Early summer soundscapes: music that stares down anxiety

SØHJ's first full-length album 'Ø: Between' [Tuna Records]

Three acts carving out their own musical territory — each trained on the emotional anxieties of modern life — are back with new releases. They are SØHJ (Seo Hyun-jung), the former 3rd Line Butterfly drummer turned electronic musician; Yuryeong Seojeom, the indie scene's comet band; and Luca Minor, purveyors of warm jazz-pop sensibility.

3rd Line Butterfly drummer Seo Hyun-jung returns under a new name: SØHJ

Seo Hyun-jung, the drummer who helped define the sound of seminal indie rock band 3rd Line Butterfly, has returned under a new name. The musician who once anchored songs with steady, supple drum beats is now working in a completely different sonic register.

According to her agency Tuna Records, SØHJ's first full-length album "Ø: Between" dropped at noon on Sunday. The record is the culmination of a solo venture in electronic music — Seo wrote, composed and produced every track herself, moving well beyond the world of percussion she had long called home.

The leap into electronic music did not happen overnight. Seo developed her sense of sonic space as a member of Byul.org, an artist collective that crosses freely between visual art, film and fashion. She also absorbed the craft of digital sound production through the electronic dance-pop duo Ten to Ten. The new album is both the closing punctuation of that long experiment and the opening of something new.

The symbol "Ø" in the album title represents the empty set and, at the same time, a circle holding infinite possibility. It reflects a state of being in constant flux — between emptiness and fullness, anxiety and stability, ending and beginning. The title track "I'm sort of" layers subtle, hard-to-name emotions and a sense of anticipation over danceable electronic music. The rhythmic instinct Seo built as a drummer meets cool synth melodies and expands into a refined sense of space.

An analog remedy for the burned-out: Luca Minor

Anyone who has ever been ground down by the pace of modern life and found themselves carrying endless self-doubt and anxiety should pay attention to this music.

Singer-songwriter Luca Minor will release the digital single "When It Stops Raining (Tape Master ver.)" on Wednesday, according to the artist's agency Wausan Records.

Luca Minor previously contributed to the soundtrack of the Tving original reality show "Transit Love 3," drawing wide attention with a deeply emotive vocal tone.

The new single is a medium-tempo jazz-pop track meant to be heard comfortably alongside the gentle sound of rain. Luca Minor has reworked a song from the second studio album — one that carried the record's most essential message — through analog tape mastering, giving it a warmer, more vintage texture.

The song's narrative draws from a line in Haruki Murakami's essay "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running": "The most important thing is not to outpace others, but to satisfy my own standards." It captures the very human feeling of putting things off under the excuse of rain, then gathering oneself and taking a step forward. Rather than mechanical perfection, the track embraces the lyrical noise and warmth unique to analog tape, offering a near-magical moment — a chance to catch one's breath amid a wearing daily routine and find a pace that is entirely one's own.

The mysterious new chapter from four-piece band Yuryeong Seojeom

Yuryeong Seojeom — as dreamlike and precise as their name suggests — is turning to a new page.

The four-piece indie rock band formed in late 2022 and made their debut in 2024 with the single "Children With Starblood." The members bring varied musical backgrounds: bassist Kim I-mir, for instance, previously rapped in a hardcore hip-hop crew. The group passed through an earlier incarnation called Hamster Powder Club before arriving at the distinctive outfit they are today.

Yuryeong Seojeom will release their debut full-length album "4 Steps 'Fore the Spiral" on Monday afternoon, according to their agency Mound Media. The record lays out the band's musical world with greater clarity than ever before.

The band recently held a listening event where they shared production stories, musical deliberations and their artistic worldview with fans. Like the band's name — strange and lyrical at once — the album draws you in and does not easily let go, a full immersion in the resonant band sound the group does best.

shee@heraldcorp.com