After a career that started as an accompanist, moved toward songwriter and eventually television show host, Noh Yeong-Shim released her debut album in 1992. This isn’t a typical pop album, as the first half contains four vocal songs, and the second half contains five piano-based instrumental pieces. The only vocals in the second half are a conversation with the legendary Kim Chang-Wan of Sanullim during the final track, “Goodbye.”
The first four tracks, like the instrumentals, are built around Noh’s piano, with the exception of the keyboard-based single “The Man Who Remembers All Sorts of Things.” “The Man…” has been said to be a sequel to Noh’s composition for Byeon Jin-Seob, “Wishful Thinking,” in which the singer lists all the qualities of his ideal woman, most of which are unrealistic to expect. “The Man…” sees Noh pondering all the minutiae of daily life that she never notices, and wishing merely for a man who cares enough to remember such things about her. “The Man…” may stick out a bit sound-wise, but its lyrics are a creative departure from standard fare, and uniquely Korean as well.
Noh’s soft vocals, evocative lyrics and emotional piano playing create a very relaxed yet often melancholic atmosphere. The album art, which shows Noh on a beach on a gray day, captures the mood of this record pretty well. It has a subdued beauty, and in the darker moments, there remains the knowledge that brightness and warmth await with the change of seasons.
 |
| Image source: ManiaDB |
