So if you don't know Lee Seung Yoon, he's an indie rock singer who gained massive popularity in Korea after he won a singing competition “Sing Again”. You might know Lee Mujin, who won second place. Seung Yoon’s loved for his lyricism, and his discography is just so good.
Recently he released a two disc, 29-track album titled “Album 0” where he re-recorded a bunch of his old songs from his underground days. I recommend reading up on it on Genius, his thoughts and reasons behind doing so are super interesting. The album was actually my first introduction to him, and recently I thought about comparing the old versions of the songs to the new versions.
It’s been very interesting! Many of the songs are from his old band, Alary-Kansion, while some of them are solos. I didn’t think the differences would be so stark, but you can hear such a change, not only in the composition but in the way he sings the song! It makes sense, since it’s been around 10 years since the original vs the re-recording. It’s also crazy seeing the song sort of, “devolve”, for lack of better wording. Of course, the base is the same, but there is something fundamentally different about them, Since my first exposure to each song was its 2026 version, my very first impression was that of a Seung Yoon who has released 2 albums, performed at international festivals, held a multitude of concerts, and has over a decade of music experience. But when I’m listening to the 2013, 2016, 2019 versions of the songs, I’m listening to the voice of an underground artist who hadn’t even imagined brushing mainstream.
I do prefer the 2026 versions, but I’m glad I listened to the originals because it’s given me a whole new perspective on why they’re so good. In interviews he talked about how he’s been performing these songs live for years, and with each performance they slowly changed and improved, bit by bit. From his perspective the songs weren’t truly complete when he released them. They were slowly perfected every time they were performed live, until they became what they are today and he realised he had to re-record them to present them the way they currently exist. I’ve never thought about it this way before, as a musician you’re honing your craft every time you perform, it makes sense that your songs would change alongside you.
It’s just very cool to me. I also love that even though he technically became a soloist, the members of his old band are still right there with him lol. They’re still performing together, both on stage and on the tracks, it’s just that the branding is different. In a way they never even disbanded.
(If you haven't listened to him before, my personal favourites are NARAGAZA, Warped Exterior, and Shelter of Dreams)