Whang Bo Ryung = SmackSoft releases ‘Urbane Sanity,’ their 6th album in 4 years
Whang Bo Ryung made his acoustic mini-album As if nothing ever happened in 2014, but SmackSoft releases their first album in 4 years since their 5th album ‘Follow Your Heart in 2012. Urbane Sanity is a gift of ‘love and affirmation’ created by Whang Bo Ryung and band members (guitar_Choi Hee-jae, bass_Shin Ji-yong, drums_DeAnthony Nelson JR.)
The title songs ‘night sky_ evening sky’, ‘not a love song’ including a total of 11 songs, the album jacket was taken by photographer Kim Jung Man.
The album title ‘Urbane Sanity’ means ‘the right kind of right mind’, and it is the bands desire to project good thoughts and a positive attitude for listeners and people who are hurt or experiencing pain. The album is full of “love” and “affirmations” which have begun to take on a central role in Whang Bo Ryung’s music and are reflected in string vocal arrangements.
From the beginning of track Together, Whang Bo Ryung’s voice entreats and surrounds the listener. As the title suggests, the opening song is about living together, and what that intertwined experience means. The following ‘not a love song‘. Aptly named, it is not a love song that people usually imagine, but a song that loves the cool winds and the warm sunshine.
The title song ‘night sky_ Evening Sky’ is a song that Whang Bo Ryung had already made in his early twenties, and he caught the desire to grab the precious things that are gradually disappearing in the world with a sense of grabbing dying plants in the water. The lead vocalist Hwang Young Won of the Asian Chirshot band won championship, KBS ‘Top Band 3’, participates in the chorus and gives a different harmony.
“I Love You” is a cover song that is hardly experienced in SmackSoft’s full-length album. The solo vocals of Whang Bo Ryung, which is comparable to the late Kim Hyun-sik, whose longing for love is deeply felt.
The album also features “remember_dreamer of myths”, a godless incompetence under the Sewall incident or racism, “Say Goodbye_R.I.P.” inspired by the sadness of saying goodbye, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Robin Williams, Prince, and others who have already been deceased (including the father of Whang Bo Ryung who died last winter).
“I have changed my subject in mind a lot since it has been a life and a death,” said Whang Bo Ryung. “I thought that it would be less difficult if we share our dreams with people around us.”
Whang Bo Ryung, who is also a sculptor who graduated from the prestigious Pratt Institute in the United States, made his debut album in 1998 with his first album ‘Cat with three ears’. Whang Bo Ryung is regarded as having expanded the horizon of Korea’s Art Rock by bringing tribute such as ‘overwhelming artistry’, ‘progressive experimental spirit of Korean rock’, and ‘mysterious energy bordering on ecstasy’. In 2001, he formed SmackSoft, the band, and released his second album ‘The Solar Wheel’ (2003), which received the praise of fans and critics.
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