Hyukoh is a band that began their career in the underground scene then slowly gained fame for appearing on television shows. A sub label of YG Entertainment called HIGHGRND signed the band and the band has been releasing music under them ever since. The band is well known in Korea for having their own original sound different from many other South Korean acts. 24 is the band's newest release after putting out digital singles consecutively.
Track List:
01. Graduation
02. 하늘나라
03. LOVE YA!
04. Citizen Kane
05. Gang Gang Schiele
06. Goodbye Seoul
This album has "we going to release whatever the hell we want" drawn all over it's contents. Hyukoh had some large amount of artistic creativity trapped inside that needed to be let out. 24 was that ultimate release for them. The problem comes from this creative release not having a controlled shape of it's own to mold into. Thus, causing all six tracks go all over the place in production. One track is Hyukoh's own take on a Korean children's nursery rhyme that's not only super short but doesn't actually accomplish much in it's playing duration. LOVE YA as the title track counts as the biggest highlight of the album. I got taken back to those old time band's like The Beetles only with better vocals. The message of universal love strongly resonated with me after watching the music video for the track. Goodbye Seoul fits in the same category as LOVE YA. Both songs vocalize the same phrase over and over again in the chorus. You start to like this formula the more you listen to both songs or at least the constant repetition did something to my brain. They couldn't have been taking this album too seriously because the whole product sounds like a band's jam session. Most of the tracks are similar to a band practicing together off the record without a care in the world. That might have been what Hyukoh was going for if you consider how the band sounds in top form on every track. The instrumentals for everything was done right for the most part with the guitar solos ringing true in the mist of the band's precise drum playing and bass guitar support. 24 wasn't my favorite album from Hyukoh overall. They have better albums that have a longer lasting connection with the listener.
I always enjoyed how the vocals sound full of soulful influence. There's such a calm richness that's cool yet collective. A voice that would slowly draw a crowd to come listen to it's tone work magic on us all. I also didn't mention that this album is done pretty much in English. Hyukoh has always sprinkled English in their songs here and there. The band is so loud that I couldn't make out all of what the lyrics were but I understood a little bit. Their Korean fans are just left in the dark unless they know the language though. I read some of their disapproval in comments online….. Can't please everyone.
24 probably isn't the end of the releases that Hyukoh will be coming out with this year. This album is a bit too untamed for this to be all that listeners get from them. I bet another mini album is in the works as we speak.
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