Apparition

Jambinai's follow-up to the magnificent Onda may be short, but it's another exhilarating and intriguing offering from the deserved winners of the Asia category in the SonglinesMusic Awards 2020. They led the charge when it came to establishing experimental South Korean music on the global scene, and showing that the country shouldn't just be known for K-pop.

Mixing guitar and percussion against traditional instruments including the yanggeum (hammered dulcimer), piri (flute) and geomungo (zither), the band create an atmospheric, emotional folk-rock fusion style of their own, that's notable for the dynamic switches from gentle passages to frenzy. This four-track release starts with ‘Once More from That Frozen Bottom’ (they are rather good at evocative song titles), which switches between moody, urgent and pounding soundscapes to furious, guitar-backed sequences. ‘Until My Wings Turn to Ashes’ and ‘Candlelight – Colossal Darkness’ are both slow-burners that build to a grand climax, while the most intriguing track, ‘From the Place Been Erased’, features K-pop star Sunwoo Jung-a. She fits in remarkably well, on a song that veers between brooding, unworldly passages, a blitz of sound, and passages of silence. This is Jambinai at their best.