AKMU’s Lee Chanhyuk released his second album ‘EROS’ in July. In his first album he narrated his own death while in this album it starts with the death of one of his loved ones.
‘EROS’ opens with the track ‘SINNY SINNY’ where the world discovers the death of his friend. I love the choir in the chorus. The repetitive ‘sinny sinny’ is catchy but does not reduce the depth of the track. The synths are fabulous, and the disco sound strikes a delicate balance.
‘Out of My Mind’ brings some xylophones and a sense of dark humour. We even get some saxophone as the clown he references in his lyrics falls deeper and deeper into his despair. It’s a beautiful and tragic track, kind of like the weeping clown.
Next up is ‘Vivid LaLa Love’. This is the title track of the album, and we’re going for a synth-meets-band sound. The bass in the track goes crazy and I love the little solo moment it has. There’s a lot of disappointment and disillusionment in the lyrics about the state of the world.
In ‘TV Show’ we’re sticking with synths but we’re adding some groove and fantastic vocal layering and harmonies. I really enjoyed the full progression and the digital sound bytes that were added in the instrumentals.
‘Endangered Love’ is one of my personal favorites of the album. I adore the groove, the synths, the melody and the female vocalists. I love it so much I’ve even featured the music video on the site as one of my music video recommendations.
Following that we get ‘Eve’ and this is a love song! In the lyrics he hopes that they can have an “eternal love” and that’s just so sweet. We’re getting a touch of that sweet 80s love song style and it’s everything.
‘Andrew’ feels like that last desperate shout in the void. We’re getting some really grungy electric guitar that adds a lot of depth. It walks hand in hand with the helplessness of ‘TAIL’.
‘Bird, bird, could you sing a song?
For my sorrow
Like you, we too
Had tails at the very beginning’
The closing track of this album is ‘Shining Ground’. Here we have Chanhyuk’s very distorted voice talking about dreams and wishes. It’s a very electronic sound with an interesting arrangement, and it feels like he’s reached all the way to the hemisphere where he’s breathing in his space suit, watching the sunrise, which comes with a big crescendo.
‘EROS’ is a wonderful album that discusses grief and all of the feelings that come with it.
This was originally published in our yearly magazine.
