K-Pop heavyweight Park Gyujeong is giving his groove-laden beats a proper dancefloor debut with his newly launched solo project, IÖN.
After nearly a decade of infusing the global K-Pop scene with bouncy rhythms and boom-bap percussion as one half of the formidable producer duo GroovyRoom, the South Korean artist has released his debut solo album, CÖURAGE, kickstarting a new journey in dancefloor-focused electronic music.
The nine-track project, which arrived on GroovyRoom’s own AREA imprint in August, sees Gyujeong dive deeper into the electronic sensibilities that underpin GroovyRoom hits like “Yes or No,” “VVS,” and “BLUE MOON,” reinterpreting his various influences in a highly melodic fusion of trance, techno, and house music.
“I decided that I wanted to make electronic music with ‘beautiful melodies’ and ‘lyrics that move people,’” Gyujeong wrote of the album on Instagram upon its release. “Looking back now, I realize that this was the reason I started making music in the first place—it was my essence.”
I realized that when I decide to love something and fully focus on it, it becomes truly mine,” he continued. “The beginning of that journey lies in courage. The album [CÖURAGE] captures my journey of self-discovery, and I hope it becomes an album that provides comfort and courage to those who listen.”
Gyujeong’s penchant for emotional melodics takes center stage throughout CÖURAGE, which opens with a spiritually driven intro on “Ö” before finding progressive house bliss on “Savior” and marrying uplifting synth melodies with driving kicks and crooning lyrics on the trance-meets-techno track “Starlights.”
Gyujeong’s lyrical focus on CÖURAGE continues with “Priya,” another punchy melodic techno track, while whirling synth progressions give way to dancey indie-house on “Prism (still thinkin’ of you).” Later, the album cascades through various tempos of vocal-driven house, high-energy trance, and sizzling techno across “Dear I,” “Dance First (La La La),” and “Fight For Nothing” before closing with a peak-time techno rush on “Far from the Madding Crowd.”
Gyujeong will continue to roll out his new IÖN project, which takes its name from the term for an atom carrying an electric charge, with all new visuals and live performances on the South Korean homefront as he seeks to bolster the country’s ever-growing electronic music scene, according to a press release.
Listen to IÖN’s debut album, CÖURAGE, below.
Featured image from IÖN.
