There are some artists who are inextricably linked to a state of mind, or some kind of inner voice. For me, Younha’s voice is rain.
It is the pitter-patter of soft raindrops on umbrellas; the rhythmic gurgle of an impromptu brook as it flows down the cracks of the sidewalk; the melancholy that often accompanies a cloudy, drizzly day. When the sky grows dark and the storm clouds move in, I can’t help but put on a Younha mix and settle down by the window, watching the droplets slide down the glass panes one by one.
I think a lot of this connection stems from Younha and Epik High’s 2008 track Umbrella, which remains one of my favorite Korean songs of all time and was practically my entire formative soundtrack growing up. It might also have something to do with Younha’s unique voice: evocative, plaintive, and a little melancholy by itself, too. It works in Umbrella, and it also works here, too, in On A Rainy Day—which is, in many ways, a spiritual sequel to the former.