From Bom Bom Bom to deep cuts: 5 songs from Roy Kim’s first album

The second track of ‘Love Love Love’, where the song proper begins after a short intro. It carries the wish to set aside an overwhelming day for a moment and listen to music. In the blend of guitar and banjo, you can hear the folk sensibility of his first album. Roy Kim co-wrote the music with Jung Ji-chan, and its English title is ‘When You Are Down’. If you liked his recent comforting songs, you may find the same concerns running through his early music. With the thought that you can take a short rest even before finishing everything you have to do, carry on comfortably to the next song, ‘Bom Bom Bom’.

First released as a single on April 22, 2013, then included again as the third track of his first studio album on June 25. Co-written by Roy Kim and Bae Young-kyung, it’s the title most people think of first when they recall his early music. When you want to feel the excitement of the season, listen while picturing springs gone by. It’s also nice as music that brings out warm memories on a cold day. What you hear here is the version on the ‘Love Love Love’ album, so the cover is that of his first studio album. If this is the only song you knew, you can broaden your interest to the other love songs on the same record.

The fourth song on his first studio album, it makes you look back on memories of a first love and breakup. The title sounds like a confession, but it can also bring back feelings from a relationship that’s already over. Roy Kim wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics with Jung Ji-chan, and its English title is ‘Let Me Love You’. Heard after the excitement of ‘Bom Bom Bom’, the way the album looks at love shifts. Tune in on days when you recall moments you were clumsy at expressing yourself because it was your first time, or words you never fully said. If you remembered his first album only as bright, fresh music, this track lets you discover the tender songs within it too.

The title track of his 2013 first studio album, with lyrics and music by Roy Kim. You can follow how banjo, drums and percussion join the guitar and voice of the opening. It conveys love like a letter, so it’s perfect for anyone who wants to remember the youthful feel of his first album. If ‘Bom Bom Bom’, also on the album, is the song first known as a single, this is the central track that shares its name with the album. Rather than just recalling the familiar chorus, listen once to how the opening sound grows fuller. It also works as a short confession on a day you want to share a cheerful heart.

A song that adds an imagined story to his experience of seeing an elderly man holding a camera by the Han River. The wish to show a beautiful scene before your eyes to someone you love becomes the song’s story. Roy Kim wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics with Jung Ji-chan. The grandfather in the title isn’t meant to be a straight portrait of his own family member. Listen while sorting through travel photos or when you come across a view you want to send to someone, and everyday scenes may feel different. It’s the sixth track on his first album, stepping away from direct romantic confessions to a love expressed through photos and memories.