Yeonri Mok - Yeonri Mok Small Collection [20]

Yeonri Mok Small Collection [20]

“Yeonri Mok's music always accurately penetrates the deep and distant center of my unknown heart. It suddenly draws up something complex, subtle, difficult, and absolutely unknowable within me that could not be explained in any words in the world, and says calmly and kindly, 'Isn't this what you really felt?' Listening to her music makes me feel like I'm getting to know my own heart little by little, corner by corner. I feel a little more relieved, a little more brave. It makes me think I should live a little longer. It's an irreplaceable language.” ― Yoon Ga-eun (Film Director)

“I felt like it was music without a mask. It tells the story of her life through music, without a mask, and it's a bit lonely, fun, and cute, while also being musically unconventional and unadorned, making me feel like I've been sucked into a small essay book for a while. I mainly thought of Yeonri Mok as playing the keyboard or as a film music composer, so I wondered why she was so good at singing too.” ― Kang Ho-jeong (Producer, Educator)

“Some epiphanies bring unexpected senses. For example, the first snow, it's warm. The face I wanted to see, it resonates. You, who are by my side, I always miss you. And Yeonri Mok's music, small but full, soft and dazzling, rare and making you hum all the time, precious hearts. Listening to Yeonri Mok's music made me so gentle. My body and mind became soft, and I feel like I'll get through this season, this time of endless loneliness, well. For a while, I'll ask everyone I meet, 'Have you listened to Yeonri Mok?' I'll urge them sometimes. To listen to it right now. Don't miss the truly beautiful songs of love and understanding, the poems of gratitude and apology. To add unnecessarily, I want to say thank you for coming like this, so much. To Yeonri Mok.” ― Yoo Hee-kyung (Poet)

“I first met Yeonri Mok 20 years ago in a liberal arts class called 'Understanding Korean Music.' I never thought we would be doing Korean (popular) music together for so long... But why did you hide these good songs until now? I'm glad they're out now, and you can open up a new path from now on. I'll always support you as always.” ― Song Jae-kyung (Musician, 9 and Numbers)

Liner Notes: Yeonri Mok is a person who sings and writes songs.

― Danpyunsun (Musician, Co-Producer)

Yeonri Mok is a person who sings and writes songs. It took a long time to make this fact known. Yeonri Mok first started her career in 2002 as a keyboardist for the band Nuntteugo Kovein. She was just entering her 20s. From the mid-2000s, she began to participate in various theater and dance works with music, and soon expanded her radius to film. The most well-known of the works in which Yeonri Mok participated as a music director are probably 《Eungyo》 and 《The World of Us》. She also worked as the leader of the band Tanimotion, which combined Korean traditional music and Western music. However, 《20》 is the first album that contains her own stories entirely.

The songs on 《20》 were mostly written in the 2000s and early 2010s, when Yeonri Mok was in her twenties. In Yeonri Mok's words, they were written 'without purpose.' In other words, it could be said that they were written as she pleased. Naturally, this music contains extremely personal emotions or memories.

I remember the day I received the first sketch. It was long after we had talked about "I want to release something this year," and I was already assuming that we would pass this year. In fact, I hadn't even decided whether to work together or not, so I was worried even before listening to it. (It would be a problem if it was too good, and it would be a problem if it wasn't good enough.) Time passed a little after pressing the play button. My mind became clear. Most of them were simple sketches consisting only of piano and vocals. But there was a natural beauty in it. Those who have made music for a long time tend to put various devices in their music out of habit. To include certain intentions, certain productions in the music. But these sketches, like the music made by those who first started writing songs, contained almost no such devices. That simple and clear purity was conveyed. We started working right away from the next day.

Six songs are included. Focusing on the fact that it is a small album containing songs written by Yeonri Mok when she was younger than now, we used the expression 'small collection' instead of EP. The story contained in the album is largely divided into two. Songs about certain moments that Yeonri Mok experienced in her twenties continue from the first track to the fourth track. 〈Grandfather〉 is a song written on the way back from burying her paternal grandfather in Jangji. 〈When This Happens〉 contains the loneliness she felt on the way back from meeting someone she loved, and 〈I'm Sorry〉 contains the desire to apologize to those who accepted the many mistakes she made while living. 〈I Hope So〉 is a clear song of joy celebrating the wedding of an old friend. The two tracks in the latter half are songs that were written for a play, or were written but not released. In 〈Good Things〉, written for plus-size model and actress Hwang Mi-young, she sang about affirmation of herself as an independent woman. The last track, 〈jane〉, is a song created to be used in director Yoon Ga-eun's 2013 short film 《The Bean Sprouts》. It was not ultimately included in the short film, but 10 years later, it saw the light of day through the small collection.

It took a very long time to make the sketches. It took a very short time for the sketches to be completed again as an album. Musician Choi Young-doo, who had also worked together as Nuntteugo Kovein, joined as a co-producer, and the production system was established. We continued to exchange messages and works every day, coming up with various ideas and experimenting. We jokingly talked about those times as being like 'a series of processes where three cottage industry workers gather, make various things in their respective homes, combine them, and break them again.' Funnily enough, most of the various ideas flowed like jokes, and only the most refined sounds remained in the completed music. That's because that outfit was the most suitable outfit.

Yeonri Mok is a person who sings and writes songs. 《20》 is Yeonri Mok's first solo album in which she sings her own songs in her own voice for the first time. Throughout the work, Yeonri Mok was often embarrassed. This is probably because she felt awkward that she was only now singing songs that were made as long as 15 years ago. She also worried, saying, "Am I being sincere? I don't have feelings like loving but lonely anymore." But sometimes Yeonri Mok would get caught up in sentimentality, saying, "That was the best time..." When Yeonri Mok said that, I sometimes thought that maybe the current Yeonri Mok was a little envious of her long-ago self. But whatever it was, this album contains Yeonri Mok in 2023. At the same time, it also contains Yeonri Mok's most beautiful and beautiful days. Whether it's 2003, 2013, or 2023, the story of all of Yeonri Mok's time begins today, with the small collection 《20》.

[Credit]

Producer _ Yeonri Mok

Co-

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Author: Yeonri Mok

Publisher: Mirrorball Music