Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Soloist Ahn Ye Eun is a vocalist that stands out immediately for her vocal stylings that lean into traditional styles that set her apart from the pop norm. However, with “CHANGGWI” she truly dives into that quality of her vocals to tell a unique horror tale (and it’s not even the first one she’s done either).
Surprisingly, there’s not a whole lot in English on changgwi, but there’s a decent overview here:
Chang-gwi is the soul of a man who died from a bite of a tiger. He is said to be a slave to tigers when he became Chang-gwi, and always adhering to the tiger. In order to escape this fate, the Chang-gwi visits the victims, especially its families and relatives in the past. Therefore, the reason why people don’t get related to the Chang-gwi’s family by marriage is because he is likely to stop at their doorstep someday. There is also a sad tale that even though the family know what is in front of them is not a person but a Chang-gwi, they all turned into Chang-gwi because it was once their family member. According to data from the National Folk Museum of Korea, Chang-gwi always cries bitterly and sings sad songs, so if someone sings sad songs without a reason, it can be a Chang-gwi, not human. However, it is said that the person who becomes a Chang-gwi cannot turn a blind eye to the song because being a Chang-gwi is destined to be built up by his previous life’s karma.
The family part isn’t necessarily relevant to this song, but the part about having to find victims to escape his fate is.
The piercing song is by the changgwi, who also creepily appears in the excellent video, essentially pulling off a siren song of sorts, luring a curious traveler into his trap and getting excited as the plan succeeds.
It’s certainly not a pop song, but the perfect melding of the performance, lyrics, and visual makes one feel like they’ve watched a whole play. Again, something unique.
