The iconic band HYUKOH teamed up with the Taiwanese group Sunset Rollercoaster for the album ‘AAA’. Let’s take a closer look at this long-awaited comeback.
AAA
We start off with the track ‘Kite War’. This was written about ‘Kite War’ in the album description: “is the first song created through improvisation during the ensemble setup at Gapyeong Music Station. Most of the song consists of only two chords, and it exudes a traditional and sincere atmosphere.” Apparently after jamming for five minutes everyone realized they already had a complete song.
‘Kite War’ is a super laidback track, clocking in at almost six minutes. It’s a super vibey track. I enjoyed the vocal stacking and the harmonizing. The saxophone addition was honestly amazing. The last minute everyone gave it their all which created a very sick outro.
The second track on the album is ‘Y’. This started from a demo Oh Hyuk had made in 2021. Apparently all of the members chose this as their favorite track of the entire album. I really enjoyed the crescendo in the intensity as the song progresses. The added synths were great and added another dimension to the song. This is the kind of track where you just listen to it when you need to empty your mind and relax.
Next up is ‘Antenna’. This is sung in Mandarin and features Chinese stars Kuang Han Hsu and Leah Dou in the music video. This is such a dreamy, melodic track. Prepare yourself to get swept away on its unpredictable ebb and flow.
The music video feels like a fever dream, I love it.
The track ‘Glue’ starts with a warm guitar and almost like a djembe sound. It’s a vibe and a calm track to listen to. The sax creates another smooth moment in the instrumentation.
In the music video you can see actor and director Cho Hyun-Chul who takes us on a walk in Angkor Wat, Cambodia.
‘Young Man’ introduces the next period they’ve entred. HYUKOH, at their debut, represented youth. Now they’re moving onto the next stage and they’re singing about survival, struggles and anxiety about the future. I love the synths here and the fun soundbites they added.
The music video was directed by Pennacky who also directed popular music videos like ‘Groin’ by RM and ‘Sexy Nukim’ by Balming Tiger.
‘Do Nothing’ which started as a Kuo demo, is a Bossa nova track which he created during a very busy Chinese tour. This blends the two bands together perfectly. It’s such a cool, refreshing moment in this album. The guitars here are perfect and I love the little shakers in the instrumentation.
Next up is the first track that isn’t a title track. ‘Aaaannnnteeeeennnaaaaaa’. In the album description they wrote that they accidentally discovered the sound of ‘Antenna’ when James Fouren slowed down the speed of their track ‘Antenna’ while mixing. Listening to this literally feels like a meditation session. It’s stunning.
The closing track is ‘2F 年轻人’. This is a raw version of ‘Young Man’ which they recorded while practicing at Gapyeong Music Station.
These last two tracks are seen as little gifts to the listeners. They’re “the result of a pleasant variation on the temporal and spatial aspects of music.”
Overall I’m super happy with the album ‘AAA’ by HYUKOH and Sunset Rollercoaster. This feels like such a organic collaboration album, it’s absolutely lovely.
Go ahead and listen to the album here on Spotify.
