Details
“Yeonrimok's music always digs precisely into the center of a deep, distant, and mysterious feeling within me. It suddenly draws up something complex, subtle, difficult, and utterly unknowable that could not be explained by any words in the world, and speaks to me calmly and tenderly, saying, ‘This is actually what your heart felt, wasn't it?’ Listening to her music makes me feel as though I am gradually getting to know the hidden corners of my own heart. I feel a bit more relieved, a bit more courageous. I feel like I should try living a little longer. It is an irreplaceable language.” — Yoon Ga-eun (Film Director)
“I felt that this is music without a mask. She takes off the mask and tells the story of her life through music; it is at once a bit lonely, amusing, and cute, while musically never being predictable or pretentious. I felt as if I had been sucked into a small book of essays and then stepped back out. I had primarily thought of Yeonrimok as a keyboardist or a film composer, and I found myself wondering why she is also so good at singing.” — Kang Ho-jung (Producer, Educator)
“Certain manifestations bring unexpected sensations. For example, the first snow—it is warm. A face I longed to see—it is heartbreaking. You, by my side—you are always missed. And Yeonrimok's music—precious hearts that are full despite being small, dazzling because they are soft, and that keep me humming along because they are rare. Listening to Yeonrimok's music, I have become truly gentle. My body and mind have softened, and I feel I can well endure this season, this period of unending loneliness. For a while, I will likely ask everyone I meet if they have heard of Yeonrimok. Sometimes I will urge them: listen to it right now. I will tell them not to miss these truly beautiful songs of love and understanding, these poems of gratitude and apology. To add something unnecessary, I want to say thank you for coming to us like this, in this way. To Yeonrimok.” — Yoo Hee-kyung (Poet)
“I first met Yeonrimok 20 years ago in a general education class called ‘Understanding Korean Music.’ I never imagined we would be doing Korean (popular) music together for this long... But why has she kept these wonderful songs hidden until now? It's a relief that she has come forward now, and she can just open a new path from here on. I will always be rooting for you.” — Song Jae-kyung (Musician, 9 and the Numbers)
Liner Notes: Yeonrimok is a person who sings songs and composes music
— Danpyeonseon (Musician, Co-producer)
Yeonrimok is a person who sings songs and composes music. It took a long time to make this fact known. Yeonrimok first began her activities in 2002 as the keyboardist for the band Nunddeugoko-vein. She had just entered her twenties. From the mid-2000s, she began participating in various plays and dance works with music, and soon expanded her radius to film. Among the works in which Yeonrimok participated as a music director, the most well-known are likely *Eungyo* and *The World of Us*. She also served as the leader of Tanimotion, a band that blends traditional Korean music with Western music. However, *20* is the first album to entirely contain her own stories. Most of the songs in *20* were written in the 2000s and early 2010s—the period when Yeonrimok spent her twenties. In her own words, they were written ‘without a purpose.’ To put it another way, they were written as she felt like. Naturally, this music came to contain deeply private emotions or memories. I remember the day I received the first sketches. It had been a long time since we discussed that she wanted to release something this year, and I had already presumed that the year would pass. In fact, because it hadn't even been confirmed whether we would work together or not, I had many worries before even listening. (Thinking things like, it would be a problem if it's too good, and a problem if it's not right at all.) I pressed the play button, and a little time passed. My mind became clear.
Most of them were simple sketches consisting only of piano and vocals. However, there was a natural beauty to them. Those who have made music for a long time tend to habitually add various devices to their music—to include certain intentions or directions. But these sketches contained almost none of such devices, as if they were created by someone who had just started writing songs. That simple and clear purity came through.
We dove straight into work the following day. Six songs were included. Considering that it was a small album containing songs written by Yeonrimok during a time when they were smaller than they are now, I used the expression "small song collection" (sogokjip) rather than "EP."
The stories contained in the album are broadly divided into two parts. Songs about certain moments experienced by Yeonrimok in their twenties run from the first track to the fourth. "Grandfather" is a song written on the way back from burying their paternal grandfather in a family burial ground. In "At Times Like This," they express the loneliness felt on the way home after meeting a loved one, and in "I'm Sorry," they convey a desire to apologize to those who accepted the various mistakes they made throughout their life. "I Hope So" is a song of clear joy, celebrating the marriage of an old friend.
The final two tracks are songs that were used in a play, or were written for one but never released. In "Good Things," written for Hwang Mi-young, a plus-size model and actress, they sing of self-affirmation as an independent woman. The final track, "jane," is a song created for Director Yoon Ga-eun's 2013 short film *Bean Sprouts*. Although it was ultimately not included in the short film, ten years later, it has finally seen the light of day through this small song collection.
It took a very long time to create the sketches. It took a very short time for those sketches to be completed as an album. A production system was established as musician Choi Young-doo, who had worked together with us in *Nuntteugoko-be-in*, joined as a co-producer. A period followed where we exchanged messages and work daily, suggesting and experimenting with various ideas. We joked that the process felt like "three cottage industry workers gathering, each making things at home, trying to assemble them, and then breaking them down again." Funnily enough, most of those various ideas drifted away like jokes, and only the cleanest sounds remained in the finished music. That was because it was the clothing that suited it best.
Yeonrimok is a person who sings songs and composes music. *20* is Yeonrimok's first solo album where they sing their own songs with their own voice. Throughout the process, Yeonrimok was often bashful. It was likely because they felt somewhat embarrassed by the fact that they were only now singing songs written as long as 15 years ago. They even worried, saying, "Am I being sincere? I don't have those feelings anymore, like being lonely while in love."
Yet, occasionally, Yeonrimok would drift into sentimentality, saying, "That was the best time..." Whenever Yeonrimok spoke like that, I wondered if the current Yeonrimok might be slightly envious of their past self.
Regardless, the Yeonrimok of 2023 is contained in this album. At the same time, Yeonrimok's prettiest and most beautiful days are also contained within it. Whether it was 2003, 2013, or 2023, the story of all those times of Yeonrimok begins today, with the small song collection *20*.
[Credit]
Producer _ Yeonrimok
Co-producers _ Choi Young-doo, Danpyeonseon
Composition, Lyrics _ Yeonrimok
Arrangement _ Yeonrimok(1-6), Danpyeonseon(1, 2), Lee Bo-ram(3), Choi Young-doo(4, 6)
Vocals _ Yeonrimok
Drums _ Han In-jip(3)
Contrabass _ Kim Hyun-kyu(3)
Electric Bass _ Choi Young-doo(4, 6)
Upright Piano _ Yeonrimok(2, 5), Lee Bo-ram(3)
E.P. _ Yeonrimok(4)
Electric Guitar _ Choi Young-doo(4)
Classical Guitar _ Choi Young-doo(6)
Cello _ Shin Won-ah(2, 5)
Hand Percussion, Kalimba _ Yeonrimok(6)
Synthesizer _ Yeonrimok(1), Danpyeonseon(1)
Drum Programming _ Choi Young-doo(4)
Recording _ Choi Young-doo @Paju World
Upright Piano, Drums, Contrabass, Cello Recording _ Hwang Hyun-woo, Lee Hyun-jun from CTR Sound @Gorani Special Forces
Mixing, Mastering _ Choi Young-doo
Design _ Kim Ki-jo
Video _ Lee In-gyu(2), Danpyeonseon(4)
Production _ Yeonrimok, Ossori Works
Distribution _ Mirrorball Music
