Genre-defying South Korean band, SE SO NEON makes their highly anticipated return with the release of “Twit Winter” — a vibrant indie rock anthem that contemplates life’s fleeting nature. The new track is accompanied by a music video that was shot in Seoul and self-directed by front woman, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, Soyoon Hwang.
With the new music, the group has crafted their own sonic identity, displaying a wide spectrum of musical influences varying from blues and psychedelic rock to new wave and synth pop. Sung primarily in Korean, their music is rooted both in the present and in nature, making “Twit Winter” relatable regardless of any language barrier. “People will feel my energy and my soul,” Soyoon proclaims.
Co-produced by Soyoon and Kenny Gilmore (Weyes Blood, Sudan Archives) and mixed by Nathan Boddy (Pink Pantheress, Geordie Greep), the song hears Soyoon exploring the complexity of time and human existence. With the band’s new music still in its infancy, she found herself reflecting upon music she had started writing as a teenager. Despite the growth and development that had since followed, she felt the songs were tethered to a past version of herself.
Of performing these songs, Soyoon explains: “Each time I do, I feel as though I’m singing alongside the Soyoon of the past. This is not a nostalgic return to an earlier self. Rather, it is the past Soyoon — the one who once wrote and sang these songs — who now meets and sings with the Soyoon of the future. It struck me, with a kind of quiet clarity, that music and the stage allow one to dismantle time’s linearity altogether.”
Art is often regarded as timeless, its impact surpassing any time constraints and often outlasting those that created it. “Twit Winter” hears Soyoon grapple with her own mortality, while also questioning the longstanding legacy of her creations. In her own words: “That thought made me want to leave behind questions for the past and future, sensations I’d still want to share, signals and traces that might survive the years. I imagine myself, aged, singing this song. And so I decided to create a kind of time capsule, through both music and image.”
The music video became an experimental extension of this concept, acting as a time capsule for future Soyoon to revisit in 2065. Throughout watching “present” Soyoon in various scenarios, a white box remains present. It marks the designated spot that the Soyoon of the future will occupy.
