For autumn walks and the way home: 5 songs from Roy Kim’s HOME

The song that opens his 2014 second studio album. It starts with piano and voice and gradually builds, and if you listen closely to that progression, it makes a good starting point for hearing the album song by song. Roy Kim finished the song with inspiration from a piece of writing his older sister sent him while he was studying abroad. You can listen while thinking of the wish to live happily and a reality that rarely goes as planned. Its English track name is ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’. When your surroundings have changed or you want to look back on your current pace, stay a while with the way the song unfolds instead of rushing to an answer. Your interest moves naturally on to the next song, ‘Gaeure’.

The second track of ‘HOME’, capturing the mood of the season and the wish to be beside someone you love. If you focus on the harmony of guitar and cello running throughout, it becomes a different experience from following the voice alone. There’s also the pleasure of hearing music released in October 2014 again in another year’s autumn. Pick it when you slow your pace and look at the scenery outside, or on a day you want to linger side by side with someone. Its English title is ‘When Autumn Comes’. It’s a track worth remembering if you want to add something besides the familiar title track to a seasonal playlist.

‘Home’, which is also the name of his second studio album, was written thinking of the home and family waiting for you in lonely or hard moments. For people living far from home, it brings back memories of a familiar place; for those who’ve had a long day, it makes them think of a place to go back and rest. It’s also good to listen while thinking of someone who gives you comfort by being near. Heard after the first two tracks, the listening moves from seasonal scenery closer to the personal space of one’s life. Pay some attention not only to the vocals but also to the strings supporting the song. It’s a song to pull out when you’re looking for comfort that suits an ordinary moment of coming home rather than some big event.

The sixth track of his second studio album, with the Korean title ‘Long D’, short for long-distance, alongside the English title ‘Hold On’. It brings to mind a relationship where you can’t meet often, yet it has a fresh, breezy mood that doesn’t stay in the album’s heavier reminiscence. Pick it as music to listen to while imagining the other person’s day when your time apart grows long. If ‘Home’ conveys the relief of a place to return to, this song is closer to thinking of someone who hasn’t made it to your side yet. It fits the few minutes spent waiting for a message or before sending a quick check-in. It’s worth hearing when you want to share, through one song, the feelings that distance brings.

‘Curtain’, featuring guitarist Jung Sungha, is the seventh track of ‘HOME’. The international credit ‘feat. Jung Sungha’ refers to the same player. If you follow what scenes the guitar creates along with the flow of the vocals, you can feel the fun of the collaboration. If you always listen to the lyrics first, try centering on the sound of the instrument for once. After following the relationship stories up through ‘Long D’, you can also shift your attention to the playing. It’s a track that shows the album isn’t just a collection of songs in one mood, and it’s also a point of contact for anyone interested in Jung Sungha’s guitar.