Park Yeondu released her first mini-album ‘The sea comes into my room from time to time’ in August. She recorded the vocals and the guitars in her own bedroom in one take.
Every track contains its own sea.
“A sea that you can reach by closing your eyes in a quiet room,
a sea where sunlight breaks passionately,
a sea that holds secrets,
a sea that tells you of endless possibilities,
a sea surrounding a remote island,
a sea that embraces small and tall islands,
a sea that is salty and numerous like tears.”
The track ‘Like sea’ opens up the album and sets the tone with its intimate, fragile, and almost confessional tone. The acoustic guitar is warm and helps convey the message of lonely longing. The tempo of the track sways, a little bit like the sea.
After that comes the single ‘Secret’. A raw track that feels like a spell through its repetition, although I’m not sure if it is for us the listener or for Park herself. It’s an emotional one, amplified by the tape-like quality to it.
‘Indigo Blue’ speaks of the dichotomy between yourself and your depression. ‘Indigo Blue’ sounds almost like a lullaby, which makes for a poetic difference between the tone and the text.
‘Last Isle’ feels like the kind of track you sing around a bonfire when it’s almost dusk and the night is over. The guitar is particularly love and clear in this one, which only helps the intimacy.
In the following track, ‘Southern Sea’ Park sings deceptively cheerful lyrics about her self-induced loneliness.
The title track ‘Ripples’ comes along with a melancholy tone. The humming is a lovely addition to the thoughtful lyrics: “Don’t be sad. The sun over there breaks and crumbles over the ocean every day. The rocks over there are broken by the waves every day.”
We close the album with ‘Dear Isle’. The song is a letter written to the island, that just might be herself. The guitar outro really ends the album on a rather lovely note, completing the listening experience.
This was originally published in our 2024 magazine.
