On Writing Eleven of Twelve Songs Yourself

A singer writing their own songs carries different weight in different genres.

Where the word singer-songwriter exists as its own category, it is the default. On the other side, where receiving songs and singing them is the older method, writing them yourself becomes a declaration in itself. Young Tak's third full-length album is like that.

What we know

Item	Detail
Artist	Young Tak
Album	Third full-length 'GOGO'
Release	September 14, 6pm
Title track	'Break'
Tracks	12
His participation	Writing, composing and arranging 11 tracks (all but 'I Won't Sleep Tonight')
Last full album	Second album 'FORM' (August 2023) — about three years ago

The number eleven

Eleven of twelve. Not every track, but all but one.

Saying he wrote them all would make a tidy sentence; leaving one out makes it less tidy. Writing it that way anyway means one sheet of someone else's music was left on the album. That song is called 'I Won't Sleep Tonight'.

A full album usually runs to about ten songs. Carrying the writing, composing and arranging of eleven alone makes making the album a far larger job than singing it.

Why it took three years

The last full-length, 'FORM', came out in August 2023. About three years to this third one.

The trot market turns quickly. There are many broadcasts and events, and releases come often as singles. Taking three years to prepare one full album inside that means running on a different clock.

The album is called 'GOGO' and the title track is 'Break'. A word for going and a word for breaking, side by side. Driving straight and changing direction, inside one album.

Drawing a tracklist as a circuit

The tracklist was revealed in the shape of an F1 circuit — the song list laid over a racing track.

With an album called 'GOGO', the image of running is natural. But a circuit is not a straight line; it is a series of curves. To complete a lap you have to break.

So 'GOGO' and 'Break' are not opposites but the same statement. Keeping going requires breaking — that is the rule of a circuit.

About the video above

The video above is the second teaser for the title track 'Break', released at midnight today. The first teaser came out on September 9.

The full video arrives with the release on September 14. What can be heard now stops here.

Tonight, like this

Watch the teaser first. Gauging the speed of the song arriving in three days is the first thing to check.

Then play the second album 'FORM' again. What changes from an album three years old is this album's point of interest.

Last, remember September 14. What the person credited on eleven tracks actually made is confirmed that day.

To keep going you have to break. 'GOGO'.