NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Kim Jong-won, singer of the South Korean soft-rock band Nell makes a third entry for the month. The writer of Taeyeon's " Time Lapse " and Kim Sung-Kyu's " Shine ," knows how to write an autumny, nostalgic track. Nell became known for their bleak music in the early 2000s. Their release of 2008's Separation Anxiety is no exception. "Time Spent Walking Through Memories" would become one of Nell's most recognizable songs. However, conscription would force the band on to go on hiatus before making their comeback in 2012, changing their sad tune to the uplifting, anthemic "Ocean of Light." "Time Spent Walking" sees singer Kim Jong-won wax poetic, describing the loss of love, in similar manner to "Time Lapse" and "Shine." "Time Spent Walking," however, has a calmer, lullaby quality to the soft piano and the ending "La La"s.  FROM THE VISION OF A STRANGER PASSING BY. You probably still r

In high school, Kim Sung-kyu , the future leader of the boy band Infinite, had to hide his vocal practice from his parents. In high school he sang in a rock band with some of his friends. When he graduated he left his hometown of Jeonju in hopes of having a career in music in Seoul. After failing an audition for SM Entertainment, he tried out for label Woolim Entertainment. His hope was to be a rock singer like his future label mates, Nell . On the day of his audition, though, he was suffering from appendicitis. Determined to make it as a singer, he sang through the pain and went to the hospital after the audition finished. Rather than cultivating Kim's rock talents, the record label decided to place him as the leader of the their first boy-band, Infinite. Throughout the group's tenure, they would flirt with rock music; however, it wasn't until Sung-Kyu's debut EP, Another Me , that he would be able to make the kind of music he envisioned.  WHENEVER THIS TIME OF YEAR C

  Formed in 2001 in Sincheon-dong, Seoul, South Korea, Nell is one of K-pop's few successful alternative rock bands. Taking their name from a 1994 Jodie Foster film by the same name, Nell is a sort of art-rock band whose lyrics in the original Korean have a literary quality more like the old-timey Korean ballads and less like modern K-pop. Taking influence from Brit rockers like Radiohead and Muse, Nell became known for their melancholy sound, especially prominent on the records Separation Anxiety and The Healing Process.  However, after a hiatus allowing all members of Nell to do their compulsory military service, the band came back with more optimistic music. The lead single, "Ocean of Light" speaks of forgetting past hangups and focusing on a brighter future. ARE YOU AFRAID EVERYTHING YOU BELIEVED IN WILL BECOME NOTHING? I found Nell back in 2013 when I was trying to find Korean Rock music. There were a few Korean bands back then. Busker Busker was an extremely popula