Recorded at Gwangneung Forest, Namhansanseong and Bijarim

Tied to national heritage project 'Gachieum'

DAWN collects sounds in a 500-year-old forest. [Provided by DAWN]
DAWN collects sounds in a 500-year-old forest. [Provided by DAWN]

Artist DAWN has traded his singing voice for the sounds of nature. After traveling to forests across Korea to capture ambient sound, he has completed five tracks and is marking a new creative chapter under the producer name Kachi Service.

DAWN releases his first ambient album, "green house," Friday at 1 p.m. through major online music platforms. The album is the first musical work he has produced under the artist name Kachi Service — his role as executive producer on "Gachieum," a project spotlighting Korean artisans and national heritage.

The album's foundation is field recording — the practice of capturing sounds from real environments outside the studio. By gathering sounds from nature and everyday surroundings and using them as musical raw material, field recording brings what might otherwise pass as background noise to the center of a composition, and allows the atmosphere and sensory character of a specific place to be rendered in sound.

DAWN visited Gwangneung Forest, preserved for more than 500 years, the woodland surrounding Namhansanseong Fortress, and Bijarim — a grove dense with centuries-old nutmeg yew trees — to record the sounds of nature. The sounds gathered at these three sites, each carrying its own distinct history and environment, form five tracks including "Ancient Future" and "Patience & Devotion." The album marks a new creative approach for DAWN: rather than simply observing nature, he documented the sounds it produces and translated them into music.

DAWN as a field recorder. [Provided by DAWN]
DAWN as a field recorder. [Provided by DAWN]

Ambient music prioritizes texture, spatial depth and atmosphere over strong melody or rhythm. When natural sounds are incorporated, listeners can feel as though they are physically present in a specific place while the music plays. "For DAWN, ambient music was the genre that allowed him to set aside complicated thoughts and rest during the period when he first began meditating," a representative said. "This album is his attempt to recreate that sense of rest he found in music."

Berlin-based mastering engineer Zino Mikorey contributed to the recording. Starting with this album, DAWN plans to continue traveling across Korea, documenting the beauty of nature and the world beyond it through sound.

The project also connects to DAWN's longstanding interest in traditional culture. On the MBC variety program "Na Honja Sanda" ("I Live Alone"), he has been seen crafting lamps from traditional hanji paper and carving wood by hand. In a broadcast last month, he also revealed the process of collecting sounds from national heritage sites with recording equipment and documenting the scenes on film. The album extends his engagement with traditional beauty from the visual into the sonic.

DAWN debuted with the group Pentagon in 2016 and expanded into solo work in 2019 with his first solo single "MONEY." He has showcased his vocal range through tracks such as "Bicci Naneun Neoege" and has been active across fashion and visual arts as well as music. Rolling Stone named him one of the most stylish musicians in the world. More recently, he has served as executive producer of the YouTube series "Gachieum," introducing the work of Korean artisans and the beauty of traditional craft. "green house" extends that work into the realm of sound.


shee@heraldcorp.com