CLOSE YOUR EYES’ 256th Note: An album in motion
Time has never been considered a static element in their works. The fourth mini album of Close Your Eyes, 256th Note, follows the concept literally by referring to one of the shortest musical notes and the ephemeral feelings that can arise at such moments. While the full version of the album is yet to be released and will only go out on September 30 in Korea, the pre-release track, Open Your Eyes, along with the teasers that came before their comeback show, suggests that they have more interesting things to explore about themselves rather than stick to their existing mold.
The core of the concept has been formed based on the principles of jazz music, namely, the freedom and improvisation that UNCORE has chosen to embody within the album concept. The album does not use jazz merely as an aesthetical concept but as a method: fragments appear, collide, disappear, while emotions shift faster than they are analyzed. The fragments form rhythm, then melody, then songs. Within seven different tracks, CLOSE YOUR EYES cover such music styles as hip-hop, R&B, pop, bossa nova, and ballad. Thus, the question that arises is not how to create seven different genres on one album. The question is how it is possible to create such diversity and maintain artistic identity nevertheless.
This question is significant because, by the time of 256th Note, the band has reached a relatively early, but already quite well-defined period of its development as CLOSE YOUR EYES. Not that the band is rebranding itself, or changing its essence. Rather, the expansion is taking place within its current context. With their fourth mini album, they are extending their range beyond what was previously released, but rather than proclaiming maturity, they are making a selection of options. This is an essential point. Maturity is a very convenient term when applied to a project that has simply decided to wear a darker color. But it is their range of musical languages that has been expanded.
The song, Open Your Eyes, which came out on September 18 and was the first song of the album, serves as the most evident piece of work yet. In this composition, the artists re-imagine the concept of freedom and spontaneity inherent in jazz by using hip hop and R&B. The piano and saxophone are two instruments that play an integral role in this song. Yohan Kim and Jacob Skesni, who are jazz musicians, have worked on the music for the song, and Jeon Minwook and Kenshin have contributed to the lyrics.
The meaning conveyed in its lyrics gives the musical style a certain emotional direction. The imagery of darkness, injuries, night and awakening slowly transforms into the constant call to open one's eyes. The song does not require presenting a complicated story in order to convey its idea. It uses straightforward language which is close to physical sensations: something ends, something starts and there is always the possibility of movement. The mention of the collective consisting of seven members directly links the idea of awakening to the band itself. “Open your eyes" turns into a gesture of movement rather than a philosophical phrase.
The title track, Drop That!, explores the theme of the album from another historical perspective. It is presented as the song inspired by 1990s street hip-hop, and features Yoon Si-nae's “Enjoy This Night". An old Korean popular song becomes the part of a contemporary idol project. Dispatch described the track as a courageous choice made by the band for its new record, while the official release of the album presented the track as its main element.
The relevance of this decision can be understood through the connection between eras. Not only is sampling an aspect of production, but it is also a means of making it possible for an earlier era’s music to be heard within a later era’s music. Drop That! makes this link between modern K-pop and an earlier era of Korean music. This means that the connection between the album and its history becomes a more tangible one than just the idea of “retro".
The rest of the songs carry on the same idea without making it necessary for them to be the same. Vibe Check is a pop sound which includes the urban piano, controlled bass, and groove drums where Kenshin and Kim Sung-min are part of the members involved in the songwriting process. Slowly Bleed starts taking on the unpredictable nature of emotions as they make themselves felt. Fool For You comes from an R&B and lofi background while Baby Bossa Nova, with Hyelyn Joo, explores bossa nova. Eternity takes its own route where all seven members are involved in the songwriting process about CLOSER, the group’s fandom.
As a whole, the songs indicate that 256th Note is more focused on exploring how the group operates through different forms of music than establishing a distinct sound identity. That becomes one of the most intriguing aspects about the album and one of the clear dangers to its success as artistry. The diversity of sounds can showcase the talent of an artist; it can also create fragmentation of the identity. It will be for the whole album to show whether the changes in genres are part of a well-thought out approach to a single concept or separate pieces created as exercises.
Another thing to note here is the involvement of the members in the songwriting process. However, this factor does not necessarily imply the artist's growth. As participation indicates engagement in the process rather than maturity, the real test lies in what kind of role the engagement plays in the final result. Having the credits for writing spread over several songs, 256th Note allows the members to have more say in a project already centered around individual experience and emotions. Eternity puts the entire seven-piece band into the authorship of the lines directed at CLOSER.
Visual language used throughout the album strengthens this fascination with perception. The earliest concept photos show members of the band in a series of close-up black and white portraits where eyes are shown to be closed or opened, directly visualizing both the name of the band and that of their pre-album track. There is also imagery showing different items: musical instruments, jazz band, theatrical elements, and a classic car, whereas the comeback video makes the notion of comeback more vivid and clear. Notably, there is no need for these objects to have any single symbolic meaning. It is important to see what atmosphere they create: 256th Note becomes something both cinematic and musical, something which is about both listening and seeing.
This relationship between the music and visual culture can be seen more clearly in promotion of the album. UNCORE has organized a Jazz Listening Session for September 27, which involves a live performance by jazz musicians, a listening session of the album with the members and a discussion of 256th Note.
It also defines the album's place within the cultural spectrum. 256th Note can easily be classified as a K-pop production, as it includes all the elements of promotion associated with the genre – pre-release, title track, physical releases, fan material and international release. At the same time, its vocabulary goes further than just the genre's immediate conventions. Jazz serves as the conceptual base, hip-hop brings the rhythmic language, R&B forms some of the emotional landscapes, bossa nova adds yet another tradition, and Drop That! directly ties in with the traditions of Korean music. The visual campaign includes photography, cinematic and performance images as well.
International release in Japan shows the place of the album in the international infrastructure of K-pop. Universal Music Japan has scheduled a Japanese release of the album for November 4, following the Korean release on September 30. It doesn't necessarily define the purpose of the music, but illustrates the way it's marketed internationally while keeping the same seven-person identity.
The most intriguing contradiction in 256th Note thus seems to lie between the ephemeral and the eternal. While it is a collection of those things which are quickly gone, one of the album's last songs is entitled Eternity. It could be seen as an example of an evolution of the moment into the eternal, but this is not the case as there is no need to look for a story behind the album to understand the meaning of the contradiction. The temporary impression turns into a track; the track into the record; the record becomes a part of the history of the group.
CLOSE YOUR EYES can benefit from such type of evolution. There is no need for 256th Note to tell about the great transformation of its creators. Its mission is much more subtle than this: to give the group enough flexibility without making it lose its identity. The influence of jazz makes the group a philosophic idea; the variety of music styles make it dynamic; the active participation of its members makes it human; the interaction with Korean musical history gives the experiment a historical context.
The verdict on this album, of course, has to be reserved until we hear all the songs. However, one thing that is clear at this point is that CLOSE YOUR EYES do not look at their new mini-album as just yet another album of comeback songs. This time, 256th Note is a challenge to embody impermanence through music by catching transient emotions in their ephemeral nature before they fade away. Whether this succeeds is debatable.
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