Like BTS and Stray Kids’ traditional sounds? Alt K-pop band Leenalchi take things much further, and people love it
- They’ve only released one album but Leenalchi have taken South Korea’s music scene by storm with their blend of modern and traditional styles
- They admit they’re a bit confused as to how they got so popular in a market focused on glossy K-pop idol acts and view their next album as the great test
You won top awards with your first album, so what’s next? That’s what alternative pop group Leenalchi from South Korea is trying to figure out, almost a year after winning the top prize of Musician of the Year at the Korean Music Awards in February.
The seven members of Leenalchi come from a variety of backgrounds. Bassists Jang Young-gyu, who has directed the music for films including Train to Busan, and Jeong Jung-yeop gained prominence within the Korean bands SsingSsing and Kiha and The Faces, respectively. Drummer Lee Chul-hee also played in SsingSsing. The four vocalists – Kwon Song-hee, Shin Yu-jin, Ahn Yi-ho (the sole male vocalist) and Lee Na-rae – meanwhile, are all trained in classical Korean performance styles.
The band blends modern genres with traditional styles to create new takes on timeless themes originally popularised by Korean pansori plays – traditional musical storytelling featuring only percussion and vocals. In 2020 they found immense success with their album Sugungga, which is named after, and features stories from, a classic pansori.
Dubbed by some as “pansori pop”, Leenalchi are an indie darling in Korea’s music scene, a market where bands rarely do well compared with pop, vocal and hip-hop acts. Their success has come early – and they don’t really know what to do about it.
“We feel really honoured, but honestly I don’t know if we have gone through the growing stages of being a band,” said vocalist Lee in a call. “Sometimes I feel like we rose to stardom all of a sudden, so I feel a little bit confused.”
Leenalchi derives its name from Lee Nal-chi, one of the most famous masters of pansori and jultagi, or acrobatic tightrope-walking, in South Korean history, who lived during the 19th century. Like the high-flying performer, Leenalchi rises above the crowd with atypical twists and turns to their music, as hip-hop and electronica elements seamlessly blend with traditional Korean vocalisation styles and instruments.
The group formed in 2018 while working on the animated music drama Dragon King. They quickly began to gain popularity in South Korea’s music scene after televised performances showed off their colourful update of traditional styles. They even featured in a promotional video for the Korea Tourism Organisation known as “Feel the Rhythm of Korea”.