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| Akdong Musician performs in a live mini concert at Seoul Forest on Thursday. / Yonhap |
By Ko Dong-hwan
Fans' taste for K-pop has moved on from idol bands' dance music filled with bouncy beats and incomprehensive foreign jargon to acoustic folk songs focused on storytelling.
The trend is reminiscent of the style before the millennium. But it also differs from the retro style in that the lyrics are more incisive and rude, similar to how hip-hop music is oriented. Hankook Ilbo referred to the style as "a mutant of acoustic music."
Two-member band Akdong Musician (AKMU) is a successful example of the new trend. On Children's Day on Thursday at Seoul Forest, the band comprising two siblings held a mini concert in front of about 10,000 people.
The concert came a day after the winner of the 2013 SBS TV audition program "K-pop Star 2"released its album "Puberty-Former." Lee Chan-hyuk, 19, played acoustic guitar and rapped while his sister, Soo-hyun, 16, sang as they performed the album's two lead tracks,
"Re-Bye" and "How People Move."Gentle, restrained melody and catchy lyrics are the heart of the duo's music that entrances fans from teenagers to the middle-aged, who generally are more accustomed to acoustic music.
AKMU's numbers ranked first and second on eight major charts on Wednesday morning, including MelON, Genie Music and Olleh Music. The group beat I.O.I, a pop-dance girl band from TV audition program "Produce 101" on Mnet. Four other tracks from AKMU's album were also included in the charts' top 10.
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| 10cm(top) and Jung Eun-ji |
Other acoustic trendsetters include two-member band 10cm and idol singer Jeong Eun-ji from girl band Apink. 10cm last month released the single
"What the Spring?" a cynical comment about young adults hungry for romance and aimlessly waiting for spring. In the same month, Jeong released "Hopefully Sky," a mellow number featuring guitar and harmonica. Both topped online music charts and TV music programs."The new acoustic trend shows that the public has become tired of idol bands' dance music," a music critic said, according to a report. "Some bands with foreign members like JYP Entertainment's TWICE sometimes deliver lyrics that are hard to understand.
"The new acoustic K-pop, on the other hand, is drawing attention from a broad range of age groups because it focuses on persuasive storytelling while sticking to an old-fashioned music style."
