Fourteen Seconds of Accompaniment Alone, Then the Voice
Four songs Woo Su-hyun left at the playground. On the first one, the accompaniment is alone for a good while.
A new song has arrived at the playground today. This time it's Woo Su-hyun.
Woo Su-hyun is a singer-songwriter. The introduction says the singer "doesn't talk much and finds honest feelings difficult", which is why music is "the only thing it's possible to be completely honest with". Woo Su-hyun debuted in January with the first mini album [A Nameless Forest], and on this day came with the band.
It Waits Fourteen Seconds
Before the first song, 'A Nameless Forest', there's a stretch of about two and a half seconds that is completely quiet. Then at 0:29.3 the accompaniment enters. Very small — the level is only −26dB. The low end is already at 31%, so the accompaniment is all there. It's simply quiet.
Fourteen seconds pass in that state.
At 0:43.9 the voice enters. At that moment the level climbs from −26dB to −12.7dB. The accompaniment didn't get louder; the voice is simply that far forward.
These fourteen seconds are the best part of the session. They feel like time spent warming a room before starting to sing. Woo Su-hyun said the song came from a forest found while travelling, and this feels like standing in front of the forest for a moment before going in.
All Four Songs Are Here
| Song | Starts at |
|---|---|
| Opening | 0:00 |
| A Nameless Forest | 0:27 |
| You More Than Me | 4:26 |
| It's Only a Moment | 9:32 |
| A Love Like Love | 13:19 |
Each song comes with a short introduction, and they're lovely.
'You More Than Me' is "a song written for my friend, the thing I treasure most that isn't me". That's the whole of it.
'A Love Like Love' is "a song I sat down at the piano and wrote the moment a love ended", and "it took less than an hour to write — I just spat out the words as they came into my head".
After the last song there is more than nine seconds of nothing. From 16:25 to 16:34. No applause, no tidying up, just quiet. Those nine seconds are part of the video too.
When to Listen
On a rainy day, or in the evening just after sunset. The first song moves the comfort found in a forest "full of green and stillness" into daily life, so it fits a day when daily life has worn you down a bit.
If 16 minutes 44 feels long, take the first song's four minutes. And don't let the first fourteen seconds slide past. Waiting is part of the song too.
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- 1.[Singing Playground: NONOL] 우수현 Full Ver. | 이름 모를 숲, 보다 너를, 순간일 뿐이야, 사랑같은사랑 (Live) ↗
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