. Lee Chan-hyuk after all had mandatory military enlistment that began that September. While he served the South Korean Marines, Lee Su-hyun had solo schedules in radio and television.

When it was time to come back together, the duo released the eclectic “Sailing” on September 25, 2019. This album sounds nothing like their past albums, all the while staying true to their unique sound and colors. The 35 minutes of playtime skips to-and-fro between pop, folk, Americana, and rock genres. By the time I reached the third track on the 10-track album, I found myself excited about what the next song could possibly sound like. It was hard to set an expectation, but the course could be trusted, much like the experience of sailing. You step onto your boat, feeling it adjust itself to the waves, and set sail into whatever may come.

And if November 16, 2020, was any clue, their latest release, “Happening,” is a sign of something to come along the lines of “Sailing.” The single album is edgy and a potential prelude to a dynamic comeback. I can only hope for another live album, too! If you have time today, listen to the Sailing Tour live album and sing along to what you’ve learned through their discography exploration with a smile. “This is reality! Reality - ality - oh!”

K-pop fans on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being essential listening and 1 not worth mentioning, the A3Day rating for these albums and the complete discography for Akdong Musician is a 10. An absolute, unmatched 5 for the first time in A3Day history -- my usual rankings wouldn’t do. What they bring to the music scene is an understanding of each other’s musical strengths, their capabilities together, and longevity that will surely stand the test of time. They are a phenomenal group and my heart’s happy to have experienced their works with you, listeners!

One more thing! The A3Day giveaway is still rounding up entries. I’l...