Leenalchi releases new digital single 'Please Don't Go'

Leenalchi, a pop fusion band, rehearses at its studio in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, in this July 3 file photo. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

By Park Ji-won

Cover image for Leenalchi's single “Please Don't Go” Courtesy of hike

Leenalchi, which rose to fame with pansori-based pop fusion music and unique YouTube videos, has released its new single “Please Don't Go,” or “Yeobonari” in Korean. “Yeobonari” is a way to call one's husband.

According to Hike, the band's agency, the seven-member group released the digital single at 6 p.m., Wednesday, as part of the series of its former and first full-length album “Suggungga,” named after one of five surviving pansori plays. It is a satirical tale showing the conflict between prey and predator, or the ruler and the people through animal characters such as a turtle and a rabbit. The turtle, a servant of the kingdom, is tasked to find a rabbit's liver as a cure for the king who is dying from illness.

“Please Don't Go” depicts the scene in Suggungga of the turtle leaving his mother and wife to go on land to find a rabbit liver for his sick king.

“The story is about the turtle leaving his wife, who tries to prevent him from leaving the sea, and his mother. It includes the unique humor and twists of the pansori narrative,” an official said in a press release.

The band consisting of four pansori vocalists (Kwon Song-hee, Shin Yu-jin, Ahn Yi-ho and Lee Na-rae), two bassists ― Jang Young-gyu who scored the films "Gokseong" and "Train to Busan" and played bass for SsingSsing, and Jeong Jung-yeop who used to play bass for Kiha and the Faces) ― and drummer Lee Chul-hee, former drummer for SsingSsing, became popular after appearing and participating in promotional videos for Korean tourism last year. One of its videos promoting Seoul gained more than 45.6 million views on YouTube alone.