And we’re back with a look at the Korean indie chart of May! Let’s dive into the new releases and who’s coming back!
Silica Gel is staying strong in this top 10. They moved from 3rd to first place! Kim Sawol went down a couple of spots, going from 2nd place to 7th. The Black Skirts are also sticking around with their reissue of ‘201’.
Let’s take a look at some of these newcomers!
OKDAL came back with the full-length album ’40’ at the end of March. This female duo always delivers interesting, fun comebacks and this is no different. You can listen to it here.
Another newcomer is Baek A who released her second EP ‘Letter’. You can find it here. This is a bit of a sadder album. Here’s the album description that is aptly written; “Out of lingering regret, vain hope, and clumsiness, I am sending you a letter that I have never been able to send.”
Lee Raan – My Own Home
This album is a portret of Lee Raan’s home where she can connect with nature, herself and us; the listener. The album contains remasters and remixes as well as a couple of new tracks.
‘I hope’ starts off this album with a beautiful acoustic guitar and a storytelling vibe. Lee Raan’s unique timbre is warm and welcoming. ‘Summer is coming’ carries on that moment, while the soft guitar strings are being plucked, we get to forget some of our worries.
‘Monologue’ feels like a lament and a whisper to one’s self. This is honest, introduces piano for an emotional touch.
Other songs to recommend from this album is the track ‘Girls in peace‘ for its touching background where Lee tries to bring the childhood back of comfort women (if you don’t know what that term means, you can read more here).
Listen to the full album here.
GIFT – 靑春, FANTASY
The band GIFT is back with their new mini-album ‘靑春, FANTASY’. I’ve been following this band for a long time and it’s always a joy to hear new music from them.
We’re jumping straight into the rock vibe with ‘Song Tae Sub‘ where we’re running towards our dreams. The drive is powerful and it’s a beautiful track.
‘Stay The Same’ has a really cool guitar line and GIFT takes a look at themselves from when they were 20 and now, 10 years older, how they’ve changed or remained the same.
‘From the bottom of my heart’ is an emotional track that is meant to become a comfort during hard times. “I hope this song is at the lowest level of your heart so that you can bring out the sadness that has been buried deep inside you every time that happens.”
In ‘Cheering Song’ the band is literally cheering us on for following our dreams, taking a break when we need to and just being ourselves.
Overall, this is a really lovely release with beautiful meanings, great vocals and really solid instrumentals. Listen to the album here.
TOUCHED – Purple
A surprising newcomer on this chart is the band TOUCHED with their EP ‘Purple’. This was released in December 2021, so we’re glad to see it make the rounds again.
‘Love is Dangerous’ is an absolute sick vibe! It goes hard, the build up is sick and the sirens included are actually hella cool.
Another fire track that is no joke is ‘Hi Bully’. Literally everything about it is straight up fire and the synergy of these members is no joke.
‘Call Me’ brings down the tempo and creates this Bluesy dream. When the guitars come in after about a minute it creates a super cool dynamic.
Other songs of this album to definitely give a listen are ‘Blue’ and ‘Where am I going’.
Go ahead and listen to the album on Spotify here.
If you’d like to go back to the chart of April, you can click here.
