/ 안녕 ÄNɎƏŊ / (EP, 2023)
About Album
Love X Stereo vs DA1SY DØØM
/ 안녕 ÄNɎƏŊ /
Hello? What is this?
/ 안녕 ÄNɎƏŊ / is actually the shorthand Korean word for both ‘Hello’ and ‘Good-bye’. And it also serves double duty as the working title for the new luscious 5- song collaboration EP featuring Korean Music Award- nominated electro-pop duo Love X Stereo and Southern California modernative songstress, Mindy Song aka DA1SY DØØM.
How did this transpacific collaboration come together?
Rewind to November 2019. About a dozen weeks or so before COVID unceremoniously shuttered the lights and mics of live music clubs in Korea, across America, and around the world, somewhere buzzing deep in the bustling backalleys of the Hongdae district — the heart of Seoul’s vibrant indie music scene — Toby Hwang and Annie Ko of Love X Stereo snuck out of their recording studio sessions to play an opening set for the visiting Korean-American dreampop voyagers, Night Dreamer — an edgy, experimental project band fronted by Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist Mindy Song and Smashing Pumpkins’ guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
But what could’ve been and should’ve been a blasé fun and done concert gig turned out to be a fortuitous blessing in disguise.
What was the trigger that made things click?
Fast forward to August 2021. Wrestling with the restlessness of trying to write new songs during the throes of the pandemic doldrums, Love X Stereo was stuck sifting through raw ideations and rough iterations of a work-in-progress single when an out of the blue DM from Mindy — “Do you want to do a collab?” — unexpectedly struck the chord they were looking for.
Swayed by the instant clairvoyance of that chance online encounter, Love X Stereo quickly realized she was the missing link on the unfinished single and immediately sent her bits to twist and beats to tweak. With Mindy donning her freshly minted artist-producer- curator-collective moniker — DA1SY DØØM — what started out simply as a creative collaboration on 1 song soon upward spiraled into 4 more songs (co-produced with DJ/Producer J-Path), 1 music video (produced/ directed by Alkima Film @ Seoul/LA), and 1 live performance video (produced/directed by Adrian Pruett @ LA CenterStaging).
If the EP could be described in a one-line plug, what would it be?
Transcendental auratherapy that prescribes a hello to hope and a goodbye to despair, K-Indie dynamos Love X Stereo and SoCal avant-pop provocateur DA1SY DØØM join forces to fuse and infuse symbiotic melodic musings on their inspirational electronic EP / 안녕 ÄNɎƏŊ / #Indie #Electronic #Indietronica #ElectroPop #KPop #AsianPop #AAPI @LoveXStereo @DA1SYDØØM
What is the first track all about?
< 랑데뷰 RDV > is a biorhythmic rendezvous of sorts that soundscapes the time and space difference between Seoul and Los Angeles and serves as a hypnotic runway for the EP — a boarding pass intro that synthetically weaves the intertwining of 2 female sirens searching and finding synchronicity for the very first time.
And the second song?
The lead-off single and inspiration for the cover art, < 자각몽 Lucid / Dreams > is an anti-dystopian diary that synaptically captures the slow motion, emotional rollercoaster ride of dreaming about dreams, an ethereal essay on the illuminative quest for existential bliss.
As for the third charmer?
< 끌어당김 @traction > is a quasi-love letter to the ‘Laws of Attraction’ concept but regifted with retro 80s vibes.
Any special messaging in #4?
< 미라클시티 Miracle_City > is a repeat play button- pusher that radiantly exudes the fantabulous euphoria of manifesting happenstance into serendipitous miracles.
And last but not least…
< 바이너리 βynari > is the outro which mixes and mashes 2 different spoken-word poems, recited outdoors in 2 different languages and recorded outside under 2 different cityscapes — Seoul and Los Angeles.
When will the audio and visuals from the EP be released worldwide?
The first Dolby Atmos single and 4K UHD music video < 자각몽 Lucid / Dreams > is due to drop on May 20th 2023.
Followed by the second Dolby Atmos single < 끌어당김 @traction > going live on May 27th 2023.
With third single < 미라클시티 Miracle_City > rolling out on June 3rd 2023.
And the / 안녕 ÄNɎƏŊ / EP debuting on all major digital music services around the world on June 10th 2023.
Available Lyrics
< 랑데뷰 RDV >
tomorrow never ends
tomorrow never ends
너와 내가 만나는 시간
만나는 시간
5am today
5am, it’s 5am in LA
5am, it’s 5am in LA
너와 내가 만나는 시간
When it’s 5am in LA
< 자각몽 Lucid / Dreams >
Can't be too far
Oh, heaven
Hell, am I there at all?
On the count of ten I leave the ground
But gravity keeps pulling me down
Won't you let me go?
My mind is floating in the stars
I got nothing but a beating heart
Please just let me go
Now here we go
What a beautiful life
How I can see the starlight shining through the sky
What a beautiful life
(High up up and up now)
(High up up and up now)
How I can see the moonlight shining through the night
(High up up and up now)
(High up up and up now)
Ohhhh
Forever
I’m reaching for your call
In heaven
Maybe, we’ll make it after all
And the universe expands for now,
Ever present and pushing this town
Have you got it now?
Do we get it now
My heart is racing for the time
When points of view shift every line
So there’s peace in sight
I see your lights
What a beautiful life
How I can see the starlight shining through the sky
What a beautiful life
How I can see the moonlight shining through the night!
Ohhhh
What a beautiful life
(High up up and up now)
(High up up and up now)
How I can see the starlight shining through the sky
(High up up and up now)
(High up up and up now)
What a beautiful life
(High up up and up now)
(High up up and up now)
How I can see the moonlight shining through the night
(High up up and up now)
Ohhhh
As I feel what I’m feeling
I feel you feel it too
I feel what I’m doing
I feel you through and through
< 끌어당김 @traction >
Disaster! Disaster!
Passion you feel the fire instantly
Disaster! Disaster!
Rules are very simple
Change will get you what you want, want
Take me to the higher skies (Attraction)
Higher skies
Take me to the higher skies (Attraction)
Higher skies
What a beautiful surprise (Attraction)
What a beautiful surprise
Dream on and fly
Distraction from what I feel is insincere
Disaster! Disaster!
I fashion a bow around what’s hurting deep
Disastrous! Disastrous!
Rules are very simple
Change will get you what you want, want
Take me to the highest skies (Attraction)
Take me to the highest skies (Attraction)
What a beautiful surprise (Attraction)
What a beautiful surprise
Dream on and fly
< 미라클시티 Miracle_City >
Where miracles are born in us, are born in us so we can touch and feel
Dull and boring as it shouldn’t be
Why’s this my reality
Oh, please
Should I be wondering possibilities
Wondering what my life could be
Oh, please
Where the hell are you?
I wanna know
Where the hell are you?
We were just floating around,
floating around
Where the hell are you?
I wanna know
Where the hell are you?
We were just floating around
Cause we’ve been searching for just a miracle
Please take us all, take us all, take us all to the miracle city
(Take as I come, as I am, as I wanted to stand)
Where miracles are born in us, are born in us so we can touch and feel
Take us all, take us all, take us all from all the mediocrity
(Take as I come, as I am, as I wanted to stand)
I can’t go on, I can’t go on, I can’t go on no more cause everything’s so
Dull and boring as it shouldn’t be
Why’s this my reality
Oh, please
Should I be wondering possibilities
Wondering what my life could be
Oh, please
Where the hell are you?
I wanna know
Where the hell are you?
We were just floating around, floating around
Where the hell are you?
I wanna know
Where the hell are you?
We were just floating around
Cause we’ve been searching for just, just one miracle
Please take us all, take us all, take us all to the miracle city
(Take as I come, as I am, as I wanted to stand)
Where miracles are born in us, are born in us so we can touch and feel
< 바이너리 Βynari >
Is it the blood that boils?
Is it the cancer that rots?
The chemicals that bleed?
The trash that burns
The smell of rubber
The cool winter night
No one’s asleep and everyone's awake
Everyone’s asleep and no one’s awake
하나의 움직임으로 너와 내가 시작되고
하나의 감각으로 너와 내가 만난다
지금은 개와 늑대의 시간
너는 내가 되고, 나는 네가 된다
Album Reviews
Out today, the lead single is an anti-dystopian diary that synaptically captures the slow motion, emotional rollercoaster ride of dreaming about dreams, an ethereal essay on the illuminative quest for existential bliss. It is the first release off / 안녕 ÄNɎƏŊ / , the new luscious 5-song collaboration EP featuring Korean Music Award-nominated electro-pop duo Love X Stereo and Southern California modernative songstress, Mindy Song aka DA1SY DØØM - you can learn more about the upcoming EP in the post above. The single also serves as inspiration for the EP cover art, give the song a spin!
Composed of Korean-American vocalist Annie Ko and guitarist/producer Toby Hwang, the Seoul-based electro-rock duo Love X Stereo mix synthpop with alt rock and punk rock to create dreamy, immersive songs marked by ambient synths and Ko’s ethereal whispers. Among their many accomplishments, the dynamic pair has played SXSW twice, clinched a best electronic dance album nomination at the 2017 Korean Music Awards and contributed to soundtracks for the K-dramas Love Alarm, Summer Strike and Cheese in the Trap. This past weekend Love X Stereo dropped “Lucid / Dreams,” the lead single from their upcoming EP 안녕 ÄNɎƏŊ (안녕 is a Korean word for both “hello” and “goodbye”), a collaboration with the LA-based avant-pop artist DA1SY DØØM that’s scheduled to be released this June.
[Love X Stereo has] a huge catalog of music I will be checking out over the next couple of weeks. They have also been nominated for a Korean Music Award for best electronic album in 2017. So that’s exciting. Then we have DA1SY DØØM (Mindy Song) a vocalist out of Southern California. They were the one who sent a DM to Love X Stereo in 2021 with a simple question, “Do you want to do a collab?” This originally started as a one song project but quickly spiraled into four more songs co-produced by the final puzzle peice of this project, J-Path. J-Path (Jung Park), does drum programming, synth, and sound FX. And with the Voltron completed, we got this epic EP, / 안녕 ÄNɎƏŊ /.
Korean electro-pop duo Love X Stereo joins hands with Southern California modernative songstress DA1SY DØØM. The two music geniuses will release their 5-song EP on June 10, 2023.
... 안녕 ÄNɎƏŊ is something new that hasn’t been heard in Korean music before.
This album [안녕 ÄNɎƏŊ] is an electronic EP album that gives fresh inspiration by saying hello to hope and goodbye to despair.
The way to save shoegazey pop is to drown that fucking music in deep electronica textures, Love X Stereo have the right idea.
The EP utilizes such an outstanding use of synths and Beats that let you sort of just swim through these texture-riddled atmospheres and there's something warm and inviting about it all somehow.
"/ 안녕 ÄNɎƏŊ /" truly provides and enticing avant-garde experience and makes a perfect addition to any electronic playlist.
I want to appreciate the fact that it is sometimes transparent and sometimes concretely expressed that it is only possible to embody the image of heaven only at a point where it is more dangerous than expected. Thanks to that, I think they were able to maintain the image or vocalization they wanted to do properly.
The EP is called / 안녕 ÄNɎƏŊ / and has a way of really just crossing sound barriers in such a form that you can almost visualize it which is really interesting because you don't usually get that much depth out of a pop oriented record most of the time but with this one, almost like a full-on adventure that you take.
... Love X Stereo began what can only be described as a full-fledged musical onslaught that could change the world’s music landscape forever for the better before AI gets here and destroys everything that is considered "real" including music.