If you’ve been following our newsletter for a while, then you’ll have discerned that we only send you one of these things when we have something really important to tell you.

It’s usually when we put a record out, which only happens once or twice a year [How we stay in business as a record label that only puts out one or two records a year is a topic for another newsletter].

 told us last week, “Leenalchi has changed the way I think about music, dancing and Korea. I have never heard anything quite like this.”

HERE COMES THAT CROW 떴다 저 가마귀

There's so much we want to tell you about LEENALCHI, but what will actually get you to listen to them?

What if we tell you they’re a Korean band who play intensely addictive psych pop?

What if we tell you that their songs sound like animals singing to each other over juicy, tripped-out bass lines?

Or, what if we mention that the enigmatic and mysterious bandleader, Jang Young Gyu, started loads of other interesting bands and also scored iconic Korean horror movies like 

Or what if we just show you a picture of the band, surrounded by cutouts of birds, looking extremely cool:

Mr. Jang, as we call him, is dressed in camo at the back (trying to hide behind the pink flamingo)

We could go on and on – we haven’t even started on how they make music yet! – but now is maybe not the time to do that.

LEENALCHI has a new song out today called 

 Like all of Leenalchi’s songs, this one is a chopped and screwed interpretation of 

, a traditional form of musical storytelling that’s been around since the Joseon Dynasty (aka the 17th century). Based on a tale about the warlord Cao Cao’s 

, the song is really an allegory for life’s precariousness.

The singer Ahn Yi Ho, together with his bandmates, wrote you a poem to help you interpret the song’s layered meanings:

도용도용은 작은 배가 물위를 떠가는 모양을 그린 말이다. 조조도 조자룡도 쫓기는 자도 쫓는 자도 멈출수는 없다. 판자때기 아래가 저승인데 어느 누가 멈춰 설 수 있겠는가!

If you don’t speak Korean, here is the English translation:

goes the small boat seen floating down the river. Whether the chased or the chaser, no one can stop—just beneath the boards lies the underworld!

LEENALCHI is about to set off on a wild ride of their own: they’ll soon be releasing a new EP and embarking on their first ever tour of North America (and later on, Europe), including a show with 

We’re working on adding many more shows – and even screenings of some of our favorite films scored by Mr. Jang—but we’ll tell you about that next time. Until then, you can follow them on 

 for all latest updates, and check their tour dates 

And remember the words of Ahn Yi Ho: whether you’re the chased or the chaser, we all got somewhere by boat.

Whether you’re the chased or the chaser, we all got somewhere by boat