REVIEW | A Heart That Loves Loneliness ("Dear. J" by Shin Mo Rae x Glam Gould)

A Heart That Loves Loneliness / Woojin Cha (critic)

Listening to music is like taking a short trip somewhere. The charm of this short walk is that we don't know where it is before we start. When the music starts, we're somewhere else in an instant - "instant" being the key word. We can't prepare to leave.?

Where Glam Gould's music takes you is a forest-like space. There's a certain tension and comfort in the soundscape that unfolds along the minimalist beat. You wander around the area following the sounds, feeling slightly creeped out. You make your way out of the forest, across the field, and through the cave. Shards of light touch the surface of the water and then shatter, drawing you in and then out of a small room.

Suddenly, I realize. Music is definitely sound. Sound is a physical phenomenon. It's a vibration of air. But it's not our auditory cells that are touched by those notes and pitches, but somewhere out there, an unknown place that science has yet to reach. That's where the mind dwells, and the sensations we call memories and illusions. A carefully orchestrated landscape of beats, noise, and the sounds in between guides us. Along the way, we are alone. It's the sense of being alone that matters. A loneliness masked by a peaceful and beautiful landscape. And I will now tell you about that loneliness.

The songs on the album become more and more minimalist. It's as if I'm trying to get thinner and thinner, discarding and erasing unnecessary things, until finally only a sense of loneliness remains. In this album full of different landscapes, I find loneliness, and I realize this. This is the mark of someone who loves loneliness. It's a heart that looks for loneliness in the peaceful moments of everyday life. This is the music of someone who has finally decided to love that feeling.

Everyone is so filled and happy in this world, but would feel poor for selves. Here the world, loneliness becomes a concept and an attraction. Instagram is full of people who indulge in loneliness as much as they indulge in pleasure. In such a world dominated by indulgence, the pursuit of love is rather alternative. Pleasure is about not losing anything, but Love is the heart that bears, takes a risk something. That's why LOVE is difficult. In this way, the heart that loves loneliness allows you to see the other side of the tilted world, where nothing exists but yourself.

This is where artwork of Shin Mo Rae and music of Glam Gould meet. Neon and pink of Shin Mo Rae are not colorful and beautiful. It's just lonely and cozy. Relaxed and free. She paints moods. So I think she is a person who loves loneliness. Loving loneliness is about cutting through the clutter of sensations. It's about stripping it down to something more essential. Shin Mo Rae and Glam Gould are artists who find the loneliness in the fullness of everyday life and stroke it.

This album is "Dear. J" about a long letter to J. It doesn't matter who J is. It doesn't matter who J is. As soon as we hear this letter, this music, we are instantly transported to a certain place. A place of people who have decided to love loneliness. Here, we embrace our own loneliness with all our might.

BUY | Vinyl (pink, 180g)

BUY | Cassette Tape

Side A

1. Daily Routine 02:57

2. (i miss you) 02:25

3. Camouflage 02:59

4. Nightfall 03:35

5. And 02:52

Side B

1. Someday Afternoon 04:16

2. In a Daydream 03:41

3. The Song 03:19

4. Special Nothing 03:33

*Includes download card, limited to 250 pieces