Listening to ahreum‘s Last Day on Earth, I wonder how the collaboration between ahreum and Jaw works. He is the instrumentalist and arranger behind all the songs on the EP. But listening to previous releases, there is still a definite consistency across her music. Each of her releases taps into a different genre but uses a solid melodic foundation.
This time, ahreum dives into indie rock. “Watch Out!” is an indie rock with funk track. Honestly, the main melody is the strongest and a lot of the extra elements are actually a little distracting. There’s a lot happening all the time. And it can drown out ahreum, especially during the outro.
“Last Day on Earth” mixes rock with an indie rock vocal. And like “Watch Out!” there’s so much layered on top of the main melody. The song’s fx and synth might actually be unnecessary here, as I think the core of the song is strong enough not to need the artificial lift. The song is addictive when it’s a song, not a statement.
Things slow down on “Move Forward.” Instead of indie rock, this is a slower, almost ballad-style song. It leans into R&B and folk. The more minimal instrumentation focuses on ahreum this time. “Noise canceling” follows “Move Forward” with another R&B and jazz-infused mellow track. The song moves slowly and takes its time to make each verse a complete statement.
Last Day on Earth is two styles across four songs. The indie rock style is stuffed to the top with sound while the R&B songs present a more minimalist tone that fits ahreum’s energy better. I think that ahreum could successfully move into indie rock, but there needs to be a limit on the number of synth and effect on top of the music itself.
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Written by Chris P for Korean Indie.
