Singer Jang Beom-jun, Photo|Kyunghyang DB
A project as eagerly awaited as a paycheck has been born. It is called ‘Month-End Jang Beom-jun’. Jang Beom-jun of the band Busker Busker has launched an ambitious project to release a quality song on the last day of every month, and on the 31st of last month he unveiled the first track, ‘Lilac’.
Released on online music platforms that day, ‘Lilac’ is a folk rock song that likens a man debating whether to reach out to his first love after a breakup to the lilac, whose flower meaning is ‘the emotion of first love’. The signature plain yet familiar voice of Jang Beom-jun delivers spring once again after ‘Cherry Blossom Ending’.
‘Month-End Jang Beom-jun’ cover
It is a level of quality that makes it hard to believe it was planned and released in just ten days. With lyrics and composition handled solely by Jang Beom-jun as expected, the ‘scent of Jang Beom-jun’ wafts even more strongly than the scent of lilac. Lyrics that recall a first love that was more pathetic than poignant, the forthright diction and voice of Jang Beom-jun as if telling a story, and an easy melody come together so that after a single listen you find yourself humming along. There is also a subtly drunken, ‘taryeong’-like feel that adds a touch of humor.
What is interesting is that ‘Month-End Jang Beom-jun’ was conceived on the fly through communication with fans. According to a making-of video posted on the YouTube channel of Jang Beom-jun, he promised to release one song each month and named it ‘Month-End Jang Beom-jun’ in respect for ‘Monthly Yoon Jong-shin’, which Yoon Jong-shin has been doing. As it carries the intention to release one high-quality, season-appropriate song each month while staying in touch with fans, expectations are rising for upcoming ‘Month-End Jang Beom-jun’. In particular, because he receives so much love every spring for ‘Cherry Blossom Ending’ (often called a ‘cherry-blossom pension’), one already wonders how breezy a song he will bring to delight our ears this coming spring.
The only drawback is that there is no music video. Because they decided on the project, recorded the song, edited it, and released it all within ten days, there was no time to produce a music video. It is very much in character for Jang Beom-jun, but one is left with the aftertaste of wishing there had been visual content to satisfy both eyes and ears to match the song ‘Lilac’.
‘Month-End Jang Beom-jun’ began quietly without any press promotion or media exposure, and attention is focused on what kind of end that unadorned beginning will lead to. ‘Month-End Jang Beom-jun’ will be available on online music platforms on the last day of every month.
