From Americano to My Ultimate First Love: 5 signature 10CM songs

‘Americano’ came out as a single on August 4, 2010. With coffee, an everyday subject, as its title, it is a song that brings 10CM’s early music to mind. At about 2 minutes 36 seconds it is short, which suits anyone who would rather start with one familiar song than a long album from the beginning. Choose it on a break when you’ve stopped by a café or want to change your mood for a moment. There is also the fun of hearing the voice you encountered in recent OSTs and ballads in a song from an earlier period. What you hear here is the recording from the ‘Americano’ single, and not confusing its release date with the first studio album of 2011 helps when getting to know the early years.

‘Stalker’ is the third song on the studio album ‘3.0’, released on November 18, 2014. The album notes describe it as a ballad about an unrequited love that can only watch from afar. You can listen while recalling the feeling of liking someone but finding it hard to get closer. If you first came to know 10CM through cheerful songs, it is a choice that widens your interest to the tender side of the same voice. For 4 minutes 12 seconds, stay with the flow of the vocals and the lingering feeling they leave. Listened to alongside the later ‘My Ultimate First Love’ or ‘Ilmarui Ganeungseong’, you can also see how songs of unrequited love from different periods come across emotionally.

The third track of the fourth studio album ‘4.0’, released on September 1, 2017. The title brings to mind both a phone and a concert, and you can begin listening with the scene of someone singing for one person alone. It is a vocal recording of about 3 minutes 17 seconds, distinct from the instrumental version at the end of the album. With the thought that music can be shared without meeting face to face, listen when choosing a song you want to play for someone far away. Heard after the feelings held alone in ‘Stalker’, the mood of expressing love changes too. If you only knew the familiar title, it is worth listening from start to finish and imagining your own small concert.

A song from the single ‘5.3’, released on July 3, 2022. Like a gradation in which one colour slowly turns into another, it holds a heart gradually being coloured by someone. If at some point one person’s words and actions have begun to linger in your day, the song’s metaphor will feel close. Choose it when you’re looking for a refreshing summer mood or want to add a bright love song to time spent walking. The official recording is about 3 minutes 21 seconds. The album cover, with its many colours resembling the title, is another clue for remembering the song. It is worth listening to while recalling the moments when small changes pile up into love rather than a big event.

‘My Ultimate First Love’ is the single ‘5.4’, released on May 14, 2023. Written and composed by 10CM, it makes you look back on the sincerity of a time when you couldn’t become the central figure of the story. You might find that your past self comes to mind before the person you loved long ago. Rather than filing first love away as nothing but a sparkling memory, listen while thinking of the feelings you never managed to say. The Korean title, ‘Budongui Cheotsarang’ (an unmoving first love), is released in English as ‘My Ultimate First Love’. At about 4 minutes 26 seconds, we recommend hearing the whole song rather than a short highlight. Even those whose interest began with the recent music can learn through this song how 10CM looked at the memories of youth.