LISTENING GUIDE / 14 TRACKS

Korean indie: where to start

Follow a songwriter, a farewell or a live performance. Each song here is a place to start, with context to read and another artist to try next. Pick what catches your attention and keep exploring from there.

BY INDIEK / PUBLISHED

TEAM BABY — release artwork
Start with The Black Skirts
EVERYTHING

The Black Skirts and Yerin Baek are useful first stops if you tend to stay with one songwriter. YdBB and HANRORO bring us to songs about leaving and carrying on. SE SO NEON takes the guide onto a live stage. The connections are a way to choose your next song; each artist has a much larger catalogue behind this first introduction.

You can begin without knowing Korean. The 0310 video includes English lyrics, while other entries offer context from release notes and artist interviews. Try a song before reading, then return with that context in mind. Further down, the guide branches into folk, pop and R&B. New artists and songs join these pages over time, well beyond the word indie.

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  1. TEAM BABY — release artwork

    The Black Skirts / 검정치마

    EVERYTHING

    The Black Skirts is Bryan Cho’s solo project, also known by his Korean name Jo Hyu-il. EVERYTHING works as a first stop because it gives you a clear next step: the song began as a 2016 single, then became part of TEAM BABY in 2017. Start with the official music video here, then follow the album link on his artist page to hear the songs around it.

    Official music videoListen & read

    A closer listen. Follow the voice first, then the backing on a second listen. Which part do you find yourself returning to? Keep that answer in mind when you try the rest of TEAM BABY.

    Try next: Kim Sawol / Someone. For another view of affection, try Someone. Kim Sawol places love alongside doubt on her album Romance.

  2. Every letter I sent you. — release artwork

    Yerin Baek / 백예린

    0310

    Yerin Baek moves between R&B, pop and rock, and 0310 gives English-speaking listeners a way into her songwriting without a translation. It comes from the 2019 album Every letter I sent you., which she describes as a collection of thoughts and memories from ages nineteen to twenty-three. The title makes sense as an invitation to read closely. Her artist page also leads to Square (2017), another song from the same album.

    Official lyric videoListen & read

    A closer listen. Read along with the lyric video, then listen again without it. The credits include acoustic guitar, strings and a full band; try following one part beneath the words.

    Try next: Choi Yu Ree / Forest. Forest moves to a live session and another personal image: trees growing together as a way of describing belonging.

  3. ONCE — release artwork

    YdBB / 유다빈밴드

    ONCE

    YdBB are a five-piece band built around singer-songwriter Yu Dabin. ONCE introduces them through a farewell: in the release interview, she describes letting a loved presence go while wishing to be remembered one last time. Her artwork belongs to that same story. She drew patterns over a photograph of her own hands, leaving the thing held inside them unnamed so listeners could bring their own meaning to it.

    Official audioListen & read

    A closer listen. Look at the hands on the cover while listening. Yu Dabin connects that image to the act of carefully setting something precious down; it gives the farewell a physical shape.

    Try next: WhiteUsedSocks / Don’t feel sad. Stay with a band and go back to an early release: Don’t feel sad was written and composed by WhiteUsedSocks’ Jung Jaeheon.

  4. Even if you leave, — release artwork

    HANRORO / 한로로

    Even if you leave

    HANRORO debuted in 2022 with Let Me Love My Youth. Even if you leave followed in 2023, with her own lyrics and composition. It sits beside ONCE here because both concern letting go, but HANRORO’s release note also turns inward. She describes a person caught between blaming someone else and blaming themselves, trying to get through each day without feeding that self-blame.

    Official audioListen & read

    A closer listen. The person addressed in the song need not be only an ex. HANRORO’s note also allows for a decision, a neglected relationship or something that traps you in your own thinking. Try listening with one of those in mind.

    Try next: Motte / Don’t run away. Don’t run away offers another song about a relationship, this time through Motte’s contribution to the A-TEEN soundtrack.

  5. Summer Plumage - EP — release artwork

    SE SO NEON / 새소년

    The Wave

    SE SO NEON closes the route with a performance rather than another studio recording. The Wave won Best Rock Song at the 2018 Korean Music Awards; the version here comes from the 2020/NEON concert, filmed in December 2019. Hwang Soyoon’s voice and guitar give you two things to follow on screen. If you have been reading while the earlier songs play, this is a good moment to watch the stage.

    Live performanceListen & read

    A closer listen. Stay after the last vocal line for the extended instrumental finish. Follow the players as well as the singer, and notice where your attention goes when the words stop.

    Try next: ESEGYE / RomanceYouthLove. RomanceYouthLove takes you to ESEGYE’s first BLIND concert at Veloso Hongdae, another chance to meet a band through its own live footage.

MORE TO HEAR / 9 ARTISTS

Choose your next listen.

Continue with concert recordings, folk songs and R&B. Follow an artist for more context or start a song here. There will be more to explore as the journal grows.

Sources & song context

Recommendations are editorial choices. Release facts and artist statements are linked on each artist page.

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