This song of the week isn’t really considered K-Pop but the band is unique in a landscape of musical sameness and so I will write on. This week’s video is Jaurim’s “Icarus.” A friend of mine put me onto this group a couple months ago and I’ve been creeping on them all over youtube ever since. The band’s name ‘Jaurim’ is Korean for ‘purple forest’ and they’ve been kickin’ around the independent music scene since the mid 90’s.
Jaurim, courtesy of oocities.org
Their first single to gain public notoriety was “hey hey hey” from the motion picture Man Holding Flowers in 1997. Since then their 8 official full-length albums (as well as other side project albums and OST work) and 16 years of fine-tuning have turned Jaurim into a musical tempest in the indie world and beyond. In a music scene where mini-albums and a constant rotation of new singles is the norm, Jaurim takes their time and produces a stand-alone sound in the Korean music industry.
A lot of people people say that lead singer/songwriter Kim Yuna reminds them of Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine because of her powerful vocals. It’s true that they have similar sounds but I’d like to point out that Jaurim’s got a solid 12 years on the English indie rockers and had 7 studio albums released by the time Florence and friends released Lungs in 2009. Just sayin’.
Courtesy of wewantkpop.com
Regardless, their 9th official album entitled Goodbye, grief is soulful, catchy and just plain cool. It’s easy to plug in the track names with “english sub” or “english translation” on the internet but even if you don’t; the songs really take over your head space. Especially Icarus (이카루스). My advice: Let them take the wheel. I’m sure they’ll return your mind in great condition when they’re done and they seem like the type to even fill up the tank. Enjoy.
For some older listening from Jaurim, check out “You and Me” from their 2006 album Ashes to Ashes or “Peep Show” or “Idol” from their last album Conspiracy Theory in 2011. Happy listening!
