According to Jung Jae‘s Spotify profile: “I’m a person who makes various kinds of music by myself.” Then listen to Amber Lake and be amazed. It’s both a forward and nostalgic 11-song full length, At a little over 32 minutes, June Jae makes a big impact.
The album is entrenched in rock but adds more pieces from alternative, shoegaze, and dreamwave. It’s like listening to an ever-changing tide with each track attached to an hour of the day. “The Lake” is dawn with the sun coming up and giving the world light from a long darkness. It’s methodical and purposeful on each beat.
“A Horse in Turin” is the energy after waking up when mindsets shift and the day starts moving. The use of post-punk and synth in the rock foundation is great. I like “Drifter” a lot. Mainly because it’s a great shoegaze song. Track four gives a little bit of a break.
Jung Jae is great at switching between energies with faster and slower tempo songs, providing a stronger narrative. It feels like the song order is deliberate. Like the switch between “Winter-blooming orange blossom” and its slower and moody emotional presentation to “Northeasternly” and the indie rock and pop punk mix is perfect.
With solo artists who create everything from start to finish, it’s possible that things become very repetitive or ideas are recycled. On Amber Lake, there aren’t any of these issues. The composition and arrangement all feel like it’s coming from a full band, but more importantly, there’s a wide variety of connected ideas speaking together.
Amber Lake is a great album. It’s easy to listen to and shows Jung Jae’s craftsmanship. With a wide canvas of styles, he excels at them all.
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Written by Chris P for Korean Indie.
