We Are The Night Offers Quiet Peace And Good Tunes
There are names you hear here and there that sometimes catch your attention, right? On some days, you also find yourself looking up those names on your own, driven by curiosity and the desire to discover something new.
It happens to me a lot, especially with music. It’s the very thing that led me to listening to Korean music in the first place (and Korean indie especially).
Another discovery of mine, dating back a few months now, is the five-piece band We Are The Night. With releases since 2013 ranging from single albums to EPs with only a few songs, the band stands somewhere in between electropop and indie pop, with songs clearly incorporating EDM elements but never veering towards the upbeat side. Their tracks remain, for the most part, wonderfully relaxing and laid-back, perfect for pretty much any situation. For my part, I’ve been doing a lot of writing and studying lately, so their music has often made an appearance on my study playlist.
Their newest opus, the seven-song album Calm Myself Down, presents a lovely collection of We Are The Night’s musical genius (it is also the latest addition to my study playlist, as it was released on November 5, and has proved to be a great soundtrack for writing my assignments).
I’m still very new to We Are The Night, so I don’t really have a good grasp of what their usual sound is like beyond their distinct genre. Did Calm Myself Down venture into more daring territory than its predecessors? Did it show more skill in songwriting or composing? I couldn’t tell you. But I can definitely assure you of the fact that it sounds amazing; it’s the kind of album that takes you on a calming journey that still manages to hold your attention, and not once does it get boring.
“No Thank You” opens the album, and it’s smooth despite the slightly complex drum track. The vocalist, Ham Byungsun, has a sweet, murmured tone of voice—it helps enhance the inherently soft tone of the track. Like most (actually, all) tracks on the album, the presence of synths is omnipresent without being overwhelming. Everything is paced carefully and perfectly, much like the rest of the tracks.
The next song, “Our Younger Days,” was first released as a standalone single in April—that was when I first ventured into We Are The Night’s music. Starting as a slow, piano-led ballad, the song keeps its unhurried pace throughout, but about halfway through the song, synths and percussions join in, adding more depth and a more modern vibe, which leans toward urban R&B in sound.
The title track for this album is “Deeper in Love,” and it is lovely, I assure you. However, I can’t help but go straight to the following track, “Like the Movie.” Also released prior to Calm Myself Down as a single in June, it keeps a very smooth sound, though the style varies a lot as it goes. The synths come and go, as do the harmonies, drums, and all the other various elements that render the song unique, like the click of a camera or the sound of murmured words. It gives you the impression that the song is almost imitating the course of a movie—as the title hints—following a narrative of its own and telling a specific story just through the music.
Finally, the last highlight—and the best song on the album, in my honest opinion—has to be the amazing “Bubble Gum.” As I said, I haven’t really heard many upbeat tracks from We Are The Night so far, but “Bubble Gum” is there to shatter that misconception, and it does so wonderfully. At first, “Bubble Gum” has a certain pop touch to it. There’s a steady beat that’s set from the beginning, which slowly builds up before dropping at the chorus and turning into incredible EDM goodness. That song is simply amazing and deserves your undivided attention when listening to it. The music video doesn’t play the entire song, but it plays enough of it to get you hooked on its sound, and you will want to listen to the whole thing. Trust me.
All seven songs on Calm Myself Down are worth a listen—even if I haven’t written lengthily about each and every one of them. It’s an album that encompasses a certain feeling of peace. Though each song is different, they all give off the same vibe, and you’re lying to yourself if you say you can’t pick at least one favorite out of all the songs on the album.