Before 'JOURNEY', a KIM FEEL starter guide: from the memories of 'Seongbukdong' to the 'unfinished youth' of 'HAPPY END'

KIM FEEL releases the second full-length album, 'JOURNEY', at 6 p.m. on October 29. It's the first full-length since 'yours, sincerely' in December 2019, six years and ten months ago. We picked four songs from the years in between. KIM FEEL wrote the lyrics for three of them; the fourth is a drama soundtrack song written by the show's music director. Times follow each official video.

1. 'Seongbukdong' (2016)

The title track of the first mini album, 'from Feel', released in December 2016. The album introduction on Bugs says the EP is made up of five songs KIM FEEL wrote, and that 'Seongbukdong' was written while thinking of a place that holds the most beautiful memories of youth. All three choruses open with '성북동 그 어귀에' ("at the entrance to Seongbuk-dong"), but what follows changes. '너와 가던 찻집' ("the teahouse we used to go to") becomes '너와 걷던 공원' ("the park we used to walk through"), and the last time it's '마주 앉아 추억을 남겼던 이곳에 나 혼자서' ("here, where we sat facing each other making memories, now alone"). In the music video, the drums drop out at 2:46 and never come back. Through that last chorus, sung without drums, a single cat sits on top of a wall on screen. Apple Music

2. 'Excuses' (2019)

The title track of the first full-length album, 'yours, sincerely', from December 2019. KIM FEEL wrote the words and music and arranged it with 623. The song starts with '난 원래 이런 사람이라' ("I've always been this kind of person") and ends by coming back to the same line. In the final chorus at 3:28, English lines like 'Until we die' are followed by Korean lines in parentheses, such as '관계 앞에 항상 난 서툴고' ("I'm always clumsy when it comes to relationships"), according to the Bugs lyrics. Before the singing begins, the music video spends 48 seconds on a crosswalk at night and a person on a bridge. Apple Music

3. 'Someday, the Boy' (2020)

Part 6 of the soundtrack for the JTBC drama 'Itaewon Class', released in February 2020. Of the four, this is the only song KIM FEEL didn't write. The music and arrangement are by the drama's music director, Park Sung Il, and the lyrics are by Seo Dong Sung. The Bugs introduction calls it a pop ballad about the sleepless, bitter nights of the lead character, Park Saeroyi. The Korean title phrase, '그때 그 아인' ("that kid back then"), appears for the first and only time in the last two lines, at 4:15 as the song nears its end. Apple Music

4. 'HAPPY END' (2025)

A single from September 2025. KIM FEEL wrote the lyrics and composed it with 623. The first verse ends with '아직도 나 빌어먹을 청춘인가 봐' ("guess I'm still stuck in my damn youth"), and in the second verse (2:49) it becomes '아직도 난 미완성인 청춘인가 봐' ("guess I'm still an unfinished youth"). The official live clip starts in black and white, and color first comes into the picture at 1:27, as that first-verse line is being sung. The song introduction begins with '뻔하다고 치부될지언정' ("even if it's written off as predictable"). Apple Music

5. 'JOURNEY' (October 29)

The first pre-release song, 'To Be Free', came out on September 26, and NONOL chose it as a NONOL Pick. The second pre-release song, 'Circle', came out on the 23rd (Apple Music). According to the Bugs credits, KIM FEEL wrote the lyrics and composed the song with Yu Eun-jae, who also arranged it. The full-length 'JOURNEY' arrives at 6 p.m. on the 29th, and on November 14–15 KIM FEEL holds a concert of the same name at Blue Square Woori WON Banking Hall in Seoul. Apple Music