Let Your Worries Drift Away with Im Yoonseong’s “Island of Youth”
Singer-songwriter Im Yoonseong released his latest digital single Island of youth on April 9, and its leisurely vibes made their way to the top of our list as the Surprise of the Week.
There were a few super interesting releases over the last few days across all genres, but the unpretentious sound of “Island of Youth” came out on top. To someone who has never encountered Im Yoonseong’s music before, the first thing that strikes you is the timbre of his voice: it’s resonant, clear, and well-modulated. He sings his latest single with a reassuring, sort of comforting tone, which perfectly matches the intent of the song, that of melting your worries away.
Im Yoonseong (임윤성) wrote and composed the track himself, and upon the release he explained the message it carries: he hopes that “even if our days are broken by high waves, we will remember that today is the most youthful day of our lives, and that even if there are hardships and adversity in front of us, we will take strength and go to the island of youth together.” This hope oh his is expressed in the lyrics of the song, that goes like this:
“We are young and beautiful
We follow the stars all night long
If you're crying with nowhere to go
If you're out of breath and everything is hard
You can rest, under the flowing moon
On the Island of Youth, let's take a break
In those high waves, let's break
3, 2, 1 Go !”
Right after this bit, just over the half of the song, starts an instrumental segment that marks the second surprise of the tune: after the acoustic atmosphere set by the artist from the very beginning of the song, with just his voice and the guitar, the addition of a trumpet solo is rather unexpected but absolutely fitting. And guess what: it’s Im Yoonseong himself playing, and his trumpet playing skills are proven!
Unfortunately, at the time of writing, the official music video for “Island of youth” has yet to be released - it comes out April 14 at 6PM KST, but there’s a couple of teasers we can see from Im Yoonseong’s Instagram profile.
Im Yoonseong became famous thanks to his appearance on JTBC's music survival program Super Band 2, which aired in 2021. There, he formed the band CNEMA along with Kitak (기탁), Kim Seulong (김슬옹), and Byun Jeongho (변정호), and they came second in the final episode. The first single released by the band was “'MOBYDICK” (March 22, 2022)
As for his solo career, after publishing a couple of OSTs, Im Yoonseong made the official solo debut on September 6, 2022 with the digital single “Midnight Driver”. The song was later included in his first EP, TOMORROW, which was published on February 13, 2023.
Another cheerful song, with a soft trumpet bit towards the end, totally worth checking out. When promoting “Midnight Driver”, Im Yoonseong said he wanted to tell his own story through his music: “I want to come across as a musician in the ‘Im Yoonseong' genre, telling my story with my voice, like a trumpet breathing”.
He also appeared in Sing Again 3, the musical variety show that aired between October 2023 and January 2024. Im Yoonseong is represented by AW Entertainment.